Variegated butterfly bush grows between 6 to 8 feet tall and wide, in an arching, mounding form. It has purplish-red flowers that form long panicles, and blooms from June to September. Leaves are a soft green to grey-green, with yellow mottling. But I'm going to be honest with you: if you buy this shrub for the variegation, be forewarned that it is unstable, and somewhere along the line it will revert back to a solid green leaf. And the green foliage is more vigorous and, once it appears, you'll need to stay on-top of pruning it out. It has a great flower, but there are better variegated shrubs out there, if that's what you're after.
Buddleia flower on new wood, so a hard pruning in late winter to early spring will encourage alot of branches and alot of flowers. Buddleia sometimes die-back in our colder winters, so prune hard to remove dead wood. If you want to try to keep your buddleia taller, when you prune, cut off the outward, arching branches, leaving the taller, central limbs in place. Attractive to bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds; resistent to deer. Grow in full sun to part shade, but best flowering occurs with full sun. Grow in well-drained soil; adaptive to soil types, from poor, dry soils to sandy-loam and clay-loam soils. A great cut flower.