Features

• The feature that sets the bicolor cultivar apart from the rest of the buddleias is the color progression over its bloom cycle. Bicolor buds are lavender-purple, but fade to peach as they bloom along the flower spike. Over time, the blooms fade to a yellowish-white. The entire color progression may be represented on each bloom spike.
  
  

Culture

• Plant your bicolor buddleia in well-drained soil in full sun, with soil pH near neutral. Avoid using pesticides (even for spider mites, a common pest of buddleia), since the main attraction of butterfly bushes is the butterflies. Cut back to 12 inches before spring growth and remove spent flower spikes to discourage unwanted seedling. Mulch 2 to 3 inches to increase buddleia's natural drought tolerance.
  
  

Considerations

• The purples, peaches and yellows of bicolor buddleia blooms contrast well with the silvery foliage of artemisia (Artemisia absinthium), dusty miller (Senecio cineraria) and sage (Salvia spp.) varieties. Complete your butterfly garden with orange-blooming butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) to give your butterflies a home to complete their life cycle. Incorporate fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) and other plants that attract spider mite-devouring insects, so you don't have to spray insecticides on your bicolor buddleia.