Plant of the Week: Lo & Behold® 'Ice Chip' Buddleia

Hello from blizzardy-cold Michigan!

This week Jane brings you a beautiful white butterfly bush appropriately named 'Ice Chip' and she makes a case for white gardens.

Entrance to the Moon Garden

This took me back to the 2018 Austin Garden Bloggers Fling and the beautiful Moon Garden at Skottie O'Mahony & Jeff Breitenstein's Tanglewild Gardens. The image on the right is of three Balinese goddesses that beckon you inside. They designed the space using plants and flowers that are white or otherwise pale-colored, and that are at their most glorious in the moonlight. It was daytime when we visited so we couldn't get the full effect, but I thought how wonderful to be able to design garden spaces that wake up at night!

Tamara Paulat also wrote a nice post about this garden with more photos on her blog site Chickadee Gardens.

Enjoy this plant of the week, and if you're in the same boat as we are...stay warm!

- Natalie 

Icy Patch... 

So, we've had a bit of ice around here. Also some snow. Many of you have had the same - probably more than us. By the end of February, even the hardiest winter sports fans are dreaming of summer's warmth.

Lo & Behold® 'Ice Chip' Buddleia

What if I told you that come August you'll be wanting a frosty little plant? It's Lo & Behold® 'Ice Chip' Buddleia.

Petite, long-blooming Lo & Behold® 'Ice Chip' is one of the non-invasive Buddleia varieties developed by Dr. Dennis Werner of NC State University.

Like the other Lo & Behold® plants, it will flower all summer without deadheading and stays quite small: about 2' x 2.5'. It will want full sun and well-drained soil. If you're in the northern part of its range you should try to plant it earlier in the season rather than later.

The case for white plants.
We know that white flowers typically don't sell as well as brightly colored ones in most places. That's too bad because white blooms can add a lot to gardens, particularly if they're planted en masse.

The nice thing about a little shrub-like Lo & Behold® 'Ice Chip' is that it looks just great in a patio container. It can be used to create a small space for evening contemplation, maybe with some Bobo® Hydrangea and White Album® Euonymus nearby?

An all-white garden is at once a bold statement and a calming retreat. After all, many of us don't actually get to enjoy our gardens until the daylight is fading. By then reds and pinks lose their punch, but white glows. Add the fragrance of a butterfly bush like Lo & Behold® 'Ice Chip' and you've got the perfect place to sit down and talk about your day with the family.

Plant of the Week is written by Jane Beggs-Joles.