I was actually pruning this plant yesterday, which reminded me to count it as a plant-a-day. I’ve had this plant for over twenty-five years. We moved it to this house from the rental house we had before. It wants to be a monster of a shrub, with even more vigor than its B. davidii cousins. I like the flowers of this one because they are so different–a warm gold shade and in unusual ball-shaped clusters.

Despite being called a butterfly bush, this particular type seems less attractive to pollinators of any kind. It also doesn’t seem to reseed at all, which is great because B. davidii is invasive here in Seattle.

This shrub is growing along the northern fence in the orchard bed. I cut it back to four feet yesterday and will hope for some more compact growth and lots of flowers in 2021.