The Low-Maintenance Shrub You Can Grow In Your Yard That's A Magnet For Butterflies & Birds

When seeking out the perfect wildlife-magnet plant for your yard, be sure to peruse your list of local native shrubs to see what works for your growing conditions. If you have wet soil, you're in luck, and should write in buttonbush at the top of your "to-plant" list. Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) is one of the shrubs that will attract birds to your yard for fun feathered sightings, drawing orioles, chickadees, cardinals, and ducks to feed on its seeds. In fact, buttonbush is a superstar among wildlife-friendly plants, feeding a wide variety of bees, as well. This shrub is a larval host plant for several types of moths and butterflies, including the titan sphinx moth (Aellopos titan) and the hydrangea sphinx moth (Darapsa versicolor). Even hummingbirds will be attracted to your yard to feed on the nectar from buttonbush's tubular flowers.

Buttonbush is a multi-stemmed shrub or small tree with a rounded, upright growth habit. Also known as common buttonbush, button willow, or honey balls, this wildlife-friendly shrub reaches up to 12 feet tall and up to 8 feet wide. Covered with dark green, shiny leaves, the most eye-catching thing about this low maintenance, wetland species is its unusual flower heads. These blooms are fragrant and covered with spiky pistils, forming distinctive, ball-shaped, white flower heads that look like pincushions.

Living up to 50 years, this deciduous to semi-deciduous shrub is native to a large portion of the US, ranging through the eastern and south central US, and parts of the southwest through to California. It can be grown in yards located in USDA Hardiness Zones 4 to 8 and requires little maintenance. If you want to attract more songbirds to your garden by planting native shrubs like buttonbush, make sure you have the right growing conditions. Tolerating poor drainage and alkaline soils, buttonbush can grow in many different soil types, but prefers moist or wet conditions. It grows best and produces the most flowers in full sun, or part shade.

This moisture-loving shrub is the perfect choice if you're looking for shrubs to plant around a pond or lake, or to grow in a bog garden. If the dimensions of the straight species are a bit too imposing for your garden, you might want to consider growing 'Sugar Shack,' the buttonbush variety that won't take over your backyard, since it only grows to be 5 feet tall and wide. To provide an even stronger magnetic draw for wildlife, consider growing buttonbush alongside native plants with similar growing requirements, such as wax myrtle, red osier dogwood, or blue elderberry.