I have a large (topping off at about 8 feet this year!) purple butterfly bush that I got as a small cutting a couple years ago at an RU. It has been in several location where it always looked sickly. Last spring I moved it into a new bed and it is very happy. Nice leaves, blooms all summer etc. I have to cut it back so it doesn't take over the world! My question is a simple one. Why have I not once seen a butterfly on this plant, not one time? I grew them in MI and they were covered in the summer with insects. This one has no one who loves him, not even bees. What's up with that?
C
What's up with My Butterfly Bush?
A couple bad pics.
Not bad pics at all, especially love the second one. Mine is the same story....had two one in shade and one in sun. The one in the sun died (froze out) then I moved other one to new bed and it got 8 foot or so. I just whacked it off to about 4 or 5 foot last week. But the whole time I have not seen butterflies on them. I figure down here they are more used to the other things that are blooming at the same time. So if it doesn't do well this year, it may be on the endanged in my yard list. LOL!
Nice bush... I have a question... can you start one from a cutting or do you start them from seeds? I would love to get one started for my yard and for my mother. I see them around town and there are a couple in places that I think I could clip a cutting or two if they are easy to start from cuttings.
Not sure about that myself.
easy to start from a cutting actually
I have one that I have seen buttterflies on but I wouldn't say covered with them. I bought a dwarf version call "Lo and Behold" but it leafed out and then died...so I am happy my big one is blooming and healthy.
I have lost all of mine last year.
Soooo ... I will not plant them again in my garden, instead I will plant something that I know "my" butterflies like Coneflowers.
Look at these pictures, those butterflies really like the pink coneflowers
Yes, they love Coneflowers and I love them too, you can never have too many coneflowers.
When I had a butterfly bush (you may have gotten cuttings from me!), it never attracted the butterflies like I thought it would.
Speaking of cone flowers, Walmart had some nice full white coneflowers for $3.33 a gallon today. Also some varieties that were less than $5.
I had 2 yellow ones that attracted some butterflies, but I have a lot of other things they enjoy too. I liked the butterfly bush. They got huge but I didn't realize, until it was too late, that BB are very attractive to Spider Mites also. The SMs actually killed both of them because I didn't treat them in time.
Maybe I'll have to check out Wal Mart. I really like BB, even if the butterflies don't. Lol
I bought 9 coneflowers from the Walmart in Lewisville right before labor day. They were large and full of blooms for 4 bucks a piece. So far they have done well. They didn't have any plain pink but I got white, hot orange pink with long petals and some dark violet ones. The white and dark violet look to be shorter than a normal variety. Well worth the money from what I can tell so far.
I have had this one BB for 3 years now and even with last years heat I haven't noticed any SM on it. I had a lot of those on many plants last year. Maybe the yellow species is more susceptible?
C
Maybe the yellow is more susceptible, I don't know. I always have problems with SM on something. Lol
I've had my butterfly bush for about 4 years now. It has been literally covered with butterflies and bees every year, with the exception of last year when I saw almost no butterflies anywhere all year. This year, though, there's a bumper crop. My plant is the species; maybe it's more attractive to butterflies than some of the hybrids?
They are easy to start from cuttings. Mine usually grow about a foot the first year (in the shade). They grow a lot faster when they're planted in the ground, in some sun. I'll be glad to start some for the fall RU for anyone who wants one.
Same with the coneflowers. Again, the species (native plant), but I have them seeded out everywhere. Covered with swallowtails this year.
How long do BB live anyway? I've had a lot of them and they never seem to last very long. I think they are beautiful. I have so much for the butterflies, hummers, and bees to enjoy I think they just spread out. I sowed seeds for natives and a hummer mix years ago and they keep reseeding. The Lemon Mint is going crazy. I have a "wildflower patch". Some years nothing grows but this year the plants are 5' tall and I can't even walk thru it. I'm always a little leery of snakes. Lol. The rain has really made the spring/summer flowers beautiful.
My past experience with them was that they are very long lived.
Ok, then it's worth another investment. Just need to put it where the deer and my livestock can't get to it.
Thank you, that's good to know.
I have 2 Black Knight BBs and they are doing very well this year with butterflies on them and lots of blooms. BUT they have a disease of some kind, which they had last year. 2 out of 3 died, I replaced one and these 2 have done better but the same thing is happening. The leaves start getting yellow and have brown crispy spots and eventually die. The stems also have some black on them. Anyone know what this could be? Here are some pics from last year. janet
Last year there was a real dearth of butterflies, so that might be why none came to your BB? I had a yellow one that the Monarchs just loved. But it got too big and too much trouble to keep trimmed so I had to get rid of it. I would love to have another one, but just don't have the space for anything that big now.
Carla
My yellow ones got huge too. Are the yellow ones the only ones that get that big? I can't even find the yellow anymore. I would love to have another one but would put it in a different location. I put both of them were I did because I thought they would stay the size of other BB now I know to give it more room.
Janet, do you happen to see any webbing on your BB? You might try sending some pics to your extension agency.
Good idea, Lisa, thanks!
Another thing about BB: if they could bottle that scent, I'd buy that perfume! And I dislike 99.9% of perfumes! But that smell is heavenly especially in the evening when I walk by.