Yes—butterfly bushes are invasive plants. Butterfly bushes are native to Asia. Invasive plants have the ability to spread quickly and choke out native plant life. While the flowers provide some nectar for butterflies, butterfly bushes are not host plants for any North American butterflies. Think of them like soda for butterflies—they are a sweet treat for adults but don’t offer the food or habitat of a host plant.
Remove butterfly bushes and replace them with native host plants (a well-known one is milkweed), which help butterfly populations thrive. Scroll on to find out why butterfly bush is a problem.
Don’t let the name fool you
“Butterfly bushes” are a true testament to the power of naming and marketing. Butterfly bushes are native to Asia. They were brought over in the 1800s as landscaping bushes.
In recent years, big box garden centers have marketed the plant through colorful tags and signage, touting their ability to attract butterflies. Don’t fall for it.
Let’s get right to answering the big question:
Why are butterfly bushes bad?
Butterfly bushes are not good in gardens for two reasons:
- They spread rapidly: a single plant can send out hundreds of thousands of seeds
- They take away space and food from crucial butterfly host plants, like milkweed.
Both of these elements combined make them an invasive plant.
Butterfly bushes—a monster in our midst
Let me pitch you a movie.
The scene opens in a front yard in suburbia. It’s morning—the sun is rising, turning the clouds a gentle pink. We see a beautiful garden in the front yard, with several butterfly bushes swaying in the breeze.
It’s fall, and the once-purple flowers are turning into seed pods. In a few weeks, each long branch will end in a clustered cone.
And then suddenly...
A breeze lifts its branches. We see thousands of seeds released, each caught on the breeze. They drift everywhere: throughout the yard, in neighbors’ yards, into the street.
A stroller rolls by, catching seeds in its wheels and transplanting them to a house a mile away. The car in the driveway catches seeds under its wipers, inadvertently bringing them places hundreds of miles away.
The music suddenly becomes ominous.
We see the text onscreen:
A single flower spike on a butterfly bush can release up to 40,000 seeds
Butterfly bush seeds have a germination rate of 80%
The movie cuts to a monarch butterfly flitting around the garden. We watch her search and search for the only place she will lay her eggs—milkweed. (Milkweed is the only plant that a monarch caterpillar eats, so monarch moms only lay their eggs there. These dedicated plant/animal relationships are called host plants.)
Without milkweed, monarchs can't survive
We see the monarch mom fly off in vain. There is no food for her babies here.
The butterfly bush continues to smugly shed seeds, further reducing the monarch habitat through its invasiveness. Next spring, there will be even less food for monarchs.
Replace butterfly bushes with host plants
There are hundreds of host plants—like milkweed—that make our gardens beautiful and more resilient. Planting host plants helps butterfly moms and babies.
Explore our Host Plants for Butterflies to meet some butterfly bush replacements.
Sadly, there are many invasive plants in our gardens
Butterfly bush is not alone. Common landscaping choices like English ivy or porcelain grape vines are also invasive. All these plants were brought to America from other places—mainly for landscaping reasons. These plants are so successful at reproducing that they have choked out native plants. Visit our Most Common Invasive Species article to learn more.
Remove butterfly bushes as soon as you can. Here’s how:
How do I remove a butterfly bush?
Removing butterfly bushes is straightforward: all it takes is a shovel and a contractor trash bag.
- Cut down the butterfly bush branches with clippers or a hand saw
- Put them in a contractor trash bag (invasive plants cannot be composted)
- Dig up the roots: dig in a circle around the stem until you can lift the rootball out
- Put the rootball into a contractor bag and throw it out with the trash
- Plant host plants!
The butterflies will thank you.
Help all the butterflies: plant native
Replace butterfly bushes with native host plants that support butterflies and pollinators. Planting native ensures our gardens will thrive no matter what weather arrives in our home area, and cuts down on watering and work (especially compared to lawns.) A yard with native plants will be filled with butterflies and songbirds. Find inspiration on butterfly bush replacements in our Native Host Plants for Butterflies guide, or explore our native plant library.
Next steps and resources:
There are lots of well-known plants that have native options available. Explore our beginner guides to native favorites:
Sources
- Nelson, Gil. Best Native Plants for Southern Gardens: A Handbook for Gardeners, Homeowners, and Professionals, (2010).
- Harstad, Carolyn. Go Native! Gardening with Native Plants and Wildflowers in the Lower Midwest. (1999).