I have a buddleia davidii 'black night' I purchased last year and when I bought it it was around 3.5 feet tall with several strong woody stalks. This year it came back and some of the stalks have started to push out blooms but they are very green and floppy and only about 1-1.5' tall. Should I prune the new flower buds back in the hopes it will stalk and grow taller or just wait?
I read all the threads I can find about pruning but I still get confused about what to prune and deadhead when.
Thanks for any help,
Maureen
Pruning butterfly bushes - buddleia davidii
Maureen, I'm with you on the lack of pruning knowledge. I also have a plant (duranta) that I planted last year and is now finally taking off like crazy, but it seems to be getting more tall, than anything else. I was wondering if I shouldn't top it in some way, to make it grow "bushier". I think a pruning forum would be good :)
If you prune now you may cut off the flowers.
Butterfly bush comes back bushy if you prune hard, down to about 2' in early spring.
I can relate. I would hate to experiment and screw up the whole growing season.
And I agree, a deadheading/pruning forum would be one of my favorites.
Maureen - go ahead and cut it back. I'm in 5b also and I just pruned back a 6' White Profusion that I hadn't gotten to. The growth coming from the base will be stronger than leaving long spindly stems hanging off of last years branches. At this point you don't need to cut it to the ground, just prune back the main branches and tip off any new growth to make it stronger. Next year if you can remember, cut it back to about 2' in April. My key is when I start to see it greening up. For years I've pruned my buddleia up as a single trunk in order to underplant with lilies, daylilies, forget me nots, dianthus, delphiniums etc. but in 5b the trunk doesn't always make it so some years I have to have a shrub look that I keep limbing up till it gets tall enough in later summer. You should be deadheading this shrub when you can to encourage more blooms and a longer bloom time. You can prune branches during the flowering season and it will just branch from the leaf petiole and bloom more. Feed it if you haven't done so and don't worry. Its blooming a little early I think - you must have a warmer yard than I do. I treat it like a large perennial.
This year - on this White Prof it had so much growth coming off last years wood that I pruned back anything that was ungainly and clipped the tips off the new growth and let it go. I have a lot of new growth coming from the base. I've been keeping it watered and will be feeding this week. They like organics - rotted manure, compost etc. One year I had a Red Delight go to 9 ft in its 2nd year after I layered on the horse manure over the winter.
I got Black Knight last year and am looking forward to seeing it take off.
Maureen,
I have had a Dark Knight Butterfly Bush for three growing seasons. The first season it did fairly well. The second season it was a mess and I didn't think that I wanted to keep it. However the third year it is now eight or more tall and blooming beautifully. I don't know if you need to prune it but I thought maybe this message would encourage you.
Thanks,
Chuck
PiggyPoo...duranta blooms from the branch tips...so the more you cut back the spent flowers the more it will become bushier and full of blooms.
I had mine pruned to form a small tree but we had a freak freeze a couple of years back and I had to cut them back to about 18" from the ground. They grew back bushier because of all the new sprouts. I now clip off the spent blooms and longer stragglier branches.
~ Cat
Cat...so it's ok to cut off the branch that is partially ripped off, and it won't stop any new growth, right? And yes, I always cut off the spent blooms right now, so I don't end up with a ton of seed pods growing. I was told to do that so that the energy spent on the pods, would be given to the plant. I am new to this datura stuff :)
PiggyPoo :0)
alyrics,
So I should just prune the bloom off and look for it to branch?
I did prune off some of the weaker looking shoots from the base and now have about 4 stems comming up. The strongest one has a bloom forming on the top, Is that what you mean for me to go ahead and cut?
Thanks for all that info and answer. And it does get afternoon sun which gets extremely hot here.
Thanks Chuck I need all the help I can get! ☺
Maureen
Sorry Maureen if I'm late answering you. If you've pruned away some of the weaker looking growth and still have a bloom forming... I think its up to you whether you want to let it bloom now or not. I would - for some reason a lot of plants are blooming a little out of sync this year. Just feed it and nip off the stray stuff you don't like, and deadhead. and if its as dry there as it is here, you will probably be watering to keep it blooming all summer. Buddleias seem to be pretty hardy to me.
Good luck!
Well I actually found I had two stems with blooms forming, so I pruned one to see what happens.
You're right things do seem out of synch--and I'm getting impatient for some blooms! ;)