The Winter Flowering Lilac, Buddleia asiatica, is not the most attractive of the Butterfly Bushes. It can reach 12 feet or more and has widely spaced leaves that often curl or hang down. The photo above shows just how tall they can get. The green mass behind this Winter Flowering Lilac is a mature Royal Red Butterfly Bush which is about six feet tall.

Winter Flowering Lilac blooms in late winter and early spring and often looks like it is all flowers with no leaves at all. When the flowers are finished the shrub tends to look dead.  Unlike, the more common Buddleia davidiis, B. asiatica blooms on year old wood so we do not prune until late spring when we can see what branches will make it through the winter.

Soon new bright green leaves with felty white undersides will grow, but the shrub will remain without flowers the rest of the season

The fragrance of this Buddleia more than makes up for the short season of flowers.  While the B. davidiis do have a luscious honey aroma, it doesn't waft through the air with the heavenly scent of Freesias like Buddleia asiatica.

Native to Asia, this warm weather butterfly bush has naturalized itself, probably spread by wind, on moist lava beds in Hawaii. Amazingly, they grow and thrive, but don't get as tall as they would in an irrigated garden.

Winter Flowering Lilac makes a great addition (for zones 8-11) to our Wildlife Herb Garden Six Pack and to our  Zone 8 Fragrant Herb Garden Six Pack.

Cultural Information

Height: 10-15 Feet 

Hardiness: Perennial
in Zones 8-11

Flower Color: White,
blooms only in
mild winter areas

Characteristics: Full Sun,
Herbaceous

Uses:  Butterfly and Hummingbird Plant, Fragrant Ornamental

View Other Buddleias 

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