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| Hi, Has anyone lost any butterfly bushes? The severe winter really took a toll on mine. For years I had one that was quite large and actually came up each spring from the dormant stems about 3-4 feet off the ground. This year when I saw there was no growth appearing even after a hard pruning, I pretty much cut it down to the base. I was encouraged when I saw new shoots coming up, but very atypically for this usually vigorous grower - the shoots are spindly and not looking too energetic. Do you think I should continue to hang in there with it or just replace it? I'm wondering if there was too much root damage since the base of the plant was buried under ice and snow for literally months during the winter we just had. Recently I am trying some super phosphate fertilizer to see if I can encourage some better growth. My other bushes are coming up pretty nicely from the base. Also, if I do replace what was my largest one that isn't doing well, I want to put in one that grows the largest. Is there any particular species that grows the tallest? I'm thinking probably davidii but thought I'd check. I will sure miss seeing those masses of butterflies this summer that gathered around this bush that used to grow to probably 6-7 feet and quite wide also. Thanks, |
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| We lost our big butterfly bush in the front bed - it was a sort of tree-substitute and was 8-10' tall. We also lost a smaller one (~4-5' tall) in the bed on the south side of the driveway. We've dug out the big one (HUGE excavation required!) and replanted that area with other things, but haven't decided what to do with the midsize one yet - will probably replace that with a smaller one later in the summer when there are more choices available in garden centers. Have you considered a heptacodium as an alternative? It's later to bloom, blooming in September here just as the Monarch butterflies are migrating and they go nuts over it! It can be grown as a tree or shrub. We grow ours as a small tree. It came through the winter just fine - only a bit of winterkill on branch ends. A couple of small butterfly bushes, asters, and a heptacodium would provide lots of attraction for butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds. Heptacodium with Monarchs: |
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| Mine seem to be fine this year. |
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| Mine have finally come back from the roots. I wouldn't bother fertilizing, they just need some time. Try pinching them once they get close to a foot tall and they should branch out and bloom just fine. I'm a big fan of black knight and red royal, they both get about six feet tall after being cut to the ground in spring (I have bulbs etc planted underneath so need them out of the way) My heptacodium never attracts many butterflies. I wonder if it's a matter of timing or if there are other things they prefer. It's a nice shrub regardless. |
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| I have 4 and doubted 2 would return. Luckily they all did although one is so tiny I doubt it will last. It's by my hog of a maple. Wow what great plant that heptacodium is! Beautiful |
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- Posted by gardenweed_z6a N CT (My Page) on Sun, Jun 15, 14 at 20:36
| All my Buddleia davidii/'Black Knight' butterfly bushes returned despite the harsh winter. They were quite a bit later coming up than in prior years but then, so was everything else. All mine were grown from seed via winter sowing and are likely more hardy than nursery-grown plants so I kept my fingers crossed waiting for them to send up new growth. All have but I'm guessing they may not grow as tall as in prior years due to the continuing cool weather. My son works in construction and told me they found frozen ground 2 ft. down earlier this year. Anything that can survive that and come up again gets my vote for "hardy perennial." |
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| Thanks for the replies. As it turns out, the stem of the bush appears to be rotting, which would seem to explain the poor nature of the growth that was trying to come up. I don't think any additional growth is forthcoming. I suppose I could leave it in for the summer and even see what happens next year, but if it's not going to put out shoots this summer, I can't imagine that there will be anything next year, especially if the stem is dying. I'm thinking dig it out (from what woodyoak has described about the excavation job needed, I'm a bit leery of how hard this one will be to get out...depends on how substantial a root system they put out) and then put in a new one. Thanks also for the suggestion of heptacodium, but I still like the flowers on the butterfly bush better. Regards, |
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