Butterfly bushes

My butterfly bushes are leafing out really well. They are tall as I haven't trimmed them back yet. My question for anyone who does well with them is, "Do you find it really necessary to trim them back every spring and if so, how far?" I really hate to chop on them right now as they are so pretty. It might be like hybrid tea roses and be a fact that I will get more blooms on the new growth than I will ever get on the old growth. Let me know someone as I need to do it now if I am going to "bite the bullet".

Good morning, neighbor! I'm so jealous - my butterfly bushes haven't even sprouted yet! It sounds like your bush is in a protected spot, and it made it through our December/January cold okay. I had this happen a couple years ago with a 'Harlequin' Buddleia davidii - it was near a south-facing brick wall, and the radiant warmth plus a mild winter created a microclimate for it.

I didn't prune it, and as I recall I didn't have good success with the flowering the next year. To be honest, I don't know if it was from not pruning it back, or because it got baked from all that Oklahoma heat radiating off that wall during the summer (good in the winter/bad in the summer) or because the variety just didn't perform well.

Its poor showing *MIGHT* have had something to do with the gardener not spending much time in her garden, too.....so I dunno! Anybody else, especially in warmer climates, have experience with butterfly bushes - to prune or not to prune when the old wood starts budding out?

hi Guys. We had a warm spell at the beginning of Feb here and my Buddleia's started to go mad. I was reluctant to prune them coz they were doing so well, but I did what the books told me to do and cut them right down to 1ft. But I am happy to report that this drastic action just seems to have made my buddleia's more determined to grow quicker and they have thicked out alot.
So my advice Elena......do it!!!

Hi Elena. I think the rule of thumb is to prune each branch back quite hard early Spring before the flowers emerge on some cultivars, others are just trimmed. Crispa, Davidii, Fallowiana, Lochinch and Weyeriana can be pruned back hard, and alternifolia by removing shoots that have flowered.

Hi, LOUISA, You don't happen to have cuttings to trade of any of those butterfly bushes do you? I only have the two and one is pink and the other is purple. I really want the one called Black Knight if anyone has cuttings. I have decided to go ahead and cut them back drastically since that seems to be the overall opinion of everyone. I will have cuttings if anyone wants to trade. I rooted one last year that had broken off and it did quite well. My daughter grabbed it right away after seeing it.

"Mornin' Go Vols." How did the concert go? If you want them, you are welcome to cuttings also when we meet to trade. Just let me know what to save. Also, don't throw away any of the pots that all of your purchased plants come in as I am in need of them all the time to pot up my cuttings and trades and give aways. I don't buy many from the stores myself. I have such good luck trading that I really don't need to buy many. However, I am going to buy Black Knight if I can't find a cutting.

Hi Daisy Chain. Thanks for the advice. I am going to heed it. Where are are you located? Are you in Canada?

So can we root what we cut off? I too have noticed that my butterfly bushes have lots of new growth, is the consensus to go ahead and trim them? and then use what we cut off to start new plants? wow - can you imagine all the cuttings we would get and look at all we will have to trade with....
Should we just put them in water? or put them in pots with soil?

thanks for the advice

Pebble

Hi, Elena! The "concert" (she's only in Kindergarten) was fun - imagine a couple hundred kindergarteners and 1st graders singing for their proud families. A bit chaotic, but a good time for all. Thanksk for asking!

As for those pots....how I wish I had all the pots I threw out in my "instant gratification" gardening period! I must have thrown away hundreds of pots, from 3" to 5 gallon size. I'd give anything to have them back now that I'm into starting things from scratch! Live and learn.... Someone suggested visiting WalMart on Monday mornings (I guess after the weekend warrior gardeners have knocked things down, and they throw out the now-empty pots,); I may resort to that later this summer!

I am starting some Nanho Blue B. davidii this year; I may take you up on your offer of some cuttings when we get together! I'm hoping to eventually add some Lochinch and "Ellen's Blue" to my collection.

This message was edited Saturday, Mar 17th 11:08 AM

Pebble,
From what I have been reading and from what our Dave's buddies are saying, that seems to be the popular opinion. I took my accidentally broken off cutting last year about this time, dampened the tip and dipped an inch or so of it in Rootone and placed it in a pot in a protected area in my yard. It was looking great in no time and putting on new leaves and shoots. We transplanted it in the yard for my daughter in the fall and it is looking good now so guess it made it through the winter ok. Do you have any colors other than pink or light purple (that's what I have) you would want to trade?

Elena, I do have some of the black knight, a light lavender, a pink and a white. I think I will go out in a couple of days when it stops raining and get some cuttings.
I did take some cuttings in the fall, and they seem to be doing well. (sure I'll trade with you)


This message was edited Saturday, Mar 17th 11:21 AM

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Go Vols,
Thanks for the great tips. I will try to get to the local Walmart on Mondays and see what kind of luck I have getting plastic containers. I really need them and would be delighted. It beats being seen trash day seeking. I found a really neat shelf unit with 6 metal shelves last week. I have gotten really good at spotting stuff so maybe I should start looking for pots. I haven't resorted to garbage dump diving yet but who knows. I hear that people find really neat stuff when the trucks first arrive. I could wear my worst gardening clothes and the trash truck people would feel sorry for me and help me. They would think I was getting the stuff to sell and buy food and really it would be for selfish little ole' me. Hold on to cuttings of the butterfly bushes for me. It looks like we are going to have to talk on the phone one of these days in order to finalize our "greedy" lists.
I am glad the concert went well. Children are their cutest from ages 3 to 6 in my opinion. I love to attend functions where that age is performing.

Pebble,
Keep all 4 varieties for me. (Nothing selfish about me. ha)If I only have a choice of 2, let me have the white and the Black Knight for sure. I will hold my two varieties for you and will email you my trade lists. (I have never gotten around to putting them on Dave's.) As long as we are trading cuttings and paying the postage anyway, we might have other things we would like to trade.

Hi Happy Toes, Thanks for the input. I can't see myself going all that drastic with my pruning. I will leave them about waist high probably. That will give them plenty of room for new growth. They only bloom on new growth anyway, or so I have heard. I keep the old blooms pinched off in order to keep them blooming all season. It really mskes a big difference in the amount of blooms they provide.

Elena, I will save some of each variety for you.

For years I have grown the yellow butterfly bush..Buddleia weyeriana "Sungold". This is an enormous bloomer that goes well into November but it is less hardy than the other butterfly bushes. The yellow flowers are enormous and the bushes added the deep yellow/orange color when other things were dying down. I cut mine back in the Spring to about 1 foot but I also cut stems that are growing out of place when they pop up. I found that the more you cut, the more stems are produced for increased flowering, almost like when you pinch back a coleus plant, for example.

I have a neat suggestion for using butterfly bushes. I did this last year and it turned out beautiful. After cutting back the whole bush, select one straight stem for a leader. Support the vertical leader with a strong stick or something. Continue fastening the one leader to the support as it grows, while cutting back any other shoots put out by the bush. You are essentially producing one strong stem/trunk. When the main leader stem gets to about 3-4 feet, let the bush explode in stem growth from the top of the leader, where you only cut off side shoots from the main trunk. You'll have a tree form of butterfly bush that is spectacular..the blooms will be cascaded from the top and it will remind you of a weeping cherry tree, sort of. You need to keep the main support on the stem during the entire growing season. Have fun "treeing" your butterfly bush!
Trish

Hi everyone...
buddleia davidii from what I understand only blossoms on new growth each year, that is why you are suppose to cut them back, and cutting back to about a foot is not usually too much, I have cut mine back like that at this time of year for the last couple years and they are beautiful.

Nice to know about the cuttings....I haven't tried any...but I have several davidii's in different colors. I'll try to root some and you all can have them if you'd like.

Happy Gardening!!

Jody

PMFJI, I noticed everyone is looking to extra pots. I've been saving 2 liter soda bottles and the plastic bottles from bottled water. You can cut the tops off at whatever height you want. I use a heated ice pick to poke drainage holes in the bottom. These are great for pass along plants and for cuttings.

As far as the butterfly bush, I can't help you there. I don't have one. :-(

Sharon

Pebble and Jody,
Yes, I would love to trade with both of you. Start saving. I will send you my trade lists. Thanks everyone for the great feedback. I told my husband last night that I was going to post our question on Dave's this morning and I was sure we would get a good answer. We got a lot more than that thanks to all of you. You people on Dave's are truly the "salt of the earth".

Trish, am definately going to try that with a couple of mine they sound absolutely divine... How many years will it take?

One season..you can get the canopy effect in one growing season! Because Buddleias are such vigorous growers, you'll get lots of top growth in the same season you start pruning. I got the tree effect during the summer of my first year in trying this method..and I also got lots of great comments from passerbyers..lol. Have fun :)
Trish

Hi Elena, just to answer you question i'm from Britain. I'd love to join in with any trades, but i'm not sure how easy it is to keep plants alive in the post durring a long journey over there.

SMSpear1, you sound so sad! Do you WANT a butterfly bush? I have seeds I'd be glad to send you if you want one; I've raised them from seed before with good success. E-mail me if you're interested...

Dicentra,
Could you possibly save me a few cuttings of that beautiful sounding yellow butterfly bush? When I read the description I was like a kid in a candy store wanting more, and more. I surely could use some of those cuttings. Beg, beg!!!!
Daisy Chain. I thought as much but wasn't sure that was the symbol for Britain. Where do you live? I have visited London 3 times and have been in and out of Victoria station more times than I could remember. We made 2 trips from there to Scotland and one trip over to Wales and Ireland. All my distant ancestors come from England and Scotland and the Ragland history goes back to Wales. I look forward to going to the Highland games each year. I get my Scottish blood all stirred up then. The sound of bagpipes is annoying to some people but it is so beautiful to me. My nephew who is on a one yr. trial with the Houston symphony is learning to play bagpipes and so is my 16 yr. old granddaughter. My son-in-law is from Australia and his grandfather Hawthorne was from Scotland.

Elena, your not going to beleive this....i'm half English and half Scotish! My family origionates from Fife (is that how you spell it?) My hubby abandand me yesterday to go up there on business, he says its beautiful today, it's his first visit.
I'm afraid I can't agree with you on the opinion of the bagpipes. Just sounds like a cat being strangled to me, but then I was born and breed in Norwich so it sounds alien to me.

Daisy Chain,
You just aren't listening right. It all depends on how you hold your head and how Scotish you are. Could have something to do with what kind of "tea" you are drinking also. Email me your address and I will send you a darling cartoon on the subject. I remember riding on the train in Scotland and the Scotish hillsides being covered with heather and it was so beautiful. Do they sell seeds from the heather plants or does one have to buy the plant?

Trish
My friend Cindy does her butterfly bushes like that and they are breathtaking. They are about 5-6 years old and like trees now.

Trish - Does this 'tree' method mean that you never cut the leader shoot back?

Hi Louisa,
After my Buddleias reached about 4 feet in height with the one leader, I waited until other shoots came out around the top, then I cut back the leader. After cutting, I had more side shoots sent out along the top area and I then left the top grow normally. I only cut off anything below my 4 foot mark. I have only tried this method with the yellow weyeriana variety Buddleia, which gets taller than the other varieties, I believe.

Elena..I can save you some cuttings when I start cutting them back.
Trish

I have a section (broke off when I moved it 2 wks. ago). I planted it , looks great, this would make a good sized bush this year. Would like to trade this for????... what 'cha got? This is NANHO PURPLE (DWARF).

HHuummm! Now how did this happen? Two Posts!

This message was edited Sunday, Mar 18th 9:06 AM

I have a section (broke off when I moved it 2 wks. ago). I planted it , looks great, this would make a good sized bush this year. Would like to trade this for????... what 'cha got? This is NANHO PURPLE (DWARF)
Oh yes, I cut mine back to a foot, every March.

Trish,
I had a yellow Buddleia at my previous home. When I bought it it was marked purple, but what a surprise when it bloomed. I thought it was possibly a honeycomb Buddleia, but it was huge! Probably got 7 feet high and almost as wide. The flowers did look honeycomb like. I have never seen a Buddleia bloom as much as this one. The more I cut the more it bloomed.
I took some cuttings when I moved last summer, but I don't know if they survived. I planted them first in pots and then in a temporary outside holding area at our new home. (we didn't get to actually move in until December)
Do you think I may have the variety you have? Is there a picture somewhere.
If you have extra cuttings, I would love some just in case mine didn't survive. With all the moving I have my doubts.
I think I have a picture of my yellow Buddleia, maybe I could post it and you could take a look.
Kathy

Is this fascinating yellow buddleia your all talking about called Buddleja Globosa ??

I just checked out my butterfly bushes, and none have only one main stalk, they all have about 5-6 big trunks. I think I will try the tree method on some of the cuttings that I took last fall, and hope it turns out the way I think it should. Otherwise, I would have to cut 4-5 big stalks from my existing bushes, and that seems like I'd be amputating...almost murder. Idont think I could do that.
I have about 5-6 pots of cuttings that I took last fall that are looking good with new growth, I will just use them.

The yellow 'globosa' has round yellow blooms, not like the typical plants. There is a beauty that comes out in the Spring in England 'alternifolia' with lilac flowers and it grows huge, the smell is heavenly!!

Louisa, whats the yellow buddleia look like that you get where you are then? Does it look like the Davidii but yellow?

Please check out the picture I have posted on the Photo Forum and see if you can identify the yellow Buddleia I had.
I really loved it and would like to find out what it was so I can get another. When I bought it it was marked Purple Butterfly bush ............ glad it wasn't.

SM Spreal,
I thought your suggestion for saving plastic soda bottles and water bottles was great. I have been doing that for sev. years so guess that is why I thought that. ha!
I really need some even bigger than that at this point, however. I need the ones for transplanting small shrubs and small trees. I have used a few paint buckets, etc. but really don't like the way the area looks if it has too many odd containers. It starts looking really junky like a "Sanford and Son" front yard.

Hi Kathy,
I'll check out the photo. Your description sounds like the Sungold! Gosh, these bushes bloomed their big hearts out and the more I cut, the more they grew! One was close to six feet tall and still growing and flowering into late November (I was cooking Thanksgiving dinner and still cutting spent blooms outside..lol). The flower stalks were enormous, bringing in butterflies and bees by the droves..lol. Even the leaves are bigger than other butterfly bushes. I do have the davidii butterfly bushes and they do well but nothing has exceeded the Buddleia weyeriana in bloom time, nor flower size.
Trish

Gee Trish, I think everyone is going to want cuttings from you, so when you get ready to prune, don't toss them....be sure to post them in the plant trade. I would be interested, as I am sure a lot of other people will be wanting some too (more like drooling over them....)

Hi Elena,

I like your paint bucket idea for bigger plants. A few stripes of paint around the outside of the bucket would give them more of a finished look so the yard doesn't look "Sanford and Son". If you're really artistic, you could really paint them up nicely. I've also seen some spray paint, I think at Home Depot, that makes things look like stone. When I saw it, I think it was with the indoor plant section with the pots they had for sale. Hope this helps.

Sharon

Sharon,
You are the greatest. I love the ideas you had for painting the buckets. Having them look like stone, huh? I think that would be too cool. We are going to have to do a lot of painting this spring so maybe I will have a lot of buckets to use. The pots and buckets aren't in my main garden anyway. They are around on the hidden side with the garbage cans, air conditioner unit and all of the cuttings and starter plants that I have. So far, it looks neat but how neat can an area really look when it has all that stuff in it? Oh well, it isn't open for inspection so who really cares, huh? Thanks for the input.