I have rose bushes and butterfly bushes that I would like to protect from deer eating. What can I do?
This article has some suggestions:
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/plant-problems/pests/deer/deer-repellents.htm
My butterfly bush is very crooked at the roots, and therefore, it is growing crooked and on a slant. If I replant it, will that make a difference or will it grow the same way?
Replanting will help it to grow straighter, but there will probably always be a bit of a slant.
The bush is 13 feet high, but for the last two summers it has not bloomed. This year it hasn't even greened, but there is life when you break a branch. What to do?
My mother always taught me to severely prune butterfly bushes. I prune mainly in the spring as I like to leave the seeds for the birds (mainly bush tits). I do prune throughout the growing season if it gets to gangly. Spring pruning should be drastic. You can prune right down to stubs say a foot or so high where new growth is showing. I normally don't do quite so much but I do prune at least to just a few feet high.
Hope this helps.
I live in NJ and pruned back my butterfly bushes the last week of March. We have had a warm spell of weather during which growth has been explosive and a couple nights last week with temperatures in the mid-30s. I am wondering if the warping I am seeing in the new leaves on my Dark Knight, pink, and blue bushes is the result of freeze damage. The leaf blade between midrib and veins looks like it is puckering, almost like a spinach leaf does. No similar damage on my bicolor bush.
We recently dug up and transplanted a large butterfly bush. We were not able to keep it completely intact during the move (part of the bush broke away at the root). The bush has started to wilt, even with daily watering. Is there anything we can do in order to help nurse it back to health? What are 'life-threatening' signs we need to look for?
This article should help: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/plant-problems/environmental/learn-how-to-avoid-and-repair-transplant-shock-in-plants.htm
Do you have to freeze seed first or do you just put them in the ground?
While they should be pre-chilled, the freezer is not the ideal place for that, as this will actually kill off the seeds. Place them instead in the refrigerator or another cool location. This article will also help: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/shrubs/butterfly-bush/propagating-butterfly-bush.htm
I planted a couple of butterfly bushes last year and they were beautiful. But this spring one looks dead with no leaves and the other looks like it's dead, except it has a few leaves scattered all over. I did not prune them. Should I prune them now, and if so, how much? Is one dead and one not? I live in Kansas, Zone 6. Am I just expecting too much too soon? They are the Black Knight.
This article will help with pruning: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/shrubs/butterfly-bush/butterfly-bush-pruning-how-to-prune-a-butterfly-bush.htm