My guess is that they were grafted bushes and they froze back past the graft and reverted to the original rootstock. If that was the case, you'll just get the one color unless you re-graft the plant with the other colors.

How does a person go about re-grafting?

I have not tried it myself, but know a few that have. You would need a suitable cutting from each of the colors you want to use. I have included a link I found for some grafting techniques. The "greenwood" or the "whip" techniques look like they would apply to your case, though with the "whip" you would not be dealing with the main stem but one of the large side stems.

I know when I lived in Ohio, my bushes would come up from the roots each spring since it would freeze back to the ground each winter. If that is your case, I would think you would have to protect the grafts from freeze each winter like I did with the roses with a high, light, mulch layer. Even that was no guarantee when we got a wicked winter.

You can also check with your local agricultural extension office for some guidance and tips.

Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: Grafting techniques

Thanks for the info, it looks very intresting. Much appreciated!

I'm still looking for an easier way to get my 3-n-1 butterfly bush back to 3 colors, and I found a spot online saying that if a person wants multipled colored butterfly bushes to plant 2 or 3 colors of them within inches of each other and the branches will grow throuh one another to look like a multiple colored bush. Anyone out there actually do this? Does it work? How close together is ok for the plants? Will they not get crowded this way?

I've never tried it myself and have all of mine separate but the nursery where I bought mine from has some tripled in one pot. They were probably only about 6" apart.

That close they will get crowded, that there is no doubt. You... might get the hoped for effect, but you might not. They might compete and stay solely on their "own" side...

I was hoping someone out there had actually done this and could tell me if it worked or not, guess I will give it a shot with just 2 colors instead of 3. Thanks all!!

It could easily work.

I once saw a "tree" that simultaneously grew apricots and almonds. Turned out it was two trees intertwined.

Jeff

My 3-in-1 stopped blooming in all 3 colors after the 2nd year, and it's been 2 colors ever since, the white being the dominant color and the lilac still shows, but not much. This will be it's 12th year. I wish one of the other colors had been dominant and survived, since I'm not fond of white, but this buddleia is definitely a favorite of the monarchs, bees, and unfortunately, carpenter bees.

I tried planting 3 buddleias closely together, to get that similar look of 3-in-1. The One in the center was the dominant one (Sungold), and on each side, a lilac and a Black Knight, both of which remained puny. I have since removed the Sungold, due to a recurring mite problem (which, btw, never affected the purples). Since removal, the lilac has become dominant and now towers the Black Knight.

Hope this helps...

I am having the same issue with mine, after talking to the local nursery they said feeding it holly tone, and aluminum sulfate will fix the issue. If the plant has already bloomed this year then you should wait to feed when you prune it down. Hope this helps and works, guess I will find out next year.

It is most

likely that the other two colors died out and the dominant plant took over. Feeding it anything to correct this is just a waste of money. They can easily die out in a harsh winter.

You got scammed. A grower planted 3 different varieties of butterfly bush in one pot to look like it was 3 different colors on one plant. At some point 2 of them died off during winter. The dominate one survived. There is no such thing as a variety of Buddleia that blooms in three different colors on the same plant.