Fall is just around the corner, and some of my summer bloomers are beginning to wind down. But birds and other wildlife continue to need sustenance from plants, and I continue to need focal points in my garden. Fortunately, buttonbush, a sadly underused shrub, is filling both of our needs.
Sometimes referred to as honey balls, buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) is the last to leaf out in spring and the last summer-flowering shrub to bloom in my garden. But it makes up for its tardiness with its unique clusters of spherical, white blossoms that resemble golf-ball-sized Sputnik satellites. Set against the plant’s glossy, dark-green foliage, they are truly otherworldly.
The shrub is native to eastern Canada and the continental United States, from Maine to Florida and west to the Great Plains, with some occurrences in the Southwest and California, as well as Cuba and Central America. In these areas, it can be found growing wild near lakes and ponds — sometimes in standing water — and under large shrubs and trees in forests.
Its seeds, fruit and nectar feed dozens of bird species, including hummingbirds and waterfowl, butterflies, moths, bumble bees, honey bees and smaller native bees. Some mammals, such as beavers, feed on the plant’s stems and leaves, yet it is considered somewhat resistant to deer browsing (your results may vary).
The plant is hardy in horticultural zones 5 through 9 or 10 and thrives in full sun, part-sun, part-shade and shade, although blooming is best in sunnier spots.
Tolerant of all conditions except drought, buttonbush prefers moist, well-drained soil and even thrives in swamps.
It’s an excellent substitute for the invasive butterfly bush (Buddleia), which, despite appearing well-behaved in your home garden, invariably escapes via seeds spread by wind, water and birds to choke out native species in wild areas, particularly south of zone 5. Those endangered natives are essential food sources for birds, pollinators and other wildlife. If you’re growing a butterfly bush, please consider replacing it.
Because it’s such a champ in waterlogged areas, buttonbush can also be used in rain gardens and put to work to control erosion in soggy sites.
In midsummer, the irregular-shaped, multi-stemmed shrub’s arching, upright branches produce sweetly fragrant “button” or “honey ball” flowers that give way to hard, knobby, green berries, which mature to red in autumn. Those eye-catching fruits hold on long after the plant’s leaves drop and persist through winter, or at least until migrating birds take advantage of them to fuel their journey. Waterfowl and shorebirds enjoy them, too.
Usually topping out at 6-12 feet tall, common buttonbush can reach twice that height. To contain its size and encourage better blooming, prune each branch by a third in late winter or very early spring before new growth begins, giving careful thought to creating your desired shape. Or, to tame an unruly or too-large plant, cut the whole thing down nearly to the ground. It will grow up to 3 feet by the end of summer.
Dwarf cultivars that reach just 3-4 feet tall and wide, each with slightly different attributes and cold tolerances, are available for smaller gardens. My dwarf “Sugar Shack” variety has a more symmetrical, rounded habit than the standard and lights up the fall garden with its multicolored foliage.
And that’s something to look forward to.
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Jessica Damiano writes weekly gardening columns for the AP and publishes the award-winning Weekly Dirt Newsletter. You can sign up here for weekly gardening tips and advice.
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