PlantFiles: Butterfly Bush, Summer Lilac, Orange-eye Butterfly Bush
Buddleja davidii 'Black Knight'

Our Black Knight is in its second year, and is really thriving. The blooms are much larger and fuller than last year. I've found that it is so irresistible to butterflies and bees that they will fly all around me when I am weeding at its feet. I've turned my head and found them just beside me, so absorbed in it's fragrance they they don't even seem to notice me there. I understand. . .I can get lost with my nose buried in one, too!

Has anyone saved seed and successfully grown it out?

I really like this plant and flowers are non stop until the winter time. I deadhead all the spent blooms just to promote new blooms which seems to work well. However, the color of the blooms have gone from dark purplish-blue to pinkish magenta. Has anyone else experienced this?

I love these plants, they attract tons of butterflies and are really easy to propagate by cuttings any time of the year. I deadhead constantly and cut it back late winter by one third.

I have a couple of these. For me, every year they get shorter - (maybe a little) but and they get alot wider. I cut all the way to the ground in late fall.(which was what I told when I purchased because the new growth comes out of the ground.) Every year I think that they died over winter because they do not show any life until the end of May-beginining of June. The best thing about them is that they really do attract LOT of butterflies and bees !!!

Beautiful shrub. It really does attract tons of butterflies! I deadhead the spent blooms to encourage more blooms, which will continue all summer and into the fall. Also, the individual blooms do not last a long time, so regular deadheading cleans up the plant. It is a little slow to get started in the spring, but once it does, it really grows fast! Also, in colder climates (such as where I live in zone 6), cut the plant all the way back to within about 12 inches of the ground in late winter. It may seem drastic but it really does encourage it to come back bigger and better each year. This is the most fragrant plant on our property.

For those who want to attract butterflies this plant takes the cake by far, Black knights flowers are super sweet and irresistable to butterflies,

I've recently gotten 3 different types of butterfly bushes. This one is probably my most favorite. The flowers are such a rich blackberry color and the sweet honey scent is like alyssum, but 10 times sweeter. My plants are still pretty small and already it is flowering. I'm so pleased with it!

In my zone (7ish), this plant doesn't die back in the winter. My mom has one in zone 5 and it does die to the ground every year, but keeps coming back for her. My Black Knight is the most bushy of the Buddlejas in my yard: it has lots of thin stems where the others tend to put out just a few main trunks and branch out from there. As others have said, the smell is wonderful. It reminds me of fresh grape jam.

Purchased this plant the previous spring and planted it next to the steps. Plant grew to 10ft. tall 6ft. diameter. numerous flowers and attractive to birds and bees. This area is on the coast, has fog in the summer and rain in the winter with occasional frost. Summer temp 60 to 70s with occasional 80.Awesome grower but needs to be clipped back to keep within bounds.

Beautiful! BF's love it!

With our mild winters this plant bloomed all winter and is still blooming into our HOT hot summer. It is planted in full sun next to the road and driveway. I rairly water it.

Black Knight is a very durable, rewarding plant. It requires little care, however, it'll benefit from deadheading the spent blooms.

Butterflies, bees and hummers CANNOT resist this plant. It has an almost overpowering sweet smell. Flower cones are of medium length, not as long as some of the other Buddleja cultivars. It's color is a rich, almost black purple, hence the name, Black Knight.

Plants can be trained to bush out or to grow more upright which lets it fit perfectly into a butterfly garden setting.

Black Knight is blooming for the second year now. The flowers are much bigger now..at least the triple size as last year. I guess the plant has settled now and grew more mature. Black Knight has a wonderfull colour..a very warm and dark purple (you can call it purple black with a red glow in it) with a dark orange eye. I think it is one of the prettiest among the Buddleia. It has a strong honey scent that can fill a room if you put a branch in a vase. I understand now better why butterflies love this bush. If you want butterflies..please plant a Buddlea...I've just counted about 50 butterflies on it!

My black knight is prolific in bloom all season long! As long as the flowers are dead headed on a regular basis it maintains it beauty!! I have them planted in a variety of conditions, clay soil with full sun, enriched soil in part sun that stays moist to wet, and part sun in moderate to dry soil. Wonderful plant!!!

While I find the plant very drought tolerant. I find the flowers less so. This plant flowers with us in mid-Summer. In dry weather they are often spent in a day and the repeats are very small. I am disappointed in this plant, I have another variety that flowers in Spring and is much more rewarding.

Easy to grow and drought tolerant. Wonderful dark purple blooms that are an average of 5 inches long...but some get up to 8 or 9 inches here! Very sweet scent. Nothing beats a buddelia for scent, except maybe a lilac or heliotrope!

Well recommended buddliea. Wonderfully fragrant and highly attractive to butterflies.
Easy to bloom and good grown habit.