Hi all! I am trying to get a butterfly bush from seed going...tried twice, but...I'm still waiting...I had a problem with the first batch of flower seeds I tried, now I'm trying again. How long can I expect to wait? I sowed these last week. Is this a hard one to grow from seed? I haven't had much luck with flower seeds for some reason. Maybe I got bad ones. But, I am determined to figure it out!!
Hey Melissa, I'm not sure about starting them from seed, but the butterfly bush I've had I got when it was small (bought it in a 3" pot), I put it in the ground and it grew like wild fire. Unfortunatly at the time it was my first garden and I didn't really read the tag so I had no idea it would get so big. After a couple years I had to dig it up (it was too big for the space) and before I had a chance to transplant it, I lost it. That made me sad because it was a gorgeous purple color...so pretty. I'd say keep trying. Maybe get the seeds from another source as they could have been bad. Good luck.
Don't give up yet, the germination time for butterfly bush is 2-3 weeks. If you have no seedlings by the end of April then I would say you should start again. Be sure to keep the growing medium moist not soggy and you might try putting a heating pad under them, some seeds like to have their bottoms warm for germination.
Just a couple of observation on the Butterfly Bushes. They seed like mad in the garden and I have begun removing most of the seedlings right when I see them (I have a couple of hundred plants now). The mature plants do not seem to transplant well, I think they may have some sort of taproot. The small seedlings can be moved carefully.
They just sprouted a day or two ago!!! I was so excited to see them this afternoon! Wow, it's amazing how they're such tiny seeds that grow into huge plants. I am saving 2 places in our yard for them. Thanks for the tips about them. Maybe if they make it, and re-seed, I'll dig up a baby and send it to my sister, she's trying to do butterfly gardening.
What great luck! What colours will their flowers be? It's really exciting, isn't it? Well, there's another accomplishment you can chalk-up to your credit. Of course we will have to see some pics when you get a chance. (please)
I have had no luck with mine either .I'm going to try the baggie way like petunia did maybe that will work.
Well....they died about a week ago....my baby got sick, I didn't have time to check my seedlings and they dried up..Well, I'll try one more time, if not, I'll look in the stores for a plant!
