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      • Abelia 'Kaleidoscope'
      • Lilac 'Prairie Petite'
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      • Deutzia 'Nikko'
      • Hydrangea Incrediball
      • Summersweet 'Sixteen Candles'
      • Caryopteris 'Snow Fairy'
      • Chokeberry 'Morton' (Iroquois Beauty)
      • Red-twig dogwood 'Midwinter Fire'
      • Hydrangea Little Lime
      • Crape myrtle Red Rocket
      • Dwarf oakleaf hydrangea 'Ruby Slippers'
      • Winterberry holly Red Sprite
      • Korean spice viburnum
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      • Summersweet 'Compacta'
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      • Sweetshrub 'Hartlage Wine'
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      • Hydrangea Little Quick Fire and Bobo
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      • Hydrangea Invincibelle Spirit II
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      • Forsythia Magical Gold
      • Dwarf lilac 'Red Pixie'
      • Hydrangea Tuff Stuff
      • Bush honeysuckle Kodiak Black
      • Spicebush
      • Crape myrtle Dynamite
      • Elderberry Lemony Lace
      • Hydrangea 'Haas' Halo'
      • Chokeberry Ground Hug
      • Pearlbush Snow Day Surprise
      • Dwarf oakleaf hydrangea ‘Munchkin’
      • Sweet azalea
      • Buttonbush
      • Abelia 'Little Richard'
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      • Viburnum Chicago Lustre
      • Butterfly bush Lo and Behold 'Blue Chip'
      • Caryopteris
      • Caryopteris Petit Bleu
      • Crape myrtle Pink Velour
      • Crape myrtle 'Tonto'
      • Elderberry Black Lace
      • Fothergilla 'Blue Shadow'
      • Fothergilla 'Mt. Airy'
      • Hydrangea Forever and Ever series
      • Hydrangea Let's Dance Starlight
      • Hydrangea Pinky Winky
      • Hydrangea 'Limelight'
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      • Magnolia Little Girls
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      • Ninebark Summer Wine
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      • Purple beautyberry
      • Red-twig dogwood
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      • Spirea 'Ogon' (Mellow Yellow)
      • St. Johnswort 'Albury Purple'
      • St. Johnswort Mystical series
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      • Winterberry holly 'Winter Red'
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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.


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