A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion Landscape trials and triumphs Butterfly and Bird Gardens Do butterfly bushes need anything special in the spring time

Just curious if I need to do anything with them.. I planted two baby ones last year.. they were in one gallon pots when I bought them.. and they both did pretty well.. though seemed to branch OUT a bit more than growing up, but that is ok.

I didn't know if you are supposed to cut them back at all.. and when you are to do that.. hopefully not in the fall. As I didn't do it.

I also have a new lilac bush that I planted.. does it need anything done to it?

Thanks in advance!!

Love butterfly bushes! You dont have to cut them back at all. When I first got one, I decided in the spring to cut back the 'dead' parts. It wasn't needed, although it did make the bush..bushier. The plant looks dead in the spring, but be patient and little leaf buds start to form on even the most dead looking branches. Once it's leafed, you can trim out any really dead twigs.

I gave one to my daughter a couple years ago and it's beautiful at 6 feet! When the blooms are dead, I snip them, which usually makes side shoots appear so it stays blooming for a long time. I always snip off any remaining dead flowers, sometimes trimming branches if they are too long. She prefers to see a trunk so I also trim off the bottom branches a bit which allows you to plant small bulbs or shade loving ground cover.

Oh hello again Jolanna! Thank you for this reply!! I also did cut back some of the dead flowers last year.. only because it made the rest of it look so much prettier.

Ohhh and I love the idea of giving it a trunk!! I just might do that too once mine gets a bit bigger. It would look great with something underneath!!

Thanks again!!

I always wait until spring and when i see new growth i cut the bush completly back. Every summer it grows big and pretty ,filled with blooms. I was told to do that when i bought it from the nursery.

So cut everything back except the new growth.. hmm.. I think I will do that.. thanks!

I've been thinking about planting a butterfly bush. I love them!

lilacs, too.

I did last year, I was not impressed with it.. Short lived.

Hang in there with it Barb....my neighbor has one backed up to my fence, it's a big mature one---and each summer it's swarming with butteflies. I get lots of great pics of them. And her bush blooms for quite a while...

I would love to have one, I'm just out of room for another bush.

Maybe it isnt the same thing.........Flop in a couple weeks.

I have several butterfly bushes - had them for years now.
At the end of February - early March depending on the weather here, I cut them back to about 2 feet tall. They always grow to over 7-8 feet tall, and each summer are COVERED with butterflies, bees and even hummingbirds!

If you do not cut off the dead flower heads, you will find baby butterfly plants all over your yard the next year - the seeds are very small, and will grow in almost any type of soil anywhere! I have saved lots of those and potted them up. Once they reached a nice size - about a foot or so, I've shared them with friends and neighbors. Wish I could sell some of the extra baby plants that I allow to grow, but we live on a quiet U-shaped street that does not get a lot of traffic.

I dont think mine was the one your speaking of.. It was a soft leafed plant like the bleeding hearts....i dont think it came back this year..
MY mums didnt come back either.. I thought I had perennials.Wahhhhhhhhhhhh.