A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Butterfly Bush

Hi,

I am new to this forum and have only just taken a look around. It looks like there is a lot of information.

I have a question about my Butterfly Bush. I live in SE NC within about two miles of the coast. My soil is sandy and it is hot an humid this time of year. I planted a butterfly bush last summer and it really came up looking great this spring. I grew quit a bit and produced a lot of pretty flowers.

I planted it with a mix of multch, mushroom compost, and native soil. This spring I added some fertilizer. I have a flower sprinkler system and it gets a drip water twice a day for about 20 minutes.

I trimmed the blossoms off the bush when they turned brown.

The leaves have started turning yellow and are falling off. The bush appears to be in distress. I am surprized after such a great showing this spring.

Any ideas as to what I might try?

thanks,

Mark

Welcome. Is there a possibilty that it is receiving too much water? Sounds like possible chlorosis.

John,

That is a possibility. I went from 20 minutes once a day to twice a day with a drip type irrigator because both the butterfly bush and two baby rain trees that I have potted were showing signs of not enough water. I guess I could cut back on the drip head and see what that does. The bushes are very popular in my area and are said to be hearty. We missed the recent floods here and I would guess our rainfall is about average, or a bit low for the season so far.

thanks for your reply,

Mark

I cut a branch off of my butterfly bush and took it to my local garden store to see what they thought. They took one look and said that my bush had been attacked by insects. We looked at a couple of the leaves with a lens and then I could see the small dots and even a couple of small critters.

I had sprayed the bush with seven mix after seeing a couple of Japanese beetles on my crape myrtles and forsythias but apparently this took place long enough after that the seven had all washed off.

I followed their recommendations and cut out all of the leaves that showed any problems and then made a miricle grow mix for watering it.

keeping my fingers crossed.

Mark

Mine don't get that much water& proably gets more from rain than me.
If your fertilizer burned the foliage.....the new foliage will look fine.
I bought mine on clearance for $1 last year. black night.Its been fabulous& the butterflys approve.