Hi,

Actually Spring is the perfect time to prune this plant. Just cut it back to the ground and new growth will shoot up in no time. Grows very quickly and fills out nicely.

Jen

I pruned my buddleias too late last spring, and I think it almost killed them. The sap had risen through the branches and new leaves were starting to come out. I always prune them to about 12" from the ground. I think by pruning so late, the bushes had already spent a lot of energy pushing sap through the plants and I cut off all that energy. They didn't start growing again until June, but fortunately, they did come back.

I'm in a colder zone than you, so for me the right time was a few weeks ago, which I did. Last year I did it at the end of March, which was a problem.

If yours are already growing, I'm not sure what you should do now. Maybe let them go this season and prune hard next year at the end of winter? Anyone else have input on this?

I'm in Z 7/8ish, I have cut back in February and lost them, now I wait until I see signs of new growth and then cut mine back by 2/3. They come on like gang busters.

A......

I usually wait until late April. I cut them back to about 2 feet tall only because they take so long to grow up here. If we get a cool May, they're not in bloom until July, so cutting them back too dramatically just makes the wait longer for me. Where it's more aggressive, you could prune it shorter. And remember, you should always prune it during the summer. It responds quite well with new flowers if you give it a haircut after the first flush of blooms has died.

I prune in early April. If you prune too early it may die. I cut my three back to stubs about 12 inches high. I prune Callicarpas the same way.

I wait until the leaves just begin to emerge, that's standard operating procedure for subshrubs and certain not-so-sub shrubs.

Also, I find it difficult to prune these tastefully, which for me means pruned in such a way that it doesn't look like they've been pruned at all. Branch stubs really spoil the look of this plant, imho, so I generally cut them pretty close to the ground. I'll have to try pinching, that might control the shape without leaving stubs, but doesn't it encourage that right-angle branching that makes this plant look a bit ... frenetic?

Waiting for the flowers is no problem here, because I'm relying on them to flower after most other plants are done for the season; earlier isn't always better.

Mine reseed flagrantly, so I'm a little cavalier in how I treat them. I've got about a dozen, in various shades of blue and purple, all offspring of a white hybrid. I gave away the parent plant because it required daily dead-heading to not look messy during its peak season; the darker colors don't have this problem.

hi diggin
did you get rid of White Profusion? I planted one 2 yrs ago and it is huge - last yr was about 7' x 7' but you are so right - the half-spent blossoms are brown and very unattractive on the plant. If I have time I will tip off the spent end of each cluster - but who has time for that always? I may move it in favor of Dark Night.

Hi alyrics - I'm not sure what variety it was, or if they all have the problem, or why the brown of the spent flowers doesn't look bad on the blues as it does on the whites.

I recently moved into a a new house with a overgrown garden and I pruned twelve Butterfly bushes to about six inches above ground. They are putting out new growth and look fine.

I agree about White Profusion, had one at my previous house and the brown spent flowers drove me crazy. I will not plant another one, I will stick to the darker colors.

contessa - 12 buddleia? yikes you must have alot of space.
I'm about thinking that White Profusion should go to someone elses house or be set at the far edge of the garden. The butterflies loved it and I always had many b-flies on it at the same time, but where I sited it, it has to be kept cleaned up or its just an eyesore.

Properly pruned (pinched), they should be full plants and you will not see the 12 inches of old branch from the year before.

Here is my two year old 'Pink Delight':

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And a NOID lavender...probably pinched twice:

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I was curious if you could also cut back eucalyptus at this time of year? Thanks for any response

We moved to this house late last summer. It had a lot of blossoms.. I am an inexperienced gardener so I am still learning about this plant. I did cut back the dead branches this late April and there are new leaves growing on the older (but not dead) branches. I am relieved that the plant is still alive. My plan is to nip off all the spent blossoms on the old branches and cut back the dead branches to about 1 foot high. Is there anything else I can do?

Thanks