Plant buttonbush in wet landscape areas

Not all shrubs flaunt flamboyant blooms or brightly-colored foliage. Instead, they are content to bloom modestly and offer attractive foliage while coming to the rescue of gardeners with difficult landscape situations.

Cephalanthus occidentalis, commonly called buttonbush, cannot compete with hydrangeas when it comes to blooms or ninebarks when competing for colorful foliage, but if a gardener has a spot in their landscape with wet soil in full sun or part shade, it is sight for sore eyes (and a rescue for green thumbs).

The buttonbush is native to most of North America where it is found growing in floodplains, marshes, swamps and along streams or ponds. It is an ideal choice for gardeners to plant in areas that flood, remain wet for days after heavy rains, and along ditches and edges of ponds to control erosion. It is not fussy about soil as long as it has been amended with compost and isn't dry.

Buttonbushes quickly grow 6 to 12 feet tall and 6 to 10 feet wide with an open, rounded stature. New branches are green, maturing to brown and the bases of stems are swollen. Glossy, dark green leaves are late to unfurl in spring but remain attractive all season.

There is rarely a need for pruning but if shrubs are growing too large, they can be pruned in early spring.

Butterflies, bees and hummingbirds are attracted to buttonbush's small white flowers, resembling pincushions, that bloom in dense, round flower heads in early to midsummer. Orbs of flowers turn into hard, round fruit that remain on branches throughout winter.

Buttonbushes are rarely bothered by insects or disease and are easy to propagate by soaking cuttings in water until they produce roots or by poking cuttings directly into moist soil. Collect seeds from fruit after they have turned brown in fall and plant them in moist soil.

If our native buttonbush grows too large for your landscape, a cultivar — Sugar Shack — has been introduced. About half the size of Cephalanthus occidentalis, Sugar Shack grows 3 to 4 feet tall and wide and features the same unique flowers and glossy green foliage. The fruit, however, turns red for added appeal.

Plant a buttonbush with dogwood, arrowwood viburnum and winterberry in a shrub border that birds, butterflies, bees and other pollinators adore while offering four seasons of interest. The buttonbush, dogwood and viburnum bloom in spring or summer; the blue berries of Viburnum dentatum are beautiful in fall while the red berries of winterberry persist through the winter; and the red stems of dogwood also light up the winter landscape.

Or plant buttonbushes at the back of a perennial border featuring water-loving perennials like Joe-Pye weed (Eupatorium purpureum), turtlehead (Chelone oblique), Siberian iris (Iris sibirica), marsh marigolds (Caltha palustris), day lilies and sedges.

A wet area, once thought “ungardenable,” is now a perennial border with blooms from spring to fall.

• Diana Stoll is a horticulturist, garden writer and speaker. She blogs at gardenwithdiana.com.