The fragrant flowers form slender terminal panicles < 25 centimetres (9.8 in) long, and range in colour from deep yellow, through orange, to pink.

Intolerant of sub-zero (< 32 °F) temperatures, it can only reliably be grown outdoors in subtropical and tropical climate gardens, such as those of Southern California and Florida in the US, although in temperate coastal regions it can survive on south-facing walls, with added winter frost protection.

The shrub is grown under glass as part of the NCCPG National Collection of Buddleja held by the Longstock Park Nursery, near Stockbridge, Hampshire, England.

[4][1] Popular around the world as an ornamental, B. madagascariensis has widely naturalized and is now classified as an invasive species in Hawaii;[5] it can also be found growing wild in southern China,[6] and along the Mediterranean coast of France.

[1] It was also found to have naturally hybridized with Buddleja indica in the Grand Bassin of Réunion, an island 200 kilometres (120 mi) east of Madagascar [7]