Peacock - 4-5' tall
Guinevere - 8-10' tall

do they really have ultimate sizes???

or it this how much they will grow in one season.. if they are cut back every year???

seems to me.. some peeps whack them back hard every season.. if terra does NOT... wont they keep growing???

ken

No, Ken. Buddleja is a shrub and even the straight species B davidii will top out eventually. I'm not good at estimating heights but the wind blown seedlings in my wood which moved in after the Japanese Knotweed had been killed off (but that's another story) are now about 15 feet tall. They won't get much taller.

but we are talking.. well.. i am anyway ...

about size estimates ... and backyard gardeners.. who have a very limited space and what to fill it ...

i dont know about peacock staying magically in the 4 to 5 foot range ... ON ITS OWN ...

i have a lot of shrubs.. of all various kinds... not a single one ever stopped at some magical height...

even the alleged dwarf lilac paladin... was going on 8 feet tall .. until the rabbits ate .. get this.. one half of it.. down to 2.5 feet ... aka snow cover ...

i only dabbled in B for a few years... they grew tremendously ... and then one winter took them all ... i tried again.. out here in sand... and they didnt like sand ... dry sand ... so i gave up ...

my issue.. is simply ... are the size estimates based on rejuvenation pruning... or reality ... if left to its own devices???

ken

Thanks to the three of you for the helpful comments.
I've always thought that the size that growers listed for each butterfly bush was the size you could expect in one growing season. For example, If I wanted a 4'-5' tall bush, I'd look for one that was listed as such (or as close as possible). The following late winter/early spring, I'd prune it back to within about 12" from the ground and could expect it to grow back to a 4'-5' height that summer. And on and on ...
Or I could buy a bush that was listed as 8'-10' tall .... and spend the summer whacking the top growth (including the flowers) off to maintain my 5' height!! And after pruning in the following winter/spring, I would go through the same hassle: cutting and "uglying" what is a beautiful plant.
I'm not sure what you'd get if you never pruned a butterfly bush; like you, I'd guess it would continue growing taller and, as suggested, topping out at some point. Would it retain its "fountain" shape? How long a ladder would you need to make some cosmetic changes?
And since all the davidiis bloom on only new wood, it might get to be a bit "scraggly". (I'll let each come up with their definition for "scraggly" LOL)
If anyone can suggest other butterfly bushes in the 4'-6' range, I'd appreciate hearing about them.
Again, thanks to all!!

I have Peacock and it exceeds 4-5' but not by much. Not pruned this year. I have tendonitis in elbow and shoulder and just didn't get it done.

It is definitely smaller than older cultivars that get closer to 10-12'

I've had it more than five years.

buddleias are hideous when not cut back hard-what an undistinguished bush the plain leaved ones are-to the ground alice to the ground-then probably 4-6 for all of them

didnt realize you liked the shape=you might try the golen or silver leaved varieties=and the white flowered tend to be smaller and more flriferous=if theyre cut back

This post was edited by davids10 on Thu, May 29, 14 at 15:23

Thanks to everyone for your contributions. (Decided to go with 'Miss Molly' which is "listed" as 4'-5' height.)