In fact, butterfly bush pruning … It's a really good idea to deadhead yourBuddlejas. I smiled when I saw your title and thought of your butterfly houses....you make them a home and plant a garden for them even! Buddleia plants should be pruned twice a year: the first pruning is a hard-cutting in the spring, with a second pruning in the fall to cut away the spent flowers after the blooms fade away. Without pruning, the butterfly bush may become a bit unruly. As flowers bloom and fade during the growing season, I'll prune away the spent flowers to reduce the chances of self seeding. And over here is my number one favourite. When to Prune a Butterfly Bush. The buddleia should be fully pruned at least once yearly, ideally in early spring once the chance of frost has passed. Like many other flowering shrubs, the butterfly bush must be pruned at the right time of the year to control it's shape and to encourage the most blooms. Attracts bird life, butterflies and bees to your garden. I have one Butterfly Bush, and it was planted during a harsh weather year, so it is just now starting to flourish. They are orange. By cutting that out, I'll have new flowers very shortly. ", "So whatever the colour, size or form, these tough-as-boots bird and butterfly magnets could be a great addition to your garden!". This pruning might seem a bit radical, but come spring, it'll be back looking fantastic. I'll remove any weak shoots sprouting from the ground. Blooming butterfly bushes are magnets for attracting butterflies and hummingbirds. But they do the trick. Buddleja are an asset to any garden with plants growing more compactly and easily kept to under 1.5 metres in height with light pruning. Now here, it's way too dry for that to happen, but what I find is by deadheading, I actually encourage a lot more flowering and I extend my season by months. Appreciated all of these resources. Buddleja plants flower on new growth, so pruning will also help to promote lots of new stems that will flower in the same year. What is a butterfly house ! We get a lot of the Anise Swallowtails like the one in your first picture. Since your plant is only one foot tall, it probably doesn't need much pruning unless you're trying to control its shape. It's beautifulBuddleja'Buzz Purple.' Number 3 isBuddleja lindleyana. ", "Number three is Buddleja lindleyana. First time finding out about butterfly houses. Thanks for the tips and congrats on LOTD. March is the best time to prune off bromeliad rosettes. Answer: Hard pruning can stress a mature plant. She loves them. Hard pruning also helps to control the size and shaping of the plant, and I also selectively trim wayward stalks during the spring and summer. The pruning should take place early in the spring - March is normally ok and probably best time to prune - and the new shoots that have probably st a rted to grow on your Buddleia are very hardy, and not normally prone to frost damage. Buddlejasare members of the figwort family and hail from the temperate regions of Asia, Africa and South America. It's about two years old and never had flowers, and I've never pruned it. Prune in early Spring. We use a saline bore to irrigate, so they're perfectly suited to my garden. In the fall, prune away all of the tips to remove any faded flowers and developing seeds. It has magenta pink flowers and it's a lovely compact plant - only gets to about one, one and a half metres high. I think I need a butterfly house. Now it might look rather radical cause I've reduced it to a third of its height, but come spring, it'll be back looking fantastic. Genus Buddleja can be evergreen or deciduous shrubs, occasionally trees or scrambling climbers with simple leaves and panicles of small, tubular fragrant flowers Details B. globosa is a large semi-evergreen or deciduous shrub to 5m, with dark green leaves and dense globose heads 2cm across of sweet-scented bright orange-yellow flowers in loose clusters at branch tips in early summer ", "Coming in at number two is this beautiful Buddleja x weyeriana. It comes from eastern Asia and grows to about three and a half metres high with purple tubular flowers and sage-green leaves. For details about how your personal information will be handled by the ABC, please see our Privacy Collection Statement. Sophie shows off some tough, insect-attracting beauties, "Plants have to be tough to survive in my garden, with temperatures regularly visiting the high 30's and often overstaying their welcome into the 40's. It comes in a vibrant gold colour and a delicate creamy-white which has a flush of lavender in bud. The butterflies love them. Pruning Buddleia in Summer will be of benefit to the plant, not having to produce seeds on the old flowers and it will certainly extend the flowering season well into summer. They'll tolerate a wide variety of soil types, as long as it's well drained and for me, one of their greatest qualities is their ability to handle salinity. Answer: I cut back all about two-thirds of the stalks in late winter or in early spring. Butterfly bushes grow vigorously and thrive in full sun. Buddlejia davidii 'Black Knight'DESCRIPTION: Fast establishing woody perennial flowering from summer through to autumn with spear-shaped clusters of deep purple scented flowers. Popular buddleias are Buddleia Black knight (photo right), Buddleia Pink Profusion (top photo) Buddleja Golden Glow and Buddleja Royal Red. It's a large variety which gets to about 4 metres high by the same wide and instead of the usual cone-shaped flowers, it has interesting flowerheads which are like clusters of grapes. Choose a sunny spot or semi-shaded spot in the garden and prepare the planting area well by digging in Yates Dynamic Lifter Soil Improver & Plant Fertiliser. :). SOPHIE THOMSON: Earlier on, I shared with you my obsession forBuddlejas, so now I'm going to show you how easy they are to care for and plant them. Thanks for sharing a great lens on the butterfly bush, I used to have a pink delight but now have a black knight. A butterfly bush can grow to over 10 foot and can begin to spread throughout the garden, so trim as and when needed. Firstly, in the eastern states,Buddlejascan actually become a garden escapee and become an environmental weed, so by deadheading, you're preventing that from happening. This makes it easier to see what you’re doing as you progress, and gives you better access to the base of the plant. I live in Central Louisiana ! Buddleia are a type of plant that highly benefit from a severe pruning. Stop pruning once your stems are about 1 foot in length to avoid harming the plant. Question: It's May 30th and I live in Connecticut. Take off all of the dead flowers regularly, and some varieties of butterfly bush will flower until well into the autumn. Stephen J Parkin from Pine Grove, Nova Scotia, Canada on June 20, 2013: We have one large butterfly bush near the side of our house and yes it does attract the butterflies. Here in the U.K., Buddleia has spread all over the railway system and takes hold in the smallest of crevices. There isn’t a single best time for pruning. Can I prune my butterfly bush now? Well you learn something new every day. They are 15 feet tall at this point! Buddleja are an asset to any garden, the Buzz Series have a proven dwarf habit and are easily kept under one metre with little pruning needed. Some selective pruning in late spring can still encourage new growth that will produce flowers this season. What can be better for attracting butterflies than planting butterfly bushes: colorful, hardy and easy to care for, this flowering shrub blooms profusely throughout the summer and into the early fall. Now if your soil is reasonable, you don't actually need to do any soil preparation - simply bung them in....dig a hole and plant them. It's got magenta pink flowers and it's a lovely compact plant - only gets to about one, one and a half metres high. This pruning might seem a bit radical, but come spring, it'll be back looking fantastic." I have seen butterflies in my flower garden, it is interesting how they are attracted to certain types of plants. We use a saline bore to irrigate, so they're perfectly suited to my garden. Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. We planted several different varieties of butterfly bush in our gardens, primarily as accent plants in perennial borders and in a naturalized area that includes mostly native plants. Anthony enjoys spending time in the workshop, the kitchen, the garden and out fishing. Will it encourage new ones in time for the Fall? These bushes produce a lot of seeds. Photo: Lorna Rose: Lasiandra Tibouchina urvilleana 'Alstonville' Summer is also an important time to prune stone fruit to thin excessive growth and encourage fruiting wood. This is no place for anything delicate, so, if like me, you want beautiful plants that are tough as old boots - meet theBuddlejas. "Butterfly bush" is the common name for the Buddleia species of flowering shrub, and it is the perfect plant to compliment the annual and perennial flowers in your butterfly garden. 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