CULTIVAR COMPARISON OF BUDDLEIA AS A CUT FLOWER
Buddleia sp., butterfly bush, is a large, arching shrub with spike-shaped inflorescences in a wide range of colors including pink, purple, yellow, and white. Our objective was to determine which cultivars of Buddleia had an acceptable postharvest life and potentially could be used as cut flowers. Stems of `Black Knight', `Charming Summer', `Empire Blue', `Lochinch', `Nanho Blue', `Nanho Purple', `Pink Delight', `Royal Red', `White Profusion', and `Sungold' were harvested when one-third to two-thirds of the florets had opened. Within 2 hours of harvest, flower stems were recut under water, placed in vases containing 10 g Floralife/liter, and placed in a simulated consumer environment. Daily fresh weight, open and total length of inflorescence, and inflorescence color were measured. `Charming Summer', `Pink Delight', `Royal Red', `Sungold', `Lochinch', `White Profusion', and `Nanho Blue' performed best.