PlantFiles: Buddleia, Buddleja
Buddleja longifolia

This shrub can become very large. I may not have pruned it at the proper time last year as the blooms are very sparse-actually barely growing. This particular schrub is about 4 years old &usually very nice so I can only attribute it's lack of buds to my improper pruning.

The leaves are much sparser on this species than on the more familiar davidii hybrids, giving it a somewhat weedy appearance without continual pruning/deadheading.

This buddleja is a medium sized, deciduous shrub with an arching, mounded habit growing 4-5' tall. Gray-green leaves are long and pointed (acuminate). Spike-like, terminal clusters of lilac blue flowers bloom from July to September. Flowers are very attractive to butterflies. Popular fresh cut flower. Will grow taller in the South (10-12') where it does not die to the ground in winter, but still may be pruned almost to the ground there each year since it seems to flower best and form can be better controlled when it is severely cut back.