Buttonbush
* Common name: Buttonbush
The round, pin-cushion-like flowers of buttonbush.
* Botanical name: Cephalanthus occidentalis
* What it is: Buttonbush is a Pennsylvania-native flowering shrub that produces unusual, round, inch-wide white flowers from June through August. The flowers are surrounded by fine, soft projections that give the blooms a look somewhat like white pincushions, slightly smaller than walnuts.
Moths, butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds flock to the summer flowers, while birds munch on the hard, red, nut-like fruits that the flowers mature into and hold into winter.
The variety Sugar Shack earned a 2024 Gold Medal award from the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society for its improved flowering.
* Size: Plants grow about six to eight feet tall and six feet wide in 10 years but can go bigger if not pruned. Sugar Shack and Fiber Optics are compact varieties that stay more in the four- to five-foot range with an annual light trim.
* Where to use: Buttonbushes prefer medium to damp soil and even tolerate soggy soil, so they’re a good choice for wet spots around the yard. Rain gardens, around ponds and water gardens, and along the edge of a wooded area are three good situations. Avoid dry sites.
Buttonbushes grow in full sun or part shade.
They’re sometimes browsed by deer, so think twice or protect plants if you’re trying them where these four-legged eating machines roam.
* Care: Pruning isn’t needed unless size needs to be controlled, in which case the cutting/trimming should be done at the end of winter. Plants can even be cut back hard to as low as knee high if they’re getting too rangy.
An annual spring scattering of a balanced, organic granular fertilizer is helpful but usually not necessary.
Water regularly the first year or two to establish the roots, then soak weekly during summer dry spells.
* Great partner: Winterberry holly, chokeberry, and spicebush are three other native shrubs that like the same damp-soil settings as buttonbush. Cardinal flower, sneezeweed, and beebalm are three native perennials that pair well in damp soil. Golden ragwort is a good native groundcover partner.