Discovered This Plant In My Louisiana Iris Bed

by Pat aka Queen of Thrift

In early spring I noticed a small shrub growing in my Louisiana Iris. I have watched it grow all spring and summer and a few weeks ago it surprised me with blooms that resembled pin cushions! I entered a description of it in my search engine on the internet, and found several sites with photos and growing information. It is a BUTTONBUSH and is native to Florida. It grows in many zones of the US and even Canada, and thrives in wet areas. I read that they can become invasive, but I don't mind that. I hope that it will multiply in this seasonal wet area of our yard.

discovered this plant in my louisiana iris bed, gardening, The button bush can grow into a small tree about 12 feet tall but they usually don t get that big

The button bush can grow into a small tree about 12 feet tall, but they usually don't get that big.

Buttonbush plants grow in wet areas. This one is at the edge of our wet weather stream.

discovered this plant in my louisiana iris bed, gardening, These are the seed pods The blooms looked like a pincushion full of needles and lasted for several weeks

These are the seed pods. The blooms looked like a pincushion full of needles and lasted for several weeks.

We made this little window house from found windows on our street.

discovered this plant in my louisiana iris bed, gardening, I have two beds of Louisiana Iris The buttonbush is in the bed that you see in the background

I have two beds of Louisiana Iris. The buttonbush is in the bed that you see in the background.

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5 of 9 comments

Douglas Hunt on Aug 09, 2013
I hope it will do well for you. It is a charming Florida native.

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- Pat aka Queen of Thrift on Aug 10, 2013
  @Douglas Hunt is it considered invasive in Florida, and can you give me some pointers about growing it successfully?
  
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- Douglas Hunt on Aug 10, 2013
  @Pat aka Queen of Thrift It is not at all considered invasive here, Pat. It is known to colonize when happy, which would be in a wet site with full sun to partial shade. Here's some good information from the University of Florida: http://lee.ifas.ufl.edu/Hort/GardenPubsAZ/Buttonbush.pdf
  
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- Pat aka Queen of Thrift on Aug 10, 2013
  @Douglas Hunt thank you for the information. It was exactly what I needed to know. :)
  
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White Oak Studio Designs on Nov 11, 2013
A nice native plant. Here in Michigan it gets very tall and large, so you may wish to transplant it to a space where it can grow to its hearts content. A pretty shrub too.

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