Help before I throw this away..

20 years ago

Ok I have made a couple of post about this and now I really need help.... I have what I thought was two butterfly bushes, I still think they are..

Here is the story. I grew two butterfly bushes in part shade well alot of shade. The first year they loked great, second year too, I never cut them to the ground.. Well year three I got these..

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Well the place I bought them says these are not seedlings rather a weed and throw it away and buy new ones.. Well they are 45.00 and That is steep for me right now.

Does anyone think these are babies and that I can move them to full sun and that they will someday be beautiful again?

I hope so please help me as I want to keep them if they are, if not then they need to go..

Laura

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Comments (7)

jenny_in_se_pa
20 years ago
Do you remember what BB you bought? Your BB should have made woody stems after those couple years. The leaves on that look a bit too long and the leaf vein pattern on those don't match that of a butterfly bush.

You may want to wait because they are often late to come out - even as late as June in colder areas if they survive.
remy_gw
20 years ago
The plant in your pictures is a weed.
As Jenny stated, you should have woody stems left from your butterfly bushes. I'm assuming you have them, but not in the photo. The upper stems can be dead, but you should find little leaves forming near the base of the shrub. If the upper stems are dead, don't worry, this happens a lot. Just cut off all the upper dead stuff.
And $45 dollars is a crazy amount to be charging!
Remy
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two_munkeys
20 years ago
That's a weed.

Like everyone else said, your BB should have woody stems. In my zone 6, BB's die back almost to the ground every year, but every year, they grow right back up to about 5-6'.

BB's do best in full sun.

And charging $45 for a BB is one thing, but to pay it is crazy!

BB's readily self-seed, but if its in a shady area, you might not get many seedlings, if any. New seedlings (and new growth on existing BB's) have a silvery-green, fuzzy looking underside.
leslies
20 years ago
BB seedlings look just like their parents and are unmistakeable. You've got weeds.
sheltieche
20 years ago
it looks like goldenrods. To some they are weeds.
reginacw
20 years ago
Are the roots on your Buddliea tight? If they are, be patient.
jel48
20 years ago
Laura, I am still waiting for mine to green up too... but I'm borderline on zone here, I think, so will just wait and see. I've heard that here in Z4 they sometimes don't green up until early June. I just put mine in last year. But what I wanted to pass on is that I ordered mine from Bluestone Perennials. They have an excellent reputation (you can check Garden Watchdog - they are one of their top 30 most highly rated companies, and I can vouch for the quality of their plants. They are small when they arrive but they sure do take off and grow! Everything was blooming that very first summer. They have buddelia (buttefly bush) for 5.95 and 6.95 each, depending on variety.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bluestone Perennials