I have a new Butterfly bush but I've kind of run out of room... Can I put it in a pot? Has anyone ever tried it?
xxx, Carrie
Can I grow a butterfly bush in a container?
Oh, BB's have those big, tap roots, right? I had one last summer but it was the wrong color (!) so I moved it to my husband's garden and he didn't do any of the things you're supposed to do. It didn't come back - yet, at least...
I would be planning to put this PERMANENTLY in a big, big pot. And leave it outside. In zone 6a.
xxx, Carrie
I was planning to leave mine in a pot permanently, too. (The pot in this picture is several gallons big.)
If it were me living in zone 6, I'd make sure I got a variety that was good for zone 5 (although you're in 6, the extra cool hardiness is necessary for it being in a pot). Then in the winter I'd make sure it had a southern exposure, was protected from icy winter winds and I'd mulch the base of it heavily.
Good luck! And be sure to post pictures of how it works for you.
Donna
I'm hoping someone - anyone - who lives farther North than you might post. This is 'White Profusion' I think, and it's supposed to be hardier enough to live in a container. I will post, of course!
xxxx, Carrie
My answer is the same YES!
:)
Susan
I was hoping for someone North of the Mason-Dixon line, LOL. Thank you Susan for the encouragement, Susan.
xxxx, Carrie
Carrie~ I grow my Butterfly Bush in a terra cotta pot. It slowly emerges after the last frost, but when the heat kicks in the growth leaps out of the pot. I just overwinter it in the garage after the first killing frost, cut it down to 5-6 inches then I bring it back outonto the patio in mid-Spring. The BB is watered every 3-4 days, but rewards you with nice mounded foliage and blooms. This is a blue variety ( had to prune it again after the late Spring freeze). I also use this pot as a nursery pot for annuals till the BB is too tall.
Ah, now that's the zone I wanted to hear from! So you don't leave it out year-round. Do you water it in the garage? How big of a pot? Yeah, I do that too, mostly with pansies which i know will punk out when it really gets to be summer. Thank you for this info!
xxxx, Carrie
Well I'm in Z6 and I'm going to plant mine. I don't trust it to survive our winters in a pot.
Tom
hmmmm. Not even in a corner covered with leaves? Maybe I'll see how it does for the summer.
xx, Carrie
Hi Carie :-)
I had some butterfly bushes I tried to over winter in the garage and it didn't work I even put some in the ground in a pot with no luck overwintering then I had a 5" pot with a yellow BB in it that I found inbetween plants where I had a bunch of rocks and it was coming out at the bottom of the plant a little and I planted and it died :( I just can't overwinter BB lol The ones I planted in the ground and the garage were in 3 gal. pots. They weren't older plants they were new.
I'm gonna try putting one - tiny now of course - in this HUGE terra cotta pot I got from Ikea. The plant cost less than the pot, LOL. So if it DOESN'T make it it's no huge loss. I guess. All the instructions say to cut them off close to the ground in the spring but they talk as if it should be hardy... And if it's hardy in zone 4 in the ground, why not in zone 6 in a nice big pot?
xx, Carrie
I think they're actually only hardy to zone 5, and I know some people in zone 5 who've lost them on occasion over the winter, so I think zone 6 in a pot it will be somewhat borderline, milder winters it should be fine but if you have a hard winter maybe not. I don't know that I'd leave a terra cotta pot outside over the winter anyway, they can break from freezing/thawing.
Carrie~ I do not water them over the winter, I give them a good drink before putting them in the garage,.I did not mulch the BB, but I did place a terra cotta pot of calla lillies on top of the BB pot. BTW, I saw your nice container of calla lillies on another thread. My neighbor grows a row of BBs inground and they are growing nicely after the late freeze. Hers are several inches taller, but older than mine. I agree with ecrane, you do not want to leave your terra cotta pots outside to endure the winter, as they will crack and break down.
Edited~ if you want a picture of her BB's growing site to compare the difference from growing in a container, I'll talk to her and you can make some comparisons.
This message was edited Jun 17, 2007 2:37 PM
I have never trimmed my BB down, don't mulch either... Because they like to "sleep in" til the ground warms up I just leave the last years growth so that I remember my BB's location then I just "snap off" the dead twigs from the past year...
Last year, Lowe's had a whole bunch of butterfly plants on the "rescue me" aisle. Most of them I paid 25 cents to 50 cents for. I already had the butterfly bush. I decided to make good use of a pond form I had laying around that I picked up at a garage sale for $2.00. I wanted a butterfly garden that I didn't have to worry about pulling weeds from. I planted all of the rescue me plants around the butterfly bush. I didn't cover this container at all over the winter. This was taken about the end of May. The only thing I added this year was the love lies bleeding amaranthus in the front. Everything else just came back like gangbusters. By keeping everything contained within the pond, I have not pulled ONE weed from this garden this year.
JanLynn, I love the color of your buttefly bush. I don't think I've ever seen the blooms that color. Very unusual.
Janet
Which one is that JanLynn?
Good morning!!!
The BB pictured is "Bi-Color", it's fairly new in the BB family. I bought it from Park Seed 3 years ago (on clearance---less than $10.00!!!) and it was probably a foot tall but was blooming even at that time. I've done cuttings to propagate it but the people I've given it to haven't been successful in having it return. That won't stop me tho as I'm gonna keep trying. I've also seen it being offered by Dutch Garden...let me do some more checking and I'll be back!
I'll be back...
Jan
Interesting...I actually have that one and my colors aren't as intense as yours (at least they weren't last year...it's getting ready to bloom right now so I'll see what it looks like this year). I don't know if there's variation between different plants or maybe it's just the way the colors show up in the photo. I got mine from Plant Delights.
BiColor BB:
http://www.plantdelights.com/Catalog/Current/Detail/04874.html
http://springhillnursery.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_73054
http://www.bigdipperfarm.com/cgi-bin/searchstuff.pl?
I have seen it for sale at my local Stein's Gardens and Gifts Store also.
ecrane3:
Mine does bloom these colors (butterscotch/raspberry lavender) altho I think the photo colors are more "intense". Could the difference in color, that you get vs. what I get, be attributed to the difference in our zones? Mine is located on the west side of the house and receives morning shade and afternoon sun and it appears to be quite happy. It has to be a tuff plant because the garden it's in isn't easily accessible by hose altho I will water it once in a while.
On another gardening website someone had mentioned that their colors were brownish and they thought the bush was therefore ugly...once the flowers dry up yeah they turn brown but I snip it off. That person was also in a higher zone...
I also have used a product "MegaGrow" as a foliar spray since I got the plant because it was so teeny at first. I am now also using "Messenger" as an additional/back-up foliar spray.
UT/Janet:
I luv your garden idea! I never seem to find bargains such as you mentioned, darn!!! Unfortunately, I've lost contact with a friend who used to go "dumpster-diving" and one of the things she gave me is an awesome rose but I have no idea what it is. When I first got it it was dead twigs and I revived it using the MG (mentioned above). Now, years later it is my best performing rose and, since I don't know what else to call it, I refer to it as "my dumpster rosebush" :)
Jan
This message was edited Jun 22, 2007 9:08 AM
My flowers are very pretty, just the colors are a bit different than yours. The plant was really tiny last year though, plus since it was still in a container I had it in part shade, so now that it gets more sun and is bigger and planted in the garden maybe the color will be different.
Here's a pic of mine from last year
Wow, you go away for a few days and look what you miss!!!! Does anyone have seeds from that gorgeous bi-color bush? The one I'm thinking of putting in a container is white; I thought the colors were getting too loud so I should cut back. Dilute a bit with white. But now I want that one too, and I REALLY don't have space. I'll get back to you!
xxx, Carrie
I don't know if it would come true from seed or not. My guess would be no but I don't know for sure.
cuttings ;)