Butterfly bushes, one of my favorite sub-shrubs! But they look like heck in early spring. What to do? Here are two answers to that question:
Q. My six-plus year-old Buddleia (butterfly bush) has never really been pruned. It’s about six-ft. tall now and very thick and unwieldy. It has new growth emerging. Should I prune? And how much?
-Riverhead, New York
A. Butterfly bushes LIKE being cut back in spring. In fact, they only flower on new growth so cutting back each spring is recommended to control growth and keep from getting too leggy. If you like the height of them and want to keep them that tall, only prune back 1/3 each year so every three years the whole plant has had a haircut. Cut back to where the new growth starts.
Butterfly bushes will also benefit from deadheading the blooms which means if you cut off the bloom after the flower had faded, it will make more blooms. (Plants are always trying to reproduce themselves so they are after making seeds. If you cut off the bloom before it goes to seed it will make more flowers to make more seeds!) One word of caution about deadheading butterfly bushes though: They will bloom themselves to death so if you do deadhead them you need to stop about 4-6 weeks before your first frost is expected. That way the plant will become dormant in time for the winter and will better able to handle the snows.
Allison Creel, Firefly Blooms, Sterrett, Alabama
A. Butterfly bush will flower at its best if it is cut back each year. I have cut them down to a foot off the ground and I have just cut them back by 1/2. Either way, fertilize them as soon as you cut them back to encourage new growth.
Tim Lamprey, Harbor Garden Center, Salisbury, Massachusetts
