If you’re looking for a new shrub to liven up your landscape, there’s a charming native that deserves a spot in your garden. Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) not only has a cute name, it has the most charming flowers. Small, round, creamy-white flower heads are covered in tiny tubular flowers with yellow anthers, giving the plant a pincushion-like effect. These flowers have a somewhat honey-like scent.
This shrub boasts interest in multiple seasons. In summer, the unique sphere-like flowers cover the entire plant. Most varieties have good reddish, bronze, or yellow fall color. The flowers mature into interesting reddish ball-like fruits, which stay intact on the plant throughout the winter.
Pollinators such as bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds love the flowers, while the leaves provide food for the larval (caterpillar) stages of hydrangea sphinx and titan sphinx moths. Best of all? It’s also deer resistant.
This fast-growing shrub typically prefers wetlands, making it a great plant for low-lying areas. As a North American native, it grows in Zones 5–10 (find your zone here). It also can form thickets by producing suckers, so make sure to plant it where this is a desired feature, such as in a rain garden. It’s also a little slow to leaf out in spring.
It can become quite large, maxing out at 15 feet tall. If it gets too unruly, you can do a rejuvenation cut to near its base in early spring before it leafs out. In addition, newer, better-behaved cultivars have been introduced that won’t take over your whole landscape.
Ahead, learn how to grow this charming native shrub:
Buttonbush Basic Info:
- Common Name: Buttonbush, honey-bells
- Botanical Name: Cephalanthus occidentalis
- Plant Family: Rubiaceae
- Type of Plant: Shrub
- Native Origin: North America
- USDA Zones: 5 to 10
- Sun Exposure: Full sun
- Mature Size: 5 to 12 feet tall by 3 to 8 feet wide
- Toxic to pets: Yes
How to Grow Buttonbush
The most important thing to understand is that buttonbush becomes quite large. It’s too big as a foundation planting and a little too irregular in form as a specimen plant. Buttonbush also doesn’t like dry areas. It’s best grown in a rain garden or problematic low-lying area of your yard that stays wet. However, there are many newer dwarf cultivars that are more shapely and won’t overtake your garden.
Light
Buttonbush needs full sun, which is considered 6 or more hours of direct sunlight per day. It will tolerate part shade. Full shade will reduce its flowering.
Water
Buttonbush is a great plant for wet or boggy areas of the landscape or alongside streams. It does prefer moist soils and low-lying areas that don’t dry out completely until late in the season. It cannot tolerate drought, so if it’s grown in an area that isn’t moist, you’ll need to water it regularly.
Fertilizer
No additional fertilizer is required. However, if you’d like to give it a boost, sprinkle an all-purpose granular slow-release product, according to label instructions, around the shrub in early spring.
Pruning
Buttonbush blooms on new wood (this season’s new growth). Prune in late winter or early spring to shape it and reduce size. Rejuvenate prune to the ground in late winter if the plant becomes too unwieldy.
Types of Buttonbushes
In addition to the native buttonbush, which can become a bit too large in most landscapes, there are several pretty cultivars that have been bred to be more manageable:
‘Sugar Shack’ grows 4 to 5 feet tall and wide for a tidy plant that fits in home gardens.
‘Fiber Optics’ stays around 5 to 6 feet tall and wide with more of a weeping habit. New shoot growth is reddish.
‘Sputnik’ reaches about 10 to 15 feet tall with a more rounded form and pink flowers.
Is Buttonbush Toxic to Pets?
Unfortunately, all parts of this plant, especially the leaves, are toxic if ingested. The leaves of buttonbush contain the glycoside cephalothin, which can cause vomiting and convulsions. Keep your pets away from this plant, and call your vet right away if you suspect your pet has nibbled on it—even if you’re not sure. It’s always better to be safe than sorry.
