Butterfly Bush blooming first year

12 years ago

Here is a photo of my butterfly bush blooming its first year from seed. A second seedling bloomed but not as pretty. The moths have been all over this bloom.

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Comments (8)

gardenweed_z6a
12 years ago
Very pretty! Mine bloomed 1st year from WS seed as well which I wasn't expecting. I now have them in every bed except one. For some reason they didn't survive in my full sun bed.
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tomva
12 years ago
ohh thats a very pretty,healthy plant
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I have a Black Knight buddleia that comes back like gangbusters every year (five years running), but only from the very base--butterfly bushes are usually not "cane hardy" in Zone 5, but are often "root hardy" depending on the variety. You are supposed to cut them back to the ground in the spring (not the fall--they need their old top growth for cold protection, I think). They are also SLOOOWWW to re-emerge with new growth in the spring, usually starting along with Russian Sage and lavender. If you haven't cut them back yet, do so, and watch for new growth at the base for the next few weeks. My Black Knight has about six inches of new growth at this time. If no growth in a few weeks, they're probably goners.
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Either that, or you need to find/create an area where you can place them where you are not a slave to the spigot if you don't have all kinds of 5 gallon pots roaming about. Most of mine were in dappled shade for the summer. Less of them bloomed in this area but still a great spot. Let me try and explain where I kept the others since I thought it was the ideal situation. You know the big plastic rectangular planters they sell at box stores? I found some on the roadside on G-Day that were still usable. I transplanted a lot of the BBs in plastic 3 inch pots, and then 'planted' the pots in the 'trough' planters as I call them. Soil was placed around the smaller pots to settle them in. Then I placed them as though this was an intentional planting close to the entrance to the house where they got no fierce midday sun. The rim of the smaller pots were slightly covered with dirt. I believe 2 rows of 7 were in each planter. In September as they began blooming I would give them away or keep. As I removed one, I would simply fill the spot back up with soil. The roots had gone through the bottoms of the 3 inch pots and were very healthy. I simply cut the pots off and transplanted in bigger pots at the time or in their space in the gardens. I did not find them to be too thirsty. Maybe it was just the way I did things. I do know that once in the gardens I never water them and they grow very well reaching heights of 8 feet here.
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Comments (13)
My 3-in-1 stopped blooming in all 3 colors after the 2nd year, and it's been 2 colors ever since, the white being the dominant color and the lilac still shows, but not much. This will be it's 12th year. I wish one of the other colors had been dominant and survived, since I'm not fond of white, but this buddleia is definitely a favorite of the monarchs, bees, and unfortunately, carpenter bees. I tried planting 3 buddleias closely together, to get that similar look of 3-in-1. The One in the center was the dominant one (Sungold), and on each side, a lilac and a Black Knight, both of which remained puny. I have since removed the Sungold, due to a recurring mite problem (which, btw, never affected the purples). Since removal, the lilac has become dominant and now towers the Black Knight. Hope this helps...
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These plants, usually composed of cymes that consist of many florets, typically open from the base of the inflorescence first. I'm wondering if perhaps you have a fungus issue going on that is affecting flower quality. Next year, be sure to avoid overhead watering in case that's something that occurs. Also, experiment with a spray application of Neem before the buds open to see if you can help break the cycle of disease infection. Do a bit of detail pruning to create improved air circulation, too, by thinning out some branches here and there.
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aliska12000
12 years ago
That's really a pretty one. I saw a white one that was huge a few blocks from here so I don't know how much space to allow for a few. I'm guessing yours will probably get larger but how much I don't know. I suppose you can prune them to the size you want.
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northerner_on
12 years ago
Congratulations on your first-year bloom. It's very pretty.
I winter sowed butterfly bush a few years ago a got blooms the second year because I had no place to put them until the end of the summer. I planted out about four plants and two have grown quite large with beautiful blooms. The collection of butterflies I had in my garden last year was amazing. This year, I pinched them, and cut off the lower branches to produce fuller plants, and I also deadheaded them. The result is that we had our first frost tonight and I still had blooms on the plants. The second and third flush are smaller, but prettier than the large brown dried blooms. They have become a favourite in the garden and I am sure yours will too. Good luck!
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sassybutterfly_2008
12 years ago
Beautiful!
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terrene
12 years ago
Yes, very pretty bloom on your Buddleia! I would love one like that.

Are those Daylily seedlings next to your Buddleia? I started some from seed this year for the first time.
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aliska12000
12 years ago
I'm going to jump in and say I HOPE they are daylily seedlings. I have bunches of that stuff that's gotten loose, and people here told me it's nutsedge, invasive and almost impossible to get rid of because it spreads by big bad things underground and also seeds.
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bookjunky4life
Original Author
12 years ago
Yes, they are daylilly seedlings. There's about 12 of them or so. I do have some kind of water grass that looks very similar and is difficult to get rid of.
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Butterfly Bush blooming first year

Comments (8)

gardenweed_z6a

tomva

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Butterfly Bush blooming first year

Comments (8)

gardenweed_z6a

tomva

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aliska12000

northerner_on

sassybutterfly_2008

terrene

aliska12000

bookjunky4lifeOriginal Author

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bookjunky4life
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