How to Grow and Care for Blue Chip Butterfly Bush

Blue Chip is a butterfly bush, so named because the plant attracts a variety of butterflies and bees. The fact that Blue Chip butterfly bush blossoms during the latter part of the growing season means that it will display fall flowers at a time when few other shrubs are flowering, helping you to extend the sequence of bloom in your garden. Its miniature stature is also a plus, but the major selling point of this hand-pollinated cultivar is that is it not invasive.

Buddleia is indigenous to East Asia. Like many plants from China and countries in that region, the typical Buddleia grown has become invasive in many parts of North America. But with this particular cultivar, developers have succeeded in producing a noninvasive shrub. Blue Chip butterfly bush is sterile so it does not spread like other butterfly bushes.

Blue Chip Butterfly Bush Care

Blue Chip butterfly bush displays a compact, mounded habit, being categorized as a miniature Buddleia. Its numerous, small flowers form in showy spikes. Dubbed a bluish-purple, the flower really contains only a hint of bluish color. Flowering time is listed as being from mid-summer to into October. If they receive more shade than they should, this will delay bloom time. There is no need to deadhead these plants.

Besides attracting butterflies, the shrub attracts hummingbirds and so is useful in hummingbird gardens.

Light

This plant needs full sun to achieve the best display of flowers. The plant will live in lower light levels but will not bloom as fully.

Soil

Blue chip butterfly bush needs well-drained soil; otherwise, it can suffer from root rot. For the same reason, at planting time, if you have clayey soil, make your planting hole shallower than normal, so that the base of the plant sits slightly above ground level.

Water

Water young plants well to help them get established. But, once mature, the plants are considered to be reasonably drought-tolerant shrubs.

Fertilizer

Butterfly bush is not a heavy feeder. But if you would like to give your plant a boost, use a balanced fertilizer in spring. Mulch in the fall for winter protection in cold climates, but keep the mulch away from the base of the plant to avoid root rot.

Varieties of Blue Chip Butterfly Bush

'Blue Chip' was the first cultivar in a miniature butterfly bush series named Lo & Behold, therefore you will often find this plant listed as 'Blue Chip Lo & Behold', The series was created at the Raulston Arboretum in North Carolina.

Newer additions in the series include:

'Lo & Behold Blue Chip Jr.', a more compact cultivar that reaches 1 to 2 feet in height and spread, with rich lavender-blue fragrant flowers

'Lo & Behold Pink Micro Chip', a dwarf cultivar only growing up to 18 to 24 inches in height and spread, with orchid-pink flowers and a mounded growth habit

'Lo & Behold Purple Haze' with fragrant purple-blue flowers and a spreading growth habit

'Lo & Behold Lilac Chip', another dwarf cultivar with a spread and height of 18 to 24 inches and soft lavender-pink flowers

'Lo & Behold Ice Chip', a dwarf cultivar with fragrant white flowers

Pruning Blue Chip Butterfly Bush

Butterfly bush blooms on new wood. Pruning is optional; it can be done if you wish to keep your shrub on the small side. Since Blue Chip butterfly bush is naturally compact, there is even less reason to prune. But pruning does seem to promote better flowering.

There is not one agreed-upon time for pruning butterfly bush. Some gardeners leave the brown branches in place during most of the winter (in hopes that they will provide a bit of protection from the cold) and prune the plant back to the ground in late winter, in early spring, or when the plant starts to leaf out.

A greater number of gardeners trim the plant's stems down to the ground in early winter, giving the garden a cleaner look. The butterfly bush will re-emerge from its root system in spring. Thus, despite being classified as a shrub, it is often treated as if it were an herbaceous perennial.