I’m guessing this B. davidii cultivar is White Profusion, but I’m not exactly sure. I don’t remember where or when I got this shrub that I planted along the north property line, now bordering the orchard garden. I’m guessing it was at least fifteen years ago. The shrub is pretty big now and produces very full flower clusters of a clean white–but only white for a week or so and then they pass on to brown.

One reason to grow B. davidii is that it normally attracts some great pollinators. It isn’t called Butterfly Bush for nothing. Maybe because mine are in a shady area now, I don’t see as many pollinators as I’d like. B. davidii is a noxious alien weed here in Seattle, To my knowledge, however, mine is a sterile hybrid–I haven’t ever seen a seedling.

Keeping this shrub controlled is challenging–it has several thick trunks. I cut it back pretty ruthlessly every spring. I’ll keep doing that going forward and maybe try to prune it again after a few months to get flowers at a lower level–those in the photos are above six feet, and the shrub is shooting up to fifteen feet!

Purchased from an online source about seven years ago, this plant has just come into its own the last couple of years. Unlike the dozens of April-blooming Clivia miniata clones I have, this plant blooms in July and has smaller tubular flowers of a bright red with green tips.

The leaves of this plant are narrow, strap-like and dark green. I got seeds off of it last year, but they did not germinate–if it sets seed again, I’ll be more careful in germinating them in the house.

My 2020 plans for this plant are to move it back outside after it finishes flowering. I will wait to divide it until next spring–it looks like I can get three divisions from the one pot so far. I might try freezing some pollen from some of the miniata clones and then pollinate this plant with the frozen pollen to see if I can get some interesting seedlings–it would be a fun, if long term (minimum five years to see flowers) experiment.

There are several of these vines currently in the greenhouse that are volunteers from plants I grew several years ago to twine up Leon’s “Pod” sculpture along the driveway.

I’ve grown variants of these vines before that had red flowers and darker green leaves–I liked them better than the lighter clone these seedlings represent. They have light green, delicate foliage, lots of tendrils, and orange flowers that look like little guppies to me.

Since this plant is a tender perennial (I’ve had them winter over outside before in mild winters), I plan to take good care of the biggest seedling in the greenhouse and next spring, I’ll plant it next to the “Pod” again with some purple morning glories–that makes a great combination!