Michigan Gardener

SIGN UP for our Free E-Newsletter!
We will send you occasional e-mails with valuable gardening tips and information!

Digital Editions

Click on the cover to read now!
Sponsored by:

  • Home
  • Departments
    • Ask MG
    • Books
    • Clippings
    • Garden Snapshots
    • MG in the News
    • Janet’s Journal
    • Plant Focus
    • Profile
    • Raising Roses
    • Thyme for Herbs
    • Tools
    • Tree Tips
  • Garden Event Calendar
    • Garden Event Calendar
    • Submit a Calendar Listing
  • Resources
    • Alternatives to Impatiens
    • Garden Help
    • Soil and Mulch Calculator
    • Public Gardens
  • Web Extras
  • About
    • Publishing Schedule – 2023
    • Editorial Content
    • Bulk Subscriptions – 2023
    • Where to pick up Michigan Gardener
    • Privacy Policy
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
  • Advertising
    • Print / Web / E-Newsletter Advertising
    • Classified Advertising
    • Material Specs & Terms
    • Make a Payment
Home Ask MG How to transplant butterfly bush

Please note that Michigan Gardener has a new schedule in 2023. We will publish one Print Magazine in the spring. This Spring issue will be in stores in early May 2023. We will also publish 10 E-Newsletters from spring through fall. Click to sign up for our free E-Newsletter.

How to transplant butterfly bush

November 10, 2010   •   

What are the critical points to consider when transplanting a large perennial like a butterfly bush? These bushes have been in the ground for one year; how late in the year can I transplant them?

Butterfly bush (Buddleia davidii) is grown in Michigan as an herbaceous perennial, since many years we can expect our cold winters to kill back upper parts of the plant’s stem system. The good news is we can usually trust that new leaf buds will emerge low on the stems or from the root system, producing new main stems and flowering buds that will bloom in late summer.

Knowing that the butterfly bush is a marginally hardy plant in Michigan, it is wise to wait to cut back or transplant until spring. In fall after the leaves have fallen, the plant completes its annual cycle by relocating starches (energy that is produced by the leaves and moved down to the root system for storage), which will be used as energy to begin spring growth.

It is helpful to prepare your bushes for winter this fall by keeping them well-watered and supplying them with a slow-release, organic nitrogen fertilizer that will be available in the soil during spring when the roots need it the most.

Filed Under: Ask MG Tagged With: Buddleia davidii, Butterfly bush, perennial, transplanting

Previous Post: Website Extra: Janet’s Journal
Next Post: Reblooming irises
Copyright © 1996-2023 Michigan Gardener. All rights reserved.