Comments on: Never Underestimate a Butterfly Bush

By: Diana

Diana — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 21:12:37 +0000

I have a butterfly bush, its turning brown and the leaves are starting to fall off. The bush is in its second summer and did well over the winter and spring. I planted it in my butterfly garden and with the record high temps (Maryland) I water it everyday. What should I do? Pull it out and get a new one or just ride it out and see what happens next spring? What else should I do? HELP!

By: Peggy

Peggy — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 20:52:00 +0000

My white butterfly bush is about 20 feet high and 20 feet round and I love it! Its always full of bees and butterflys and hummingbirds. Robins build their nests in it every spring. I NEVER prune mine back ever. Its right off my porch and I sit and drink my tea and watch the show from my porch. The trunks or branches are 5 inches in diameter. It hangs close to the ground and my daughter wants to build a fort under its branches. I would let her except for the ticks. I live in Harrisburg, PA where we sometimes get some pretty bad ice storms and I thought for sure a couple of times I would lose my beloved bush but it bounces back every singlr time.

By: joann rodriguez

joann rodriguez — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 15:49:05 +0000

please let me nkow if i can save mt butterfly bush it looks dead after three years of booming and I never touched it or anything why would it die? thank you joann

By: Kim

Kim — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 04:43:42 +0000

I have the same Hydrangea as you have beside your butterfly bush. It is probably 30 years old, and not in great shape; they’re in full sun, (I live on the south west coast of Canada), and every year the flowers bloom that beautiful cerulean blue and promptly turn brown. How do you care for yours?

Kim in Vancouver, BC

By: RuthieJ

RuthieJ — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 01:22:50 +0000

That butterfly bush (with accompanying tiger swallowtail) is something this Zone 4 gardener can only dream about!

By: I have a crazy plant. : taofoo.com

I have a crazy plant. : taofoo.com — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:13:26 +0000

[...] big sister has a crazy plant that she didn’t think would possibly grow as big as was advertised. I have one of those. I [...]

By: eliz

eliz — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 03:13:07 +0000

OH MY GOD!!! This will never happen to me–as others have commented, you live in a possible zone for this. But I am always encouraged by the way my two butterfly bushes resurrect themselves every summer.

By: jodi

jodi — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 02:02:38 +0000

Sigh. I can only DREAM about buddleia doing this–I buy them as little plants in 4 inch pots usually each year, and they grow fairly well and flower…then die over winter. In some parts of North America, they’re selfseeding and becoming a nuisance but that will never be on this end of the continent!
I love the yellow one the best, and it seems to be extra-spleeny and slow to flower here. But I keep hoping….

By: sky

sky — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 06:28:25 +0000

when i lived in atlanta i had a purple midnight variety which i cut back to 2 feet each year and which grew each spring/summer to about 6 feet, but mine was never as bushy as yours. butterflies loved it, and so did i. now here in puget sound i want to buy 3 or 4 which can grow about 12′ high behind the rock garden at the back of our property. in summer they will be a glorious backdrop, purple and lavender cones feeding butterflies. i can hardly wait! i will be sure to check tags since i didn’t realize until reading here that they grew different heights.

By: Gail

Gail — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 12:39:27 +0000

That is one big Butterfly Bush! It does a great job of blocking your view, too! Where will it be relocated? Meems is right, those are good looking Nikko Blue Hydrangeas!

Gail