When reading a question about butterfly bushes, your answer you said that pruning lateral stems is better. What do you mean by lateral stems on butterfly bushes?
Lateral stems are stems that grow out (horizontally) from the main stem. You can trim the terminal stems (those that grow up) if you want a bushier, shorter plant and the lateral stems if you want to help contain the width of the plant.
Irene uprooted my butterfly bushes and my knock out rose plants. How can I fix the bushes that are laying on the ground with much of the roots pulled out of the ground?
You will need to replant them and treat them as though they were newly planted. Increase watering so the plant can work to rebuild its roots. If the root damage is very bad, then you may want to prune the plants back by 1/3 or so, to reduce the plant's needs on the roots.
Some fertilizer at 1/2 strength will also help, but make sure that the plants are thoroughly watered before you fertilize them to avoid further damage to the roots.
One looks like granulars of sand in a drop of water. Shades of brown, light and dark. Crawls. Another looks like a crab, but elongated and is not an earwig. About one quarter inch, light gray, spins a web. One of the two leaves black droplets on leaves. One of them eats the leaves in circle and elongated pattern. One of them eats the tops of the plant/flowers not fully bloomed. One leaves orange, maybe eggs of some sort, on top by flowers/ stem.
The one that spins webs is a spider mite. This article will help with that:
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/plant-problems/pests/insects/spider-mite-treatment.htm
The other sounds like it may be aphids. This article will help with that:
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/plant-problems/pests/homemade-aphid-control-a-natural-way-to-kill-aphids.htm
We live in planting Zone 5 of New York state and have 2 of these bushes. We have a lot of seed pods and would like to know how to care for them, if we need to plant the seeds when ripe or if they seed themselves. Also would like to know about pruning in the fall in our chilly climate conditions. Is it advisable, or should we wait until spring? By the way, these are brand new bushes from this spring and they are very 'leggy' at this time of fall.
Here is an article or two that you may find helpful: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/shrubs/butterfly-bush/butterfly-bush-pruning-how-to-prune-a-butterfly-bush.htm
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/shrubs/butterfly-bush/propagating-butterfly-bush.htm
I have several dwarf butterfly bushes in 10-inch pots. They have a 2 ft. spread. I live in Zone 5. I would like to keep these in pots for next year as well. How should I over-winter these potted bushes?
Make sure that for the winter months they are in a sheltered location, like near a foundation. This will reduce the chances that the cold will kill them.
I bought a small one, but not sure 'how' to plant it. Do I leave it in the original container all winter (we're in DE) and plant in spring? Large hole, small hole, fertilizer, water? I know it's invasive, but I have space for it.
This article should help: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/shrubs/butterfly-bush/tips-for-transplanting-a-butterfly-bush.htm
I planted one bush a couple of years ago not knowing how invasive they were and now have 20 ft. of bushes. Not knowing this, I now want to remove them but can't get them dug out of the gravel they are growing in. How can I kill these so they won't come back? They are in a very bad spot on my landscaping.
Don't kill them. Offer them to people who would like one (and warn them about "invasive.") Google "Freecycle Network," find the one in your area, and then offer your bushes to those who want them. People will do the work themselves, since they're free. And, once you get back to the space you wanted it in the first place, contain it. Stick it in a good size container or surround it with metal siding, so it can't creep away. Then, if you live so far south that it pruduces new ones by seeds, do what you have to do to keep plants contained - treat babies like weeds, and pull them out as you find them.