I'm starting to get worried about a few of my plants, which will lead to my feeling the need to continually DO something, which could make it WORSE. I'm a moron when it comes to watering. It hasn't rained here in...forever...so I water constantly. But it's over 90 daily and my yard is in full sun. Things wilt and nearly die, daily. My yard is on a slight slope, so things do drain pretty quickly. I don't think I'm watering deep enough tho.
Ok, back to my question...I have 2 butterfly bushes that are looking a little different than usual. They were a nice green and blooming wonderfully, until some time this last week when I started noticing the leaves looking wilty. There are yellowing leaves, and now leaves turning totally brown. The long stalks that were once green are brown. I'm not sure if that's normal or not since they do become sort of woody, but I have one that looks better and it's stalks are still green.
So, of course I've watered it because I am sure that it can't be suffering from too much, since things around it are suffering from lack of it. Do I need to just not water them and see what happens? Help!!
What do yellow leaves on my Buddleia mean?
Butterfly bush is supposed to be drought-tolerant. Maybe you should trying watering REALLY well every few days instead of a little bit every day.
You're not watering when the sun is on them, are you? You can burn the leaves that way (I know, I've done it :D).
I'm having the same trouble with most of my plants this year. It's one of the things you have to deal with in Texas. The high temps and lack of rain. Every summer it's a hit and miss thing. Either to much rain or not enough. Let's just pray for a good rain and lower temps.
No, not watering the leaves, tho I have done that too. One is close to the edge of the bed so I get the base, and I know it drains well in that spot. It's the one that looks the worst tho. A grass next to it about pooped out the other day. I watered it well and am going to try and sit and wait. I'm just afraid that if I do nothing but watch it, then it dies and I'll feel bad for not watering it. lol
BB, how often are you watering? I can't go more than 2 days usually.
I don't have the yellow leaves (that I know of: I'll check) but with my favorite one, 'Black Knight', the growth is just too spindly. Off with the top today!
Off with the top? Yourself or the bush?! ..and why?
I water every 2 or 3 days and everything is still drooping. :>( I'm not sure what to do. I bought a shasta daisy about 3 weeks ago and it was a nice plant but by the end of the day it was looking almost dead. I've put a plastic tent over it and it's helping but I can't tent all of my flower beds. Hope it rains soon before all is lost.
Well, that makes me feel better, that you are having to water as much. I got some daisies from some friends and they are actually doing great. I've never grown them, but apparently they like my clay soil.
I'm going to post a few pics for you (anyone!) to see...
This is the one that is looking the worst. It's pink. The middle stalks are getting brown and the leaves are yellow and brown.
close up of the pink one
The purple one
close up of the purple one
And the one that looks best, because it's the one that I see least, like the least, and ignore. lol I deadheaded this one the other day and these blooms were 12 inches long!! They are white. Geez, did I just answer my own question?! I guess I might have to force myself to ignore the others too, unless it's the plant that is just more drought tolerant.
I moved one in the early spring to a different side of the yard. It was much too large for where it was growing. It did well for awhile, but now the leaves are turning yellow and some have fallen off. We have had lots of rain and it seems to be in a low area. I am wondering if the roots are drowning. Should I dig it up now, in the 90's temp, and move it, or just leave it alone. I am not sure that it is going to survive where it is.
When I first planted butterfly bushes, I put one in an area that usually stays damp, but no really wet. It didn't do much and seemed finally to be dying out. I moved it onto a steep hillside with full sun all day and it's about taken over that whole hillside, even though I cut it back every spring. That's a Buddleia davidii. I'm not sure about the other species' drought tolerance.
So far no one has come up with an explanation, it's all just guessing, just like I was doing. Was I overwatering or underwatering? I know it wasn't overwatered. I watered it as much as everything else, and nothing else has died of too much or too little. Mine was in a new section of the bed, so it had good, loose soil and was on a slight grade so it drained. I ended up just cutting mind down and digging it up. It was too stressful trying to figure out how to keep it alive. When I cut the branches, there were no signs of rotting or bugs, but some stalks did have a hole thru the center and I'm not sure if that's normal. When I dug up the roots, we had actually had a lot of rain the day before, and the ground was not wet, just barely moist. My dark purple bush is doing better now, so I'm ignoring it. Good luck!
When I cut mine back in Spring, the larger stalks always have holes. So I think that's normal. Did you transplant it? I've read that buddleia are great for pretty both terrible soil (clay) and water (dry) conditions. Dry and heavy soil is where all of mine have flourished. Maybe your new bed was too good to it. (Also just a guess.)
Happy Fourth!
I planted it in that spot last fall. It was just a little thing then. This spring it just took off and grew huge and bloomed beautifully. Then we started having a really dry spell and the heat came and then it just pooped out. I just couldn't figure it out, so I just chalked it up to something being wrong with the plant.
Happy 4th to you too!! Would you believe that we've had no rain for like a month, other than once the other day, and today it's cloudy and gray!! Go figure!
Murphy's Law on the rain and clouds, I guess. We've had some cloudy days this week that I've been very happy for since it's so dry - a little less stress on the plants. I'm on a well so they get very little extra water unless they're new plants. Maybe your bush's root structure was not yet strong enough to support the plant in such dryness, especially if it had put out much top growth this spring.
I have had a little yellowing on the leaves on the underside of my "Black Knight". I just trim them off and things seem to be going well. I haven't watered since I planted them a few months ago, and they are huge and blooming all over.