Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Coveting a zone 5 plant
I have coveted the buddleia or Butterfly bush, for years. I’ve been tempted many times to buy one and see what happens. One of the experts I work with just hates them! It’s a zone 5 plant! I live in zone 4b and that’s pushing it.
So he generally encourages people not to buy them or be prepared to lose them when we get a wicked winter. But here I go, sharing a dwarf darling with you! ‘Pugster’ would look pretty adorable in a large container in a sunny spot, while it beckons butterflies and other pollinators!
‘Blue’ pugster was named a National Plant of the Year in 2021. It grows to just 2 ft. tall and 3 ft wide. It has showy panicles of fragrant violet flowers with blue overtones and orange eyes at the ends of the branches from mid summer to mid fall. The flowers are excellent for cutting.
You have to say Pugster Periwinkle… it’s just one of those combinations of words that makes you smile! Or maybe that’s just me!
The Pugster® series offers vastly improved hardiness and winter survival over other types of dwarf butterfly bush. Still, it IS zone 5.
This darling could be put in a container (with really good drainage) and overwintered.
My suggestion would be to move it to a protected spot in your yard once winter is fully underway. Zone 5a can handle up to 20 degrees below zero. However, MOST of us are Zone 4 to 3 and some of you ridiculously hardy folk live in zone 2, hello Tower and Hibbing!
Bottom line, don’t be afraid to try it but be prepared to lose it. Although you can help it a lot by using a thick layer of mulch.
