A LITTLE MORE LIFE
Buttonbush
Cephalanthus occidentalis
Round flower clusters feed bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds, followed by seeds for birds.
MAKE IT FEEL AT HOME
A spot to thrive.
A choice for genuinely moist to wet ground or a rain garden, rather than a dry butterfly-bush bed.
- Sunlight
- Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Moist to wet
- Mature size
- 5–8 ft tall · 3–6 ft wide
- Season of interest
- Summer
- Hardiness
- USDA zones 5–9
- Garden role
- A pollinator-friendly shrub
ONE GOOD SWAP
Instead of butterfly bush.
Buddleja davidii
Try buttonbush for a pollinator-friendly shrub.
Compare plantsNATIVE TO YOUR PLACE
Find it in your state guide.
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Dig a little deeper.
Photo credits & licenses
Buttonbush: Al Riordan · CC BY 4.0
Butterfly bush: Jim, the Photographer · CC BY 2.0
Resized, converted to WebP, and cropped in the layout. Each photo retains its listed license. All photo credits