Why doesn't my butterfly bush flower?

Answer 1

Is it getting enough sun? Make sure your bush isn't shaded or crowded.

For now it might need a fertilizer with a high middle number to promote bloom, like Miracle Gro's Bloom Buster. However, if the soil is enriched with compost & mulched it shouldn't need artificial fertilizers.

If you're in an area like zone 5, it takes a little longer before it begins to bloom. They seem to have to put a lot of energy getting started after a hard winter.

Here's a site that discusses this problem:
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/butterfly/msg01224803798.html

Butterfly bushes do not perform well when crowded. Try to improve air circulation and full solar exposure. Don't plant them too close to the structures for the same reason. 1

"Butterfly bushes bloom best on new wood, which is the current season's growth. These will be new spring sprouts that grow to bloom in summer. This is vital to consider when you prune the plants. In midwinter cut off all the previous summer's growth, leaving about a foot of live buds behind to produce next year's growth. If you fail to do this, the plants will grow into over-large thickets of spindly wood that won't produce the big bold flower clusters you want. If you have numerous butterfly bushes, leave one bush unpruned each year because this one will flower earlier in the season to attract butterflies sooner." 2

Good luck! Hope this helps.

Answer 2

It depends on a number of factors -
1. how old is it - if it's a fairly young plant, it won't flower until later on this season.

2. What zone are you in? are you in the northern part of the US? Are you in a colder area? Higher elevation? If so, it will also bloom later in the season.

I'm in North Central Maryland, just below the Pennsylvania line. My butterfly bushes usually don't bloom until the first week in July. Then when they start, they keep going until the first really hard frost.

4. How much sun do they get? And - what time of day sun? The bush I have in front of my house - it gets morning early afternoon sun - that's the one that blooms beginning in early July. The one I have in back of my house - that gets Afternoon soon. That blooms a bit later.


I suggest you be patient - you'll be rewarded with a multitude of flowers until the first hard frost.

Oh - don't forget to cut off the dead flowers at the dead flower's base. That way they'll keep sending out more and more side shoots to flower and it will keep it bushy instead of letting it get leggy.

And in the fall, after the Frost gets it, cut the entire plant back as far as you can. I cut mine to about two or three feet from the ground.

If you're in an area where you get sub-zero temps during the winter, the shrub will die back to the ground. Here in Maryland, sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't - depends on the winter. Either way, in the spring it puts forth new growth and quickly grows 8 to 10 feet in height.

Butterfly bushes are one of my favorite shrubs. I keep one right off my porch and one off my patio. I love to watch all the butterflies visit it during the summer days - including the large Yellow Tiger Butterflies and Mourning Cloaks. Then the Monarchs come visiting as they migrate south in the fall. Somedays over a hundred will stop by on their way south to their overwintering place.

Good luck with your bush - it will flower - and give you years of enjoyment!

Ken

Answer 3

Butterfly Bush Not Blooming

Answer 4

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Why doesn't my butterfly bush flower?

Answer 5

Cut off to the next set of leaves.This will encourage re-bloom.

Answer 6

Feed it bone meal