Attract bees and pollinating insects to your garden with this sweetly scented shrub. Buddleja globosa, also known as the orange ball tree, is native to Chile, Peru and Argentina and has been given the RHS Award of Garden Merit. Its distinctive round flowerheads appear from early summer at the tips of long stems. This bushy shrub is low maintenance, making a good feature plant for the middle or back of a border. It's semi-evergreen, meaning that in a cold winter it will lose its leaves, but if the weather is mild the dark green, narrow leaves will add interest to the garden well after the flowers have faded.
Pruning Buddleja globosa is simple – wait until after the plant has finished flowering and then cut these flowered shoots back to a strong bud. This will help encourage new flowering shoots ready for next year. Each year, also prune around a quarter of the old stems down to the base. Buddleja globosa is a fast growing plant, so it will grow back to its original size by the next summer. Although it's fast growing, it will take around 10 years to reach a height of 5m. If you leave this shrub unpruned, the stems will get long and leggy and it won't flower as strongly.
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Advice on buying Buddleja globosa
Buy in spring or autumn if possible, so that you can give the shrub time to establish before the summer
Buddleja globosa may be easier to find online than in garden centres, as it's a slightly more unusual form of buddleia
Check your shrub for signs of damage or disease before planting. Check the leaves for brown spots or any signs of a virus, as well as pests.
