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Red Admiral Butterfly (Vanessa atalanta) on Buddleia (Buddleja davidii) by Steve Greaves
TheGardenLady received this question from Jocelyn.
I have just returned to the Vineyard after being away for 6 months. My butterfly bush has already sprouted leaves. Is it too late to do a deep pruning? If it’s not too late, how low can I go? Thanks. Looking forward to “spending” Saturday mornings with you on the radio…hope you had a great winter.
There are those who like to keep their Buddleia or butterfly bushes in their natural state and do not prune them. So if you missed the pruning season, you don’t have to worry. Usually Buddleia davidii, the more common buddleia, is pruned in late winter or early spring before new growth starts. When your forsythia and daffodils are blooming they tell you that it is a good time to prune your buddleia davidii. So I think you are not too late if this is the type of butterfly bush you have. Also, TheGardenLady does not know whether this season on the Vineyard has been unseasonably warm and your daffodils and forsythia have finished blooming. See here.
Butterfly Bush – White Bouquet by donsutherland1
“Shrubs that bloom after spring usually do so from buds which are formed on shoots that grow the same spring. These shrubs should be pruned in later winter to promote vigorous shoot growth in spring.” The butterfly bush is a shrub that blooms on current season’s growth. TheGardenLady likes to prune her buddleia so that she can dead head the flowers easily when they die to encourage more blooming.
Butterfly Bush HDR 2 by Julianne Photography
The buddleia is a hardy plant so late pruning won’t kill the plant, but it might not have as many flowers. If you feel that you must prune but your plant has started sending out new growh, try not to prune the new growth which is where the blooms emerge but prune out some of the older stems. See here.
PS You are confusing two garden ladies. This GardenLady does not talk on the radio.
Filed under Butterfly Bush, Pruning
Slowly… by Dialed-in!
TheGardenLady received this question from Cassie.
I recieved some marigolds from a friend. They were orange and did not seem to be as big or sturdy as usual marigolds are. They bloomed well until it got too cold out. I kept saving the flowers for the seed pods, and they grew very well, but they did not do too well during the Fall and Winter; so now I just have what looks like 3 long, thin sticks coming out of the ground. Is there anything I can do so they will bloom again?
Marigolds are a hot weather flowering plant. They only do well in the Fall and Winter if you live in a zone like Mexico. If you live in an area that has cold or freezing Falls and Winters, your marigold plants will die. Then you will have to replant marigold seeds or the plants in your garden when the weather is warm enough next late spring. If you had taken the plants into your house to try to overwinter them, you would need a warm house with loads of sunshine shining on the marigolds. Without the ideal conditions indoors your marigold plants will look long and leggy and not very nice if they live. Most houses are not sunny enough to grow marigolds well indoors. You really need a warm greenhouse to grow them properly.
On a cold morning in October by joeke pieters
When the weather is warm enough – which means no more frost in your area – you should buy more seeds or marigold plants. If you buy a packet of seeds, you can start them indoors about six to eight weeks before the frost is estimated to be out of the ground in your area and then plant the seedlings outdoors after the last frost. Frost will kill marigolds. Or you can wait and plant Marigold seeds directly in the soil when the ground is warm enough. Generally the seed packet will tell you the best time to sow the seeds outdoors in your area. If you want to buy marigold plants, they are sold in plastic containers. Your local nursery will sell them when it is time to plant them outdoors in the late spring or early summer.
TheGardenLady thinks you should toss the pathetic looking stems that remain of your friend’s marigolds. Of course, if you have some reason to want to save them- because your friend gave them to you- you can always try to salvage them. Provided the stems are not dead, when the weather is really warm you can stick what is left of your Marigold plant in the soil in your garden in a sunny location. If those pathetic plants live, you will be lucky, and if they die, you can tell your friend you tried. But it seems like a waste of time when marigolds are really one of the least expensive flowering plants to buy.
Filed under Flower, Flowering Plants, Marigold, Marigolds