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Butterfly Garden

butterfly bush question

16 years ago

My butterfly bush has gotten tall (over 6') and is at least 4'wide. I did not cut it back in the fall or the spring (just lazy). Now it's getting even bigger, but the dead flower heads are still all over it. I cut back some of the dead flower sprays, but what should I do now? Can't possibly reach the top of the bush to cut. Is it ok to leave it the way it is? Will it still bloom as well as it has in the past? It's now 2 years old. Thanks.

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Comments (3)

MissSherry
16 years ago
It will continue to bloom, but after it has enough uncut blooms on it that are going to seed, the blooms will become fewer and fewer. In the past I stood on my lawn chair or a ladder to deadhead the spent blooms on my tall butterfly bushes, but that got real old, so I've planted bushes that are supposed to be more moderate in size, like 'Ellen's Blue', 'Attraction', and 'Black Knight' - I've pruned my 'White Profusion' severely for the past two years, and it only grew to be about 6' tall instead of the 9' it used to grow, which makes it much easier to keep deadheaded. I also pruned my 'Black Knight' severely, because it has such a scraggly growth pattern - it only grew to about 6' tall last year without severe pruning. I don't know if 'Ellen's Blue' and 'Attraction' will really be moderately sized bushes as advertised, but if they're not, I can just prune them - 9' tall butterfly bushes just aren't practical.
It won't hurt your BB to prune it, it'll revitalize it.
MissSherry
cearab
Original Author
16 years ago
MissSherry:
Thanks for the response. Maybe I will get to hacking it! If I do it now, will I still get blooms for the summer?
And, if I am understanding you, if I leave those deadheads on the bush, I will get less flowers than if I cut them off?
Also, since you really seem to know about this: I would like to attract some hummingbirds to this same perennial garden. I saw a honeysuckle bush (Monrovia brand) at a garden center. It already had a bamboo stand for the honeysuckle to grow onto. I have never grown this before. Will it get crazy and start growing all over the garden, or will it stay put? It was an orange color, and very pretty and sweet smelling flowers. Might look great with the purple shades of the rest of my garden. Your thoughts?
TIA
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hi newb .. right??? i am not up to speed on B's .. but genetically speaking.. a plant can only have one color flower ... so i would suspect that there are 3 plants in that container ... PRESUMING ... those arent cut flowers for a pic ... [as there is something weird how the green leaves dont all face the sun in the same direction .. perhaps an indication of cuttings.. rather than plants] the plants seem rather small for what little i know about B's ... but maybe there are some newer dwarfs??? now.. that said ... there are some flowers... that open one color.. and can fade to other colors ... but i dont see that in this pic ... one that comes to mind.. for example .... is a rose.. which opens cream ... and then blushes to pink and then red with age ... Double Delight by name.. see link ... and OMG.. if you can only grow one rose.. this be it... besides the incredible colors.. its scent is to die for.. but i digress ... [oh.. and this one involves two colors... your pic implies a third color ... and i simply know of no plant that changes over three colors ... ] just a short lesson for a newb ... i hope someone rolls thru with a specific answer to your B question ... ken ps: B's can and should be heavily cut back once a year ... so to ask what the average spread is.... depends if they are properly pruned.. IMHO .... Here is a link that might be useful: link
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I just cut mine down today. The voles ate the roots on over half the big 'Black Knight', and those stalks were blown out of the ground (it's in a very windy spot). I cut the remaining half down to the usual height, about 12 inches. I want it to balance out with the new growth. Also this one gets pretty tall, about 6-7 feet, and I deadhead it regularly so I've got to reach the flowers heads. The Pink Delight is much less vigorous, but has lots of green shoots and a better form, so I cut that one down to about 2 feet, so it will hopefully grow taller this season.
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Jenny, it's very unlikely that seeds in your mulch would be able to sprout and stay viable, especially if you're in Florida. I don't know if it's our heat, humidity or what, but I've never heard of any becoming invasive in the Southeast. The only place I know of where that occurs is the Pacific Northwest. I just looked up the 'Buzz' series of Buddleia, and they sure look interesting! Lankiness in bushes usually happens when the plant doesn't get enough sun. Was your Lochinch in a shady situation in the nursery where you bought it? If not, it may have been in a shady place at the wholesale nursery before it came to the nursery/store where you got it. If you've planted it in a sunny situation, nature will probably take care of the problem eventually, but you can prune it to about a foot from the ground and expedite the process - the new growth will come out thick. Sherry
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gina, What you did is fine. There is no need to cut butterfly bushes to the geround unless you are trying to control their size. I usually use the same approach that you did on my 60 butterfly bushes in my one-acre butterfly sanctuary and they are doing very well after 10-14 years in the sanctuary. mike
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MissSherry
16 years ago
I can't tell for sure what type of honeysuckle you're talking about - you do mean vine, not bush, don't you? Coral honeysuckle is sort of orange/pink colored, and it's very well behaved, as a matter of fact, I have trouble getting it to grow and bloom for me. The hummers love it!
I don't know where you are, but unless you're way up north, you can grow salvia guaranitica as a perennial, which is the absolute favorite plant of hummers here - it's also real popular with some butterflies, particularly sulphurs. It would be worth your time to grow it as an annual if you're in, say, Minnesota. I'm about to go out to my garden now to tie up some tomatoes, and I'd be surprised if I don't hear that familiar "hmmmmmmm" on the s. guaranitica. If you're not too far north, you can also grow turk's cap/malvaviscus drummondii, which both hummers and butterflies love, again, especially sulphurs.
MissSherry

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