I have two butterfly bushes, one dark purple and one pink. Do I need to deadhead after each bloom dries up?
Deadhead or Not
Well I would - it encourages reblooming and looks tidier- but you don't have to, the plants will be quite happy either way.
No matter what I do, mine is always mad at me. I deadhead.
:-)
Maggie, what do you mean yours is always mad at you? Do tell...I think mine are mad at me now.
I have had mine for over a year now, and only get a few blooms at once, then they dry up overnight. The leaves always look as if I am not watering enough (to be fair, it's in a large terracotta container, so maybe it does dry out fast.) But it has never looked right! I keep thinking I'll just yank the darn thing out and replace it with something that will bloom for me, but then I relent... and it still does nothing. It never has enough blooms long enough to attract any butterflies. (grrr)
I asked at a nursery why mine look so bad and he said it was the heat. Mine always look better in spring and fall than they do in summer.
I will definitely deadhead. Thanks for the advice. Although I have learned a lot in the past several months, I consider myself a new gardener and have lots of questions. This is my first time to grow butterfly bush.
Adeline
maggiemoo, mine don't have that many blooms at one time either. I just thought it was because they are not fully established plants yet.
What kind of butterfly bush do you have? I have the tri-colored one, and it's been blooming profusely for me for the last month. It seems they grow better for me on low watering, but mine are in the ground. Mine are in full sun. I hadn't deadheaded it yet until yesterday, so we'll see if it blooms as well or better now.
Yeah, I keep thinking that maybe I should give it more time, but.... that's valuable real estate that could be occupied by someone who is producing!! (Sounds like I want to fire it, doesn't it? Maybe I should let it off with a written warning.) :-)
One is Pink Delight and the other is Royal Red (although it is purple to me), aggiecorgi. I have stopped watering mine so much, too, after I read that they prefer not to be watered very often. Maybe that will help the blooming. Mine are in the ground also.
maggiemoo, do you have a place in the yard that you could plant it? Mine are growing like crazy, just not blooming constantly like I want them to do. They get so big, they might be too large for a container. Just a thought.
Adeline
I have 2 butterfly bushes, one in full sun & one with shade in the late afternoon. The one in full sun looks the best, but some of the leaves are getting burnt from the heat/sun (I think). I haven't been deadheading, but I will this afternoon! I just planted them this spring, so they aren't very established either. I'm glad you brought this up Posie4U! Thanks!
I have deadheaded the butterfly bushes, and they already look better. I don't know how it would be possible, but it seems they already have a lot more flowerheads on the
You are most welcome, mydaisy. I didn't know whether to post it or not, but decided to show my ignorance anyway. Hey, I am learning and now I am not ignorant about deadheading butterfly bushes. That is great to learn something new each day.
Adeline
WOW! My bushes have tons of new little blooms on them since I deadheaded them. I don't know why I wasn't clipping them before, as I am always snipping off everything thing else.
Glad to hear its working out!
Be carefull Maggiemoo, if you do "fire" that plant you may have to answer to the TNPWC*.
Texas Native Plant Workforce Commission.
LOL! Oh no, anything but that! At least when I fire a plant, I find another job for it first!