Buddleia x 'Birthday Cake™' (PODvb3-30)

Additional Notes about Birthday Cake™ Butterfly Bush:

Invasive species.: self-seeding.

Detractor: Butterfly Bush benefits pollinators at only one stage of their life cycle. It attracts butterflies because it provides copious nectar. However, butterflies need host plants on which to lay eggs and on which their caterpillars feed. Not a single native caterpillar eats Butterfly Bush leaves.  Its invasive tendencies displace native shrubs that are essential food sources for caterpillars which, if they don't feed birds, become butterflies.

Consider alternatives: Clethra alnifolia, Itea virginica, Syringa patula Miss Kim, Cephalanthus occidentalis, or perennials Liatris spicata, Echinacea, Asclepias spp, Eupatorium spp, Agastache, Monarda, Helenium.