Butterfly Bushes- dead

Has anyone else had their butterfly bushed die this year? I live in PA- we did have an exceptionally cold winter. I lost 2 mature bushes and a 3yo plant They are usually the last to start any signs of life but I'm sure now that they're done.

I am in zone 9a Florida and I bought my first butterfly bush I think last year. Mine didn't die, but it sure does look sorry. It has very few leaves and so far I think 2 wimpy looking flowers. I am not very impressed with it so far but it is in an area of the garden that I tend to forget about and so it might just be neglected.

Here is some information that might help that I just found off of this page: http://www.clemson.edu/extension/hgic/plants/landscape/shrubs/hgic1084.html
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Thanks for the info! I think I will cut them down instead of digging them out and maybe I'll get lucky.

I hope you get lucky!

One year we saw some landscapers selling cycads on the side of the road for cheep. They had them in buckets and they said they had removed them from a customer's yard and decided to sell them. When I went to plant it, it didn't seem to have much for roots and after it was planted all of the leaves died on it. I doubted that it was still alive the next year because the crown seemed all mushy but it was so heavy and pokey that we just left it in the ground. I am glad we did because it eventually started growing leaves again! Sometimes plants will surprise you. Last summer I planted a white bird of paradise. I was visiting a man who owns a bamboo garden where he sells bamboo and other tropical plants and told him I got a white bird of paradise. He told me it would die and wouldn't grow in my area. Well it did die and we had a terrible winter. The whole thing turned to mush and I thought there was no hope for it, but recently I saw a green leaf uncurling from a mushy stem on the plant. It is alive!!! I definitely would say not to give up!

Here in MI the butterfly bushes aren't doing anything yet. I'd give your plants another month before throwing in the towel. Ours die all the way back to the ground every year.

There was a hard late frost, my hydrangea had already budded. Killed my giant butterfly bush and hydrangeas dead to ground.
Almost finished of my clematis, it should be 3 times this size and blooming. The hydrangea is coming back strong but the butterfly bush seems to have little life left in it.

Yes, due to the extreme cold I lost one butterfly bush, catnip plants, mums that always wintered over, hydrangea, and lavender plants.

Hi, our son lives in Pittsburgh with his family and the winter was really tough this year,he lost alot of shrubs etc, and he lives in Mt. Lebanon, one would think there would be protection. I live in southeastern Mass, and many farms around me, so we expected to lost plants.

ruffles said:

Hi, our son lives in Pittsburgh with his family and the winter was really tough this year,he lost alot of shrubs etc, and he lives in Mt. Lebanon, one would think there would be protection. I live in southeastern Mass, and many farms around me, so we expected to lost plants.

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We live in Ligonier, PA. Had loss in our trees and plants too. Plants and such which usually ride out the winter well were affected. I think it was the 2 polar vortexes which came thru in Jan. 2x lowering the temp to minus 30 below. That made our area a Zone 4, just like Minneapolis MN. Ligonier is in Zone 5b. We had plants rated for zones 5-8 and they just couldn't handle it. I am replacing some of my orchard due to age and disease. Am ordering trees and bushes rated for Zones 3-7 and 4-8.
A weather expert oinioned earlier this year that last winter could repeat for the next 10 years. So I wll be prepared. Lots of lovely orchard and berries at those lower zone ratings. I am able to replant with lots of nice selections and be protected against vortexes at the same time.
Best,
Karen

Give the bushes a chance to come up, if it is a small shrub, purchased in a small container last year the bush may still be dormant a bit, I purchased a new small butterfly bush last year too here up in maine and it just started to spring up from the ground, so if you see that the brush is dead looking it may emerge with new growth from the ground, be a bit patient, If you don't start seeing anything in the next week or so, I would say it would be dead..