Why is my butterfly bush wilting and dying off?

Question

I have had a butterfly bush 3 or 4 years now. It looks real good until it starts to get the buds. It may have one or two blooms on it and then it starts to wilt and the center turns dark brown and the it dyes off. This has happened every year since I have had it. I have given it plant food and it gets the right kind of light but I am not sure what's going on with it. Please if you know anything about these plants give me some ideas
thanks

Answer 1

You don't mention how the leaves are during the bud-dying process. Is it just affect the buds? Or leaves too? Where do you live? How much sun does it get?

In any case, wilting can be caused by both underwatering AND overwatering. (ironic, but true). They are also susceptible to a few fungus diseases and occasionally get spider mites...but I would think you would notice problems with the leaves too if those are the causes.

If truly the flower buds are the only parts affected, then that's a head-scratcher for me. The fact that your bush is 3-4 years on, and then only gets one or two flower buds on it tells me there a possibility you are over-fertilizing. You should have WAY more flowers forming than that. Fertilizing some plants often will get you great-looking foliage, but precious few flowers.

I never (really...never) fertilize my butterfly bush, and it blooms profusely. For lack of any other diagnosis, I would refrain from fertilizing it, and see what happens next year.

Answer 2

The first thing I'd do is check the pH of the soil. Get a pH test kit. Don't get the electric pH tester. Get the kind that has the little test tubes where the solution turns different colors. The electric ones don't work. The chemical pH test kits do. The pH should be somewhere around 6.5 or so.

It also may not be getting enough water or the right nutrients.

For mine, I dug a trench about the diameter of the plant around it then mulched around the plant. Then I gave it some Miracle Grow for flowers. After I gave it the Miracle Grow for flowers it really took off turned a nice color of green and has started growing really really well.