Doug Kanter wrote:
No web links as responses, please. I'm looking for input from people who've
actually owned & maintained a butterfly bush, preferably in a northern
climate, zone 5-7. I'm in 5/6, depending on luck (Rochester NY). No
theoretical responses, in other words, like marital advice from priests.

My new (as of 9/04) house came complete with a butterfly bush near the front
door. It's 6' high & 8' wide - a real monster, considering it's position near
the sidewalk. In its center are 3 dead "trunks" about 3" thick. The previous
owner cut them down to 3' and used them as attachment points for wires which
support the outer, thinner branches (not sure that's necessary-they seem woody
and stiff enough). The bulk of the growth looks like what you'd call
"suckers", if they were coming out of the base of a small tree. These branches
were very healthy last fall, supporting lots of good leaf & flower growth, and
poking everyone in the face as we walked by.

I pruned some of the pokiest branches back a bit (for safety) in September,
and they grew back quickly within a couple of weeks. What I'd like to know is
whether I can whack the whole thing back by half, in the hope that maybe I'll
end up with a 3-5' diameter, instead of 8+ feet. The thing seems to grow like
a weed. Is it bulletproof enough for drastic measures?

This is the only flower I've ever seen which attracted bees the size of
grapefruits. Absolutely amazing to watch.

I have two in my backyard, and had one in my front yard. They can be cut back
pretty drastically. Very drastically. They only need to have a few leaves on
living branches, and they'll still come back to take over the yard by
mid-summer.

The one that I had in the front yard started a bad winter with too much growth.
Three days of ice and heavy snow weighted it down so badly that one of the main
trunks cracked vertically. I had to cut back so far to remove the damage that
there wasn't enough left to live. I'm not upset. The nearby roses that it was
choking out grew like gang busters that year.

For the most part, you should be able to cut back to where the branches bend
over, and leave nothing put upright growth, as long as there's some leaves left.
My neighbor still cuts back further than I feel comfortable doing myself, but
his keep coming back, and my remaining bushes keep trying to take over the
backyard. He's still surprised that I was able to kill the one I did.

--
Warren H.

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Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my
employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife.
Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is
coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this
response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants
to go outside now.
We're down to the wire. Do you need tax software?
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