How to encourage a spindly butterfly bush (2024)

FAQs

How to encourage a spindly butterfly bush? ›

Ideally, the branch has several side shoots that you can let behind. Cut those side shoots to just above live buds. If you're not sure what's a live bud, wait until new growth starts. As soon as you see new life emerging, cut just above that growth somewhere low on the branch around ankle high.

Remove the spent blooms periodically during the summer to encourage additional new growth and subsequent flowers until frost. If they have already started to leaf out, you can still prune them back some, but if you prune below new shoots, it will take much longer for it to fill out this year.

Larger varieties like the one you describe tend to grow very fast and have weak wood. This growth habit can lead to what you are experiencing: a floppy plant. Since you didn't prune your plant back in the spring - and cold weather didn't knock it back - your plant is probably extra leggy.

Be sure to plant in most to full day sun for the best blooms- they will not give many blooms & will look scraggly in shady spots.

“Rejuvenation pruning” really means cutting the plant down to its base. It should be done in early spring but should not be done every single year. Not all plants appreciate rejuvenation pruning, but some that respond well are Butterfly Bush, Blue Mist Spirea, Dogwood, Spirea, Forsythia, and Rose of Sharon.

Their roots are sensitive to rotting, and if they spend any amount of time in wet soil, they can be set back or even die. Most of the time, if you lose a butterfly bush after winter, it wasn't due to low temperatures or snow or ice – it was because the plant sat in cold, wet soil in fall or spring.

Butterfly bushes are full sun plants. That means they should get at least six hours of bright sun each day. It doesn't need to come all at once – it can be in chunks throughout the day. In very hot climates, a bit of afternoon shade is permissible.

But without regular pruning, butterfly bushes can become sparse, and flowering can diminish, leaving next to nothing for pollinators. So keep pruning to keep the butterflies coming to your garden for years to come!

Tall varieties grown in part shade may have leggy and floppy stems that benefit from a cage of chicken wire wrapped around the plant, or staking of individual branches with a metal or wooden stake before flowering.

Typically, a butterfly bush will live about 10 years. You may find some plants that live longer than that, but it's a rare case. Proper care of a butterfly bush will help it live longer and thrive in your garden.

What fertilizer for butterfly bush? ›

Best Fertilizer For Butterfly Bushes

Choose a granular, slow-release fertilizer, or mix in a new layer of organic matter like compost. Water in the feeding well. We recommend using an organic fertilizer on these hardy plants to release nutrients more slowly and prevent overfeeding.

When your Butterfly Bush's blooms start to fade away, it's a sign of distress. Reduced flowering and stunted growth can indicate environmental stress or nutritional deficiencies. Leaf scorching is a telltale sign of too much sun or heat stress. It's not just a tan; it's damaging to your plant's health.

Pruning and Deadheading

Deadheading your plants means snipping off any browning flower clusters to encourage more flowering though the bloom season. Butterfly bushes bloom best on younger, vigorous growth and later in the season.

It is a very fast-growing plant that usually reaches maturity within a single growing season, but some wariness is warranted, as this plant self-seeds so readily that it is considered a noxious weed in some regions.