Floppy Butterfly Bushes

10 years ago

Hi everyone,

Im new to butterfly bushes. This Spring, I planted Nanho Blue and Black Knight bushes. I dont have many stalks that are upright, most of them are flattened (see pic). Any advice as to how to get all of the stalks to stand straight up?

Thanks.

Featured Answer

katob Z6ish, NE Pa

10 years ago

I agree with Flora and her low light diagnosis, but it's not anything I'd worry about. Your plants were likely small young plants and I think even with a less than full sun position they will come up much stronger next year. Give it till then and I think your problem will be gone.
Do you know how to prune them? Cut them back in the spring to about 6 inches and they will sprout up to at least five feet in the second year.

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Comments (8)

gardenweed_z6a
10 years ago
Sorry I can't explain what's wrong. I grew quite a few 'Black Knight' butterfly bushes from seed via winter sowing and all are growing upright & lush. This is their 4th year since being grown from seed. All are healthy, full & at least 5 ft. tall. Buddleia isn't listed in any of my perennial books so I'm guessing it's considered a shrub.

Do you have them planted in full sun? They definitely need plenty of sun in order to perform best. I can't tell from the picture if yours are growing in sun or shade. All mine are planted in full- to part-sun. My garden soil is sandy loam which may or may not be what they prefer.

Just a suggestion, but you could Google Buddleia + growing conditions and see what pops up.
Karolina11
10 years ago
Are you fertilizing them or the lawn around them? What does that look like? I have had a few floppy plants from over fertilizing them due to the amount of feeding I was giving my lawn and roses planted next to them.
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robwaxman
Original Author
10 years ago
They definately get sufficient sun. The lawn around them is fertilized, but I am pretty careful not to get any on the soil. I havent tried pruning them at all. Can that be why?
gardenweed_z6a
10 years ago
robwaxman - I don't think the problem is pruning--normally Buddleia/butterfly bushes should be pruned in the spring before they begin leafing out for the season. Normally I don't fertilize anything in my garden and I've an entire acre of property that's filled with perennial beds.

Any chance you can ease up on lawn fertilizer for a season to see what happens to your butterfly bushes? Buddleia is listed as invasive in Pennsylvania so I'm guessing it's no stranger to soil/moisture conditions in other parts of the country. Bottom line, I'm wondering if it might do fine if left alone (other than spring pruning) to survive as it will.
a2zmom_Z6_NJ
10 years ago
I'm also in NJ (Morris county to be exact) and I planted my butterfly bush 10 years ago and it's never lain down like that.

Last year I just never got to chance to prune it. The resut was it bloomed much earlier and was absolutely humongous. But it definitely stood straight up.

This year, mine just started blooming.

I've never fertilized it, so maybe that's the issue. In fact, I basically neglect it except for deadheading..
florauk
10 years ago
Were they definitely correctly named plants i.e. propagated by cuttings from verified stock? That one looks as if it could be a seedling. Buddleja is very variable from seed. And it also looks as if it is lacking in light resulting in the lax habit and small and sparse flowers. The spot appears to be surrounded by trees. Do I see ferns flourishing in the background? That implies low light.
Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
10 years ago
All of the excess rain this year, lots of floppy, weak plants likely anywhere where this has been the case. Also, nearly constantly beating rain can literally beat plants down. Whenever it's raining, the sun is also not shining, a double whammy when stuff isn't thirsty and has hardly see the sun for weeks. Keep deadheading to remove excess weight. The good thing is that the butterflies don't care what it looks like.

Totally agree with spring trimming. When you see strong new growth next year, trim aggressively for shape and sturdiness, removing any weak, spindly branches completely, any not aimed upright or crossing each other, and radically shortening the length/height overall. As they continue to grow, trim when/where necessary to keep the shape that pleases your eye. Looking from several sides first, and from above when possible can help you determine the extraneous parts that should be removed. BB's left alone for a while will get too wild, they need a lot of futzing and trimming all summer to keep it looking great, and trimming causes more vigorous new growth, more blooms to form. (But stop trimming in the fall to stop sending it cues to keep growing, except to deadhead.)