Let me know if you find out. I've lost two butterfly bushes, one last year and one this year, and both seemed very weak, branches breaking off easily, etc.

Crittergirl I will make sure to post it once I find out exactly what's going on. I came home tonight and lost another 2 more very big branches and both of them broke off right at the base of the plant just like the rest of them. I just don't get it because the plant looks fine and my other 2 bushes, which are right next to this one, are doing (knock knock on wood) just fine. I've got another place I can post the question so if I get an answer over there before here I'll make sure to tell you.

Strouper

What are you feeding your bushes?

I've found that butterfly bushes don't last forever.
I've had a few die.

If you like this particular one, take some cuttings NOW to propagate it.

I've also written an article about the 14 step process.
The link is below:

Here is a link that might be useful: Buddliea Propagation

As a long time grower, I think buddleia is very susceptible to root rot. I am losing one of my favorites--my honeycomb. This plant is in a raised bed, but we've had torrential rains this spring with over 9 inches just this month. It takes a while for the root rot to show up. Thankfully, I started some cuttings this spring when I pruned it back.

Another suspect is gophers. I have found that they love the roots of buddleias and swamp milkweed. My swamp milkweed came up in my hands when I gave it a tug this spring. Under the surface I could see the gopher's tunnel. He had totally eaten most of the roots off of it. The positive note was that after I pulled it up, it came apart, and I had two plants. I potted them and they both regrew roots and are doing well. I planted lots of Euphorbia around the perimeter of the bed in hopes of keeping out the gophers and moles.

HTH,

Sandy

I've had a few that have died as well. All of a sudden, BOOM! WeirdÂso, I just go and replace 'em! Mine are all in pots. Gophers aren't a problem for me.

I've had a similar problem with Passiflora. I thought it might be some weird fungus.

Hi: My name is Pam and I live in the southeast coast of VA. I'm just learning about butterflies and am amazed by the knowledge on this forum.

strouper2, I had several varieties of butterfly bushes at the cottage where we used to live. Although they grew big and fast, the branches broke easily and some had mildew problems. I started cutting them to within a few inches of the ground when they were dormant in winter. In the spring, they grew back thicker, healthier and had more flowers. The fragile branch problem went away.

I don't know if your butterfly bushes have a disease that is taking them out. If they are still alive in late fall, It may not hurt to try the extreme pruning method - it works well with many other trees and shrubs as well.

I have had the exact same problem with branches breaking off at the base of the plant, until it finally died altogether.I have seen a ground hog in my neighbor's yard, so I will look for a tunnel. How do I prevent root rot if this is the problem? Thanks for the info!

Thanks for all the answers everyone. I got looking more on the internet and from what your saying & what I read there I'm pretty sure that I'm looking at root rot. Glorynews I didn't find anything saying what if anything you can do about it I'm assuming the plant is a goner. Does anyone know if root rot will kill the entire plant or will it just go away if everything dries out?
Luckily I already have a replacement growing. I got it when I covered one of the branches on another plant and it grew roots! I didn't even realize it had happened until I went to cut the branch off so I dug the little guy up put it in a pot and it seems to be doing well. Talk about hardy plants I have another one right now that I'm going to have to get rid of because of where it's growing and when I went to dig it up I found out that I couldn't because the plant is actually growing out of one of the cracks in my retaining wall!

Strouper

I'm guessing my problem is also root rot, seeing as how we have no gophers in the area. The roots of the honeycomb were certainly rotten looking last year when the plant died completely.

We've lost two varieties of butterfly bush, but so far our other three varieties are still looking good and healthy. But then again, I did prune all four bushes pretty far back this spring. I don't know if that does anything for root rot, but they've all come back looking very healthy this summer.

I'll just keep a close eye on our bushes from now on and if I see problems starting, I'll take cuttings and try to salvage things that way. And maybe I'll grow them in pots, if it comes to that.

Thanks for the answers, everyone.

I am having the same problem, I had a mole tunnel under/around my bush last year, mine is on a slight slope so I don't see how it could be root rot and I was told at a nursery that they like LOTS of water so I don't know what is happening but I am going to take some cuttings.
Thanks for all the posts on here.