Meaning & use
butterfly bush
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
A fast-growing garden shrub with long spikes of small, sweet-smelling flowers that attract butterflies and bees.
Grammar: A compound noun with a plural: two butterfly bushes. Use an or the in the singular.
Patterns
- plant a butterfly bush
- butterfly bush in bloom
A purple butterfly bush by the fence was covered in butterflies all August.
We cut back the butterfly bush every spring so it flowers more heavily.
The butterfly bush has spread along the railway embankment.
Word forms
| plural | butterfly bushes |
|---|
Common combinations
- prune a butterfly bush
- Prune the butterfly bush hard in early spring.
- butterfly bush in bloom
- A butterfly bush in bloom drew a crowd of red admirals.
- plant a butterfly bush
- They planted a butterfly bush to help pollinators.
- dwarf butterfly bush
- A dwarf butterfly bush fits nicely in a large pot.
- invasive butterfly bush
- In parts of the Pacific Northwest, the butterfly bush is treated as invasive.
Synonyms and how they differ
- buddleia
- Buddleia is the botanical name and is the usual word in British English, while butterfly bush is plainer and more common in American use.
- summer lilac
- Summer lilac is an alternative common name that stresses the flower's scent and color rather than its butterfly appeal.
Word family
Commonly confused: butterfly bush or butterfly weed?
butterfly bush vs butterfly weed
Butterfly weed is a separate orange-flowered wildflower, not the shrub called butterfly bush.
Practice
Why do many gardeners plant a butterfly bush?
Choose one answer.
The plant is named for the butterflies its scented flower spikes draw in. It does not produce fruit, grow into a shade tree or act as pest control.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “butterfly bush”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.