Buddleja 'Miss Ruby'
Buddleja 'Miss Ruby' is a hybrid cultivar derived from a 2002 crossing of "Buddleja" 'White Ball' with "Buddleja" 'Attraction' in the plant breeding program of Dennis J. Werner and Layne K. Snelling of North Carolina State University (NCSU) at the JC Raulston Arboretum. Werner and Snelling selected ‘Miss Ruby' in field trials that they conducted in 2003 at the Sandhills Research Station in Jackson Springs, North Carolina. NCSU's North Carolina Agriculture Research Service released the cultivar to commerce in 2007. NCSU received United States plant patent number USPP19950P3 for Ms. Ruby on April 21, 2009. During  the "Buddleja" cultivar Euro-trial that the Royal Horticultural Society conducted in 2008 at RHS Garden Wisley in Surrey, England, the public voted 'Miss Ruby' to be the most attractive cultivar of the 97 on display. The cultivar subsequently received the RHS Award of Garden Merit (record 9299) in 2012. Description. 'Miss Ruby' produces a compact, upright, globose spreading shrub that a profusion of branches create. The plant grows to a height of to and a width of to . The plant's inflorescence is a simple terminal panicle whose length is and whose diameter is . The panicle contains 140 to  160 fragrant bright pink flowers, each of whose length is and whose diameter is at its apex and that tapers to . The flower's tubular corolla has an orange inside surface. The plant's deciduous elliptical leaves average in length and in width and are green above and greyed-green below when mature. Werner and Snelling's publication on the cultivar stated that its dense growth and compact habit of make it an appropriate for use as a specimen plant and in mixed plantings. Its bright pink flower color is unique among existing "Buddleja" cultivars. Flowering begins in mid-May  and continues throughout the growing season in Raleigh, North Carolina. Werner and Snelling stated that ‘Miss Ruby’ "attracts butterflies in abundance". The flowers also attract bees, hummingbirds and other pollinators. As 'Miss Ruby' blooms on new wood, plants may require occasional moderate pruning to maintain the desired compact growth in regions where above-ground shoots survive over winter. In a field setting surrounded by fertile cultivars, ‘Miss Ruby’ produced moderate amounts of seed, but less than most commercial "Buddleja" cultivars. 'Miss Ruby' has proven to be an interspecific hybrid through testing and laboratory analysis. As a result, the northwestern U.S.  state of Oregon's noxious weed quarantine does not regulate the cultivar, which, unlike "Buddleja davidii", can be transported, propagated and sold within the state. The cultivar's fertility has not been fully assessed, although interspecific hybrids generally exhibit low fertility. The adjacent state of Washington also permits 'Miss Ruby', as its determinations of the invasive potential of "Budlejia davidii" and its cultivars are consistent with those of Oregon. Cultivation. Proven Winners LLC of DeKalb, Illinois, markets 'Miss Ruby' in the United States. The Royal Horticultural Society's website contains information regarding nurseries in the United Kingdom that market the  cultivar. Hardiness: USDA zones 5–9. See also. Non-invasive Buddleja cultivars