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Butterfly Garden

weed growth in butterfly bush?

14 years ago

So last year one of my white butterfly bushes had some slightly different growth (leaves similar, but flowers yellow...) at the base. I didn't weed it out at first (leaves similar) but when the flowers came I figured it must be a weed. When I went to dig it out it seemed to be so entangles int he bushes roots I decided to leave it until winter, dig it all up, and clean it out. When I did that I found that the "weed" is actually growing from parts of the bushes roots and base branches!?! Is this a grafting thing or something? I don't have any pics of the flower - but just wondered if anyone had had a similar situation or might know what is going on and/or what I can do? The leaves of the weed/other growth stayed green all winter - here are some pics:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/48573011@N07/

Any ideas? Do I have to get rid of the bush?

Thanks...

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Comments (2)

butterflyman
14 years ago
It looks to me like another plant, but I can't identify it - I'd have to see the flowers. Just pull the two apart - use water to loosen up the root ball. They should both be fine.
love_savannah
14 years ago
It's probably another plant. A few years ago we purchased several tropical milkweed plants from a local nursery. As the plants grew, I noticed that there were some leaves on several of the plants that my Monarch cats would not eat. I didn't think much about it until the next season. The strange leaves were growing faster and bushier than the normal leaves that I really needed to grow. Then one day, I noticed a bloom on one of the stems and it sure wasn't a milkweed bloom. After a little research, I found out the plants growing with the milkweed were Mexican Petunias.

Once my Monarchs were gone, I dug up 3 or 4 milkweed plants to get the Mexican petunias out of there. Those things grow like mad and were taking over. The roots were a tangled mess and it took some time to get them apart. We now have a small patch of Mexican petunias growing in another area. They're actually kind of pretty.

I can't tell from your pics what's growing in your butterfly bush. Like us, it sounds like you got 2 for one. Hope it turns out to be something you like. I look forward to seeing a picture of the blooms in the near future.

Good luck!
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