Button Bush Shrubs

Button bush shrubs for sale here are Cephalanthus occidentalis, also written buttonbush, a native wetland shrub whose fragrant white pincushion flowers draw butterflies and hummingbirds all summer. Plants ship bare-root at 1-2, 2-3 and 3-4 feet, in packs of 25, 50, 100 and 500, for pollinator screens, rain gardens, pond margins and wholesale buyers.

Button Bush Shrub Size, Zones and Sun

Plan on 5 to 8 feet tall and 3 to 6 feet wide in most gardens, though plants can climb to 12 feet in good wet ground. Zones 5 to 9. Full sun is best, since shade cuts the flowering, and part shade is the limit. The shrub is deciduous and leafs out late in spring.

Button Bush Flowers

Round flower heads, about an inch across, open in June and keep coming through August. They're white to cream with long styles poking out like pins in a cushion, and they smell sweet. By late summer they turn into brown seed balls that stay on the branches for months.

Button Bush and Pollinators

Few shrubs draw as many pollinators in midsummer. Bees, swallowtails and hummingbirds work the heads, and songbirds and ducks eat the seed later. Our button bush screen ideas for pollinators article has planting layouts.

Where to Plant Button Bush Shrubs

Rain gardens, pond margins, creek sides and any low yard spot that stays soggy after a storm: that's where button bush belongs. A regular bed works too if you keep the soil moist. For a screen, plant 4 to 6 feet apart. Wondering how wet is too wet? Our answer on whether buttonbush grows in standing water covers it.

Planting Button Bush Bare-root

Soak the roots for an hour, set the shrub at the depth it grew and firm the soil around it. Water well, add mulch and keep the soil damp through the first summer. The plant leafs out late, so don't write it off if it looks bare into May.

Buying Button Bush Shrubs in Bulk

At 5 feet apart a pack of 25 makes a screen about 125 feet long, 100 plants run to 500 feet and 500 plants reach 2,500. Packs of 25, 50, 100 and 500 let you fill a single rain garden or an entire pond margin.

Good to Know About Button Bush

Don't plant it in persistently dry soil, since it wants moisture. Bark and leaves are toxic if eaten, so keep it away from grazing animals. Pruning in late winter keeps the shape tidy, and plants regrow strongly from the base.

Button Bush in Rain Gardens and Screens

In a rain garden it handles the cycle of flooding and drying that kills most shrubs. As a screen it makes a loose, arching wall that stays full of insects and birds from June to fall.

Button Bush Shrub Sizes, Packs and Shipping

Button bush shrubs ship bare-root in November, in 1-2, 2-3 and 3-4 foot sizes and packs of 25, 50, 100 and 500. Volume pricing available. Browse more wholesale shrubs.