Purple, I will warn about any plant I know to be invasive in my area (zone 8, Pacific Northwest, especially the Puget Sound area). A good number of plant species that are invasive in other parts of the country have not (yet) proven to be so here. And vice versa. Some - like Buddleia - have been found to be very problematic here but not so much elsewhere. Invasiveness is very regionally oriented :-) And while I have defended Vinca minor (not V. major) as not being a particularly invasive species in my area, I do caution against planting it close to any natural or wooded area because it can and will spread. But it is not to the point of it being considered a noxious weed or a listed invasive species. OTOH, I defy anyone to find where I have ever, ever defended Hedera helix on any of these forums. I won't even recommend this plant in areas where it is not considered to be particularly invasive (typically only those areas cold enough to kill it back in winter!!) because it provides an excellent habitat for all manner of vermin. And in the PNW, this plant is perhaps the most pervasive invasive plant problem we deal with. And it is everywhere. Buddleia davidii is an especially prolific and fertile seeder. Each flower head can contain as much as 40,000 seeds and with an 80% germination viability. That's a whole lotta potential butterfly bushes!! And you do see them growing wild in my area - in the cracks of abandoned parking lots, in vacant lots, along railroad tracks and the sides of the road and freeway verges. And most disturbing are the large colonies of these shrubs found along streamsides and cleared areas throughout western Washington and Oregon. They outcompete native habitat, in particular our native shrub willows, which are the preferred habitat for our native butterfly species. I'm not saying BB is invasive everywhere - again, with any invasive species it is location, location, location! However I know specifically where Cadence is located, which just north of my own location, and plants which are invasive here will also tend to be invasive there. As part of a consumer awareness program sponsored by our state invasive species council, the regional professional landscape and nursery association and a consortium of local retail nurseries, a publication recommending alternate suggestions for invasive plants has been made available. Substitutes for BB include west coast natives Ceanothus and Pacific ninebark as well as chaste tree. And of course, the new sterile BB cultivars recently introduced to the consumer market. Here is a link that might be useful: Butterfly bush in western WA

I whack mine back ruthlessly(okay, 3 feet isn't 'ruthless' but it's pretty hard!). Give plenty of rabbit manure around the plant, avoiding the main trunk area, and water well. It's not so much that they are heavy feeders as they are heavy drinkers, I found--at least here. Of course, I have tons of rabbit poop, so use it liberally, too. :) Looking at yours, I'd say take half the main trunks back to about a foot in height or so; water regularly but not excessively, fertilize well with a composted manure or rabbit manure or worm castings. Once the now-short portion begins putting out new growth (it may take a few weeks), and gets going, whack the other half and repeat. Other than that...well, you may need to replace the poor thing. Use those prunings to make your cuttings and hope. Good luck!

Hey Pat this is an issue that has me confused too. I've read on other sites that the bush should be cut back in spring or fall and it should be cut back to 6 to 12 inches. I'm pretty sure that I cut mine back in fall last time and fairly low to the ground, because butterfly's bloom off of new wood, but then when it came back it seems to me that it came back from the ground like a new plant, so why not cut it down to the ground? Then to make matters worse I read this year that the new wood part only means more blooms but that these blooms will be smaller than the ones last year and I like big blooms so should I prune mine back at all? They are both sitting out there right now un-pruned and it's getting warmer so I guess I better decide something sooner or later.

Butterfly bushes should only be "drastically" pruned to within about 12" from the base, in early spring. You can judiciously prune errant branches, etc., throughout the growing season. Cuttings are easy to grow. Choose reasonably new (not the woody ones) stems about 6" or larger, removing the foliage except for the tip leaves. Rooting hormone helps, but is not necessary. Put the cutting in potting soil, sand, whatever, they are not picky. Enclose the cutting in a plastic bag. I test the cutting by tugging on the top of the stems, and if the stem seems resistant, it has roots. Harden them off from the baggy by opening the top for a few days, and then removing it entirely. So easy to do! Heavy fall or winter pruning is not advised - mine died one year after pruning it heavily in late fall. Now I leave all the dead stems over winter and prune it in early spring. Someone said that they successfully pruned theirs in late fall, but I wouldn't risk it. As Bob says, there are many new dwarf hybrids out there now. Another pretty one is Silver Anniversary. MissSherry has a beautiful Ellen's Blue that I covet...lol. I planted a Nanho purple one time, though, which is a dwarf, and it did not attract any butterflies at all in my garden. Others have said it has for them. The old standbys like Pink Delight, White Profusion, and the yellow flowering buddleias are good nectar sources for sure. Susan