Magical Moonlight Buttonbush
Cephalanthus occidentalis 'Magical Moonlight'
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Specifications
| Hardiness Zone | 5a to 9b |
|---|---|
| Sunlight | Full sun, Partial shade |
| Height | |
| Width | |
| Growth Rate | Moderate |
| Watering Needs | High |
| Preferred Soil | Chalky, Clay, Loamy, Peaty, Sandy |
| Landscape Use | Border, Woodland Garden, Slope Planting, Rain Garden |
| Growth Habit | Bushy, Spreading |
| Blooms In | Summer |
| Flower Color | White |
| Foliage Color | Green |
| Fragrant | Yes |
| Pet Safety | Toxic to pets |
| Plant Characteristics | Cold hardy, Native, Flowering, Wet Soils, Attracts Butterflies, Attracts Hummingbirds, Attracts pollinators, Hedge/Screen, Deer-resistant |
| Botanical Name | |
| Does Not Ship To | AK, HI, ID, MT, PR, VI |
Description
Butterflies Adore Magical Moonlight Buttonbush
- Dwarf Hybrid of a Beloved Native Shrub
- Hundreds of Tiny, Tubular Flowers Pack Into Showy White Bloom
- Cute Flower Heads Shaped Like Pom Poms
- Incredibly Fragrant Flowers
- Wonderful Pollinator Shrub
- Flowers Develop into Seeds for Birds
- Glossy, Thick Leaves
- Rounded, Compact Form
- Tolerates Wet Environments and Boggy Soil
- Great in Rain Gardens or Near Downspouts
- Easy-Care
- High Performance
- Widely Adaptable
- Grow in Large Outdoor Containers for Years
- Thrives in Full Sun, Partial Shade or Shade
Gardens are places where fanciful daydreams come to life. Whimsy meets performance with the unique Magical® Moonlight Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis 'Magical Moonlight').
Use these compact deciduous shrubs in low-lying spots in your landscape. They look incredible near water, and provide so much value to your local butterflies, honey bees and hummingbirds.
They are also excellent landscape shrubs with exceptionally beautiful ornamental features. Rely on them to help define your space without regard to sun conditions.
Incredibly fragrant, long-lasting blooms cover these mounded shrubs for weeks in the early season. Each fuzzy, round bloom is actually a tightly packed sphere of tubular flowers.
Do you know how much hummingbirds love these tubular-shaped flowers with protruding, yellow-tipped stamens? These symbiotic partners make a perfect match for use in Butterfly or Pollinator Gardens.
Butterflies and bees are attracted to its nectar. Bees use their blooms to produce honey.
Magical Moonlight Buttonbush is a naturally dwarfed version of the native Buttonbush. They'll fit in small space gardens, and can even be kept in outdoor containers for many years with plenty of supplemental water.
The dark green foliage is textured and lustrous. Leverage their lush fullness as an attractive privacy screen.
In bloom, you'll be enchanted by their honey-sweet fragrance. Slowly over the course of the season, they'll morph into seeded fruit.
These magnificent shrubs are an excellent choice in naturalized landscapes. Waterfowl and shorebirds consume the seeds; and wood ducks protect their brooding nests in the branches.
Let your landscape design soar with these extra-special shrubs. Become part of the grander web of life, and enjoy their charm at the same time.
Grant your wishful plantings a net positive impact. Order Magical Moonlight Buttonbush from our wildlife plant experts today.
How to Use Magical Moonlight Buttonbush in the Landscape
Grow these in woodland gardens to provide scent, shapely and texture to otherwise dim or drab areas. Use them in an undulating row, or loose zigzag.
They'll grow together and touch if you plant them three feet apart on center, measuring from the center of one to the center of the next. Vary the width between plants—all the way out to eight feet apart—to create a natural-looking clump.
It's a tried-and-true garden formula that an odd number of plants looks best. Try an offset planting on either side of a Cottage Garden gate, with three on one side and five on the other.
Repeat their use in a mass planting along a low-lying hollow. Create a soft, flowering edge to lakes, streams and ponds.
They'll be wonderful in Rain Gardens. Make a plan to slow potentially polluted runoff from roofs and streets, using hard-working moisture-loving plants and a series of berms.
With proper care, Magical Moonlight Buttonbush can also provide screening in urban roof gardens. Place it near a Rain Barrel, or set it up on an automated watering system.
How exciting to make the most of your landscape. Nature Hills offers so many water-loving plants to partner with, including sweet Sedge grasses and boldly colorful Upright Red Chokeberry shrubs. Let your creativity soar!
#ProPlantTips for Care
This is a durable shrub that tolerates most sites and any amount of sunlight. It truly loves rich organic moist soil best.
Work in a few handfuls of compost, and a packet of Nature Hills Root Booster to the backfill soil, following directions. You'll support the tiniest feeder roots over the entire life of your plants.
Buttonbush can tolerate moist soils. Ensure they receive plenty of water on a consistent schedule. Apply mulch over the root system, but please don't let it directly touch the stems.
Prune to shape in late winter. Remove damaged branches at that time, clipping at a 45-degree angle above a swollen leaf bud.
You'll be thrilled with these outstanding landscape plants. Make your order for Magical Moonlight Buttonbush now, and we will ship to you at the correct planting time for your growing zone.
Go ahead and do your Happy Dance when you see the sturdy boxes arrive on your doorstep!
Planting & Care
Delivery and Shipping
Shipping Rates
Ships in 3-5 business days • Tracking provided • Weather protected
| Under $50 | $9.99 |
| $50 - $99.99 | $14.99 |
| $100 - $149.99 | $16.99 |
| $150 - $198.99 | $24.99 |
| $199+ | FREE |
✓ Zone-specific timing • ✓ Professional packaging • ✓ Health guarantee
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It came in great shape, and it’s still going strong several weeks later with minimal watering. I am in North Texas, zone 8a. I got it to go on the north side of my house in an area with poor drainage, and it doesn’t seem to mind.
Sugar Shack Buttonbush is a great fit for exactly that kind of spot. It naturally grows along stream banks and pond edges, so poor drainage that would stress most shrubs is really no problem for it at all. Good to hear it settled in well through a North Texas summer, and the north-side placement should suit it for the long run. Thanks for sharing how you have it growing.
Found this bush on Nature Hills website and knew that it would fill a vacant spot along a wooden fence and liven up the patio area nicely. I amlooking forward to soon seeing vibrant fall foliage. Also, I hope that it will be blooming next spring. I also appreciate that it attracts pollinators and provides food for birds.
Buttonbush is such a good choice for a fence line, and the wildlife value really does pay off over time. The blooms typically arrive in summer rather than spring, so you may want to keep that in mind as you watch it settle in. Once it gets going, the round, spidery flowers are a real draw for bees and butterflies, and the seeds bring in the birds right behind them. Thanks for sharing how it is doing, Susan.
plant arrived looking a little worse for wear from long shipping, loss of 50% of leaves but perked up with watering and light. Hopefully it will flourish in el nino
Buttonbush is a tough plant at heart, and it sounds like yours proved that pretty quickly once it got some water and light. Shipping stress can knock the leaves back, especially on a longer journey, but a plant that perks up fast is usually a good sign for what is ahead. Thanks for giving it a chance to settle in, Samuel.
Arrived in good shape and seems to be doing well.
Buttonbush is a tough, adaptable shrub once it settles in, and it sounds like yours is off to a solid start. Thanks for the update, and we hope it fills in nicely for you this season.
Our buttonbush arrived quickly. The box was awesome! Bush was well protected!
Our buttonbush was quickly planted and do far is doing well. I will order from these guys again. They take the time to tell you what you need to know about their company and your plant! Good job for making us feel important!
Buttonbush is such a rewarding plant, and it sounds like yours is off to a solid start. The packaging does get a lot of thought on our end, so it's good to hear the plant arrived in good shape and ready to go in the ground. Thanks for the kind words, Vicki, and welcome to the Nature Hills family. We hope that buttonbush thrives for years to come.
Ordered three plants and all arrived in great shape, bigger than I expected. They are doing really well
Buttonbush is such a resilient plant once it gets established, and it sounds like yours are off to a strong start. If you have any moisture-prone spots in the yard, Sugar Shack thrives there and will reward you with those distinctive globe flowers that pollinators love. Thanks for sharing how they arrived, Sharon.
Waiting for cooler fall weather to plant. Very happy in a larger pot. Growing so quickly I pinched it back to shape it a bit.
Buttonbush is surprisingly vigorous once it gets going, so it sounds like yours is off to a great start. Pinching it back early is smart, it will encourage a fuller shape before it goes in the ground. When you do transplant in the fall, the cooler soil temps will give the roots a nice long stretch to establish before spring. Thanks for sharing the update, Geraldine.
I have many gardens. But this bush dead
Plant arrived in good condition. 2nd one I have purchased. 1st one is a year old and has doubled in size but has not blossomed yet.
Hi Rebecca,
Thank you so much for your wonderful feedback and for choosing our Button Bush Sugar Shack not just once, but twice! We’re delighted to hear the first plant has grown so beautifully over the past year—it’s a testament to your care and attention. It’s quite common for button bushes to focus energy on foliage growth before blossoming, especially in their early years. To encourage blooms, picking a sunny location with consistent moisture and perhaps a low-nitrogen fertilizer can sometimes help trigger flowering.
If you’d like, we can also share some detailed care tips tailored for your region or suggest the best timing to expect blossoms based on your local climate. Please feel free to reach out anytime for personalized advice!
Rooting for your garden’s success,
Your Nature Hills Plant Care Team
Plant arrived in good condition. 2nd one I have purchased. 1st one is a year old and has doubled in size but has not blossomed yet.
Dear Elizabeth,
Thank you so much for your thoughtful review and for returning to Nature Hills for your Buttonbush Sugar Shack purchase! We’re delighted to hear your plant arrived in good condition. It’s wonderful that your first plant has been thriving and growing steadily over this year—even if it hasn’t blossomed yet. Buttonbush plants sometimes take a bit of time, especially while they’re establishing themselves, before producing their unique, beautiful flowers.
If you’re hoping to encourage blooming, make sure your Buttonbush is planted in a spot with full to partial sun, with consistent moisture but well-drained soil. Fertilizing in early spring with a balanced fertilizer might also give it that extra boost for flowering. We’re always here to support you if you have any questions or want more detailed tips to help your plants flourish.
Thanks again for sharing your experience and trusting us with your gardening journey!
Bloom on,
The Nature Hills Plant Knowledge Team
