Suspect the variation in light recommendations is because c. occidentalis can range from Canada to Mexico. Most recommendations I've seen written for regions with the long 100ð+ runs found in north Texas (8a) call for some shade. Full sun is probably fine and likely recommended for less intense heat further north or at higher altitudes. Have encountered this with several other plants recommended for full sun in the north, but have to be given some shade here in order to thrive or even survive.

Buttonbush might work in full sunlight here in a water or wetland location, but most of the recommendations are written for typically drier landscape use. Ours is happy in partial shade, but grows very slowly.

I see buttonbush in varied conditions from full sun to 1/2 shade here in Oklahoma and Arkansas. I've grown it in both, and find constant moisture to affect growth even more than light conditions. I'm not sure that full shade will do...really.

Here in Zone 5 New Hampshire buttonbush does best in full sun. It also seems to like lots of nutrients. Does not seem to be affected by pollution.

Buttonbush cannot grow underneath a stand of red maple. You have to cut the maple trees down first.

I have a stand in full shade, swamp, lots of swamp maples. It took a while (4 years) - but now blooms very nicely - a good plant for a difficult place.

Thanks for your replies, everyone!

I have several button bushes growing on the lake shore. Very wet. One is an older and larger plant - perhaps the parent to the others. It is growing intertwined with a viburnum and a blueberry. They are all in full sun and seem happy. Even the youngest and smallest are blooming. I didn't plant any of them - they were here before I bought the house or they planted themselves.

I have seen native stands of button bush in full sun on the edge of a pond here, but have also seen them in full shade in a red maple wetland. In both cases they were in southern NH toward the seacoast and in full bloom, so even this far north they don't seem too fussy. Both stands also had water up around their ankles and seemed perfectly happy that way.

Yes, quite adaptable to sun/shade continuum. There's shade however, and then there's shade. I wouldn't expect any shrub to do much under, say, the shade of a mature Norway maple, etc.

One other thought: Sometimes, just the judicious pruning of a few branches on surrounding trees is all that's needed to really make a difference. I don't know your exact situation, but could this be an answer?

+oM

I'm in Zone 7 and have a button bush I kept in a pot for a couple of years until we were permanently settled, then planted it in what will be a flower bed right in front of the house, in an inside corner where water sometimes collects if we get a lot of rain (although we do have a drain a few feet away). It's grown well and filled out but after almost 2 years in the ground it's never bloomed, so I've wondered if it gets enough sun as the house faces roughly west by northwest and the garden doesn't get direct light until early to mid-afternoon (other species I've planted are shade-tolerant). From what I've seen species that do get full sun (like my sweetbay magnolia) take a beating here as we can have weeks of temperatures in the 90s with little to no rain. It's actually become a bit scraggly so I may prune it this fall and see if it puts more energy into flower production next year. It sits in front of our home office with picture windows, so I had envisioned this area to be a gathering place for pollinators and birds (I have a bird bath and bird feeder there as well, which the birds don't visit). I have a Rose Mallow in the opposite corner that I planted last fall (another story in itself), and it gets almost no direct sun but it bloomed a few days ago.

Adaptable as far as light, as everyone has said, but they do like moisture/wet soil.