Cephalanthus occidentalis

Button Bush, Button Willow, Honey Bells

Buttonbush is an open, woody, deciduous shrub usually 5-8′ tall (sometimes taller), with an irregular crown graced with many white, golf ball-sized, spherical flower clusters in June. The shrub is very ornamental, and the white, long lasting, pin-cushion like flowers are more often than not being visited by enthusiastic butterflies and/or bees. It is semi-aquatic. Although common, therefore, in wet habitats of the Eastern U.S. such as swamps, floodplains, pocosins and pond edges, even in standing water, Buttonbush can be cultivated in an upland garden setting with consistently moist but well drained soil as well. Seeds persist in attractive, compact balls into winter, providing food for various birds. Buttonbush flowers most prolifically in full sun and is tolerant of a range of circumneutral soils. It profits from hard pruning as flowers occur on new growth.