Patti, I prune mine back to about a foot from the ground in late February, early March. As soon as the weather is showing signs of possible spring but not quite there yet. It's about ten years old now and I've managed to keep it about 6' tall x 6' wide.

Added bonus to pruning...you can root some of the softwood cuttings for more plants.

Patti - I try to do it when TulsaRose said too - late February, early March, before it buds up. Have been doing this for years - sometimes I prune more dramatically than others, but they always come back for me with tons of flowers.

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Lynne's knitting journal
"I'm spayed, declawed, and housebound - how's YOUR day going???"

Patti, a couple of years ago, I took about six of the greenwood cuttings and stuck them in a large container on the front porch (with the intention of transplanting them to the backyard the following spring) and they are still there. I'll see if I can find a decent picture taken during bloom time...really a Monarch magnet.

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Rosie z7a

Well, shoot...I couldn't find a decent picture of the container Butterfly Bush starts except one from last year that all the flower heads were already dead.

Due to the drought conditions we had for a year (actually up until this August) a lot of my things didn't bloom this year, including the big Butterfly Bush. It set a few flower heads but they just dried up on the shrub. Waahhhh!!! The container with baby bushes hasn't EVEN made flower heads. Double waahhhh!!!

Having learned a bitter lesson after losing so many plants and observing how affected the others were from the lack of water, I will be more vigilant in the future about providing supplemental water throughout the year, not just during growing seasons.

Patti, if you get an opportunity, please take some pix of your Butterfly Bush, hopefully with Butterflies and I'll live vicariously through yours.

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Rosie z7a

Thanks for posting the pictures, Merrill. They are beautiful and I love the Caryopteris. I'm not familar with that shrub, does it attract butterflies too? Geesh, your pink Butterfly Bush is so bright and vibrant! You've got a cute dog too!

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"Lord, I love you and I need you, come into my heart, and bless me, my family, my home, and my friends, in Jesus' name. Amen!"

quote:

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it does attract both butterflies and bees, like the butterfly bushes, but doesn't bloom until this time of year, so many butterflies have left us by now.

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Oh darn, Lynne, that's not good! I would have been interested in it for the butterflies, but I've noticed a large decline in my population now too! It's that time of the year again!

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"Lord, I love you and I need you, come into my heart, and bless me, my family, my home, and my friends, in Jesus' name. Amen!"

TO Patti; thanks for the doggie compliment.Actually ther are two of the little critters.

off topic question...
how do you post pictures in threads?

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Nature is the art of God ~ Thomas Browne,1635

joclyn is right!

The picture needs to be uploaded to a server. Most everyone here uses Photobucket.
www.photobucket.com
It's very easy. It takes just a minute to join Photobucket, and it's super easy to use...and FREE!

You upload your photo there, then there is a thumbnail of the picture, with 3 lines under it..."Url", "Tag", and "Img".
You just highlight the bottom line (Img) then right-click and copy it, then paste it right into your reply post.

At the top of the thumbnail photos there is an "edit" button, where you can resize your picture. The pictures posted here can't be over 640x480.

If you need any help please let me know.
We are here to help!

Cindy

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Buckle up! It makes it harder for the aliens to suck you out of your car!