Worried about my butterfly bush

[RozieMozie]

im in the Toronto area, zone 5, and i'm worried about my butterfly bush ... it has not started to grow yet ... i trimmed it back mid April, and i'm worried that i trimmed it too early and have killed it ... i planted it three years ago so this is its second spring, and i can not remember when it started growing last year ... am i over reacting? is it normal for the butterfly bush not to be growing this time of the year?

[Mona Miller]

My Nanho Purple butterfly bush was sick this year. I ended up replacing it. I dug out some of the dirt and then replanted a variety called Pink Profusion. It looks like another bush didn't fair well this winter either. I think I am going to have to dig up a variety called Honeycomb, too. A virus has been hitting some of our shrubs/trees due to a very wet spring.

[RozieMozie]

thats not good, i wish i knew either way if my bush is ok

we've had the opiate, a very dry winter so very little snow melt for the ground to soak up, and no rain in April, its dry here, people tend to complain when it rains and have no concept of how much it is needed right now ... want to send some rain up here

[Mona Miller]

Butterfly bushes are normally drought tolerant. Have you tried some fertilizer?

[pjvanee]

I am just across Lake Ontario (Buffalo area) from you, and also cut back my butterfly bushes in mid April. My bushes are all full of new growth, and had new growth on them when I cut them back. I have a Black Knight, and a bunch of generic others. I do not know if different varieties break dormancy at different times, but my different varieties all start growing at the same time.

Hope yours starts sprouting soon!

[RozieMozie]

I am just across Lake Ontario (Buffalo area) from you, and also cut back my butterfly bushes in mid April. My bushes are all full of new growth, and had new growth on them when I cut them back. I have a Black Knight, and a bunch of generic others. I do not know if different varieties break dormancy at different times, but my different varieties all start growing at the same time.

Hope yours starts sprouting soon!

ty for your input, i've been asking around here, but no one either has one or has no idea if theirs is growing yet, since its work friends im asking, i'll keep waiting -zzzzzzzz-

Butterfly bushes are normally drought tolerant. Have you tried some fertilizer?

no i typically dont fertilize my garden, i just dont know enough about fertilizing so i stay away from it

[Mona Miller]

Do you use compost? It's a natural fertilizer.

[RozieMozie]

yes, but our city composts, so we put it out on the curb for them to collect like the garbage and recycling ... though once a year we can pick up free compost from the city ... i should get hubby to pick some up for me then

[Mona Miller]

I don't bother with the city compost it is full of everything imaginable. People use a lot of pesticides and they mow their grass and throw it away. My area compost everything together including all that material that is full of pesticides and herbicides.

[Wyvern]

im in the Toronto area, zone 5, and i'm worried about my butterfly bush ... it has not started to grow yet ... i trimmed it back mid April, and i'm worried that i trimmed it too early and have killed it ... i planted it three years ago so this is its second spring, and i can not remember when it started growing last year ... am i over reacting? is it normal for the butterfly bush not to be growing this time of the year?

Did you fertilize the area where it was planted? if the ground has too much fertilizer or heavy build up from past fertilizer applications that can possibly stunt the growth of the bush...roots get burned by the nitrogen or something. I have one b-bush like that.. it was planted in an area that for many years had served as the dumping ground for animal waste in the yard... even though that was years ago, the residue still affected the bush. It's been 5 years now and the plant is STILL stunted... but gradually improving. The fact that the b-bush is still even alive is astounding. We originally tried planting a dogwood tree in that spot and it was killed within 2 years from the residue burn.

[RozieMozie]

no i dont do any thing special to my garden like mulching or feeding, just weeding watering and letting the leaves cover the bed in the fall

i gave up on my bush a while back and have since replaced it ... the new one is now starting to bud

[Mona Miller]

I think they must poop out after a while. I have one that has white flies, poor thing. I think it is in too much shade. Gotta move it or fix it somehow.