You can prune it now if you want. We have time before the first frost. Or you can prune it back in the spring. I cut mine down to 8" this spring and they're easily 5-8' tall now and blooming like crazy. I also have lots of seedlings that popped up this year. I'll be moving them in the fall.

I usually prune here and there all summer then do a major cutback in the fall after the first frost. It's really hard to mess up a butterfly bush. My mom didn't prune hers at all last year. It's reeeeally tall. Gorgeous, but she can't reach the tops to deadhead.

I wait til spring to prune mine - they get 6-8' in the summer then I cut them back essentially to the ground and they grow again. Really pretty easy.

Thanks! I'll do it in the Spring then. I have to say, I'm not all that impressed with it. It blooms well but the flowers are so pale in color (purple, pink and white) that it really isn't all that colorful.

And my flowers attracts more butterflies than the bush does. lol

Oakley, I have a purple butterfly bush and I feel the same about the flowers. Years ago I planted a white one in my mom's yard and it was always spectacular. I'm thinking about moving the purple one this fall and replacing it with a white in the spring.

I have a white - the blooms that need deadheaded show up more on that one, but it is very tall and the flowers are quite large.

I always think that the butterflies hanging all over it are prettier than the flowers.... ;)

Seems to be a lot of variation in the shapes of the bushes, too. I thought I was getting one that would get tall and sweepy but mine ended up being more of a wide-type bush. Interesting indeed. It has deep purple flowers though...well worth it.

I have read they are best treated/thought of as a perennial, so that might help if you think about it like that.

Krycek, your flowers seem a lot better than mine do. Can you post a picture?

Deadheading these flowers (which is a must I've been told) is downright laughable. Half the flowers on a stalk have already browned while the other half is still in bloom. So what the heck do I deadhead? lol

I may just yank it out next Spring. If the colors were deeper like your's I'd keep it.

Natal, I'll check out the white bush. White is so pretty in a garden, especially at sunset.

DH put in 2 BB last year and while they both bloomed,i didn't really care for them.They were wild looking,while i expected this nice looking bush like the pictures.Also i didn't see very many butterflies on them,more bees.So i deadheaded them in the evening after the bees left,and when they finished blooming i had him cut them back and dig them up and move to another part of the yard that i didn't have to walk past to get from point A,to point B.

Got stung by a bee 2 years ago and wasn't looking to get stung again.We have a purple and a yellow.They are coming up again and look healthy,no f;owers yet though.
Kathi

Oakley, you don't have to deadhead. I'll start the season doing it then forget about it. They still bloom. I'm thinking about doing a hard prune next week, just to see how it responds.

Kathi, nothing formal about them. Their free style is part of the charm.

I can't remember what cultivar it is. I got it at Lowe's, though, so I'm sure it's not some crazy hard-to-find one. The flowers are very deep and bright. Obviously the main flush in spring was bust but I've been deadheading so they have been in continual bloom.

You don't need to be super strict about deadheading. I only dead had every 2 weeks or so for the butterfly bush...I don't have time to be deadheading those things every day or something! The flowers tend to get smaller as the season goes on but they can still be beautiful

The bush:

The flower:

kry, what is the red flower peeking from under the BB bush? It's cute!

Nicotiana! It got a bit crowded out between the BB and the pumpkin vine out of view, but it's still kickin!