I am so bummed about the butterfly bush … didn’t know it’s bad and just planted one
I have a tiny townhouse yard, can I keep it?

It's great to see like-minded people here!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks all. Just dug it all up. I had bought it as a recommendation from here a couple of years ago and was told as long as it was in a pot it was fine. But it keeps making babies in the adjacent bed and pot. And in the pot it never got as bushy and pretty as I had imagined. It's gone now. Replaced with milkweed!

I think many of us are changing the way we garden just like you are. I went from gardening for pure beauty/ornamentals to gardening “for butterflies” to now trying to garden for ecosystem services (and making it beautiful). I had butterfly bush, too. Just today I bought and planted a native hydrangea, a swamp milkweed for my tiny pond, and some goldenrods.

Any recommendations for a native hydrangea that is deer resistant?

Oakleaf!

The deer will chomp on my endless summer but I've never had issues with the oakleaf and it's in a more accessible to them location, too

We have a ton of deer in our neighborhood and they don't seem to eat the oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia), although my understanding is that it's not native to the DMV area. There's also wild or smooth hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens), which is native to our area.

https://www.nutsfornatives.com/post/maryland-and-virginia-native-plant-gardens-go-wild-with-hydrangeas

According to this site (which summarizes the Mt. Cuba trials), of the cultivars of the wild hydrangea, lace caps are preferred by pollinators over mop heads, With Haas' Halo being the first most popular and the straight species being the second most popular with pollinators.

I'm a big fan of straight natives, personally -- unless places like Mt. Cuba do the work to prove that cultivars are actually used by native insects, there's a good chance that breeding these plants for characteristics appealing to humans (form, size, color, etc.) makes them much less useful to bugs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks all. Just dug it all up. I had bought it as a recommendation from here a couple of years ago and was told as long as it was in a pot it was fine. But it keeps making babies in the adjacent bed and pot. And in the pot it never got as bushy and pretty as I had imagined. It's gone now. Replaced with milkweed!

I think many of us are changing the way we garden just like you are. I went from gardening for pure beauty/ornamentals to gardening “for butterflies” to now trying to garden for ecosystem services (and making it beautiful). I had butterfly bush, too. Just today I bought and planted a native hydrangea, a swamp milkweed for my tiny pond, and some goldenrods.

Any recommendations for a native hydrangea that is deer resistant?

I don’t have deer, but from what I understand hydrangea is not high on their list to eat, but they’ll eat it if they don’t have anything else. Hydrangeas are super tough plants, though, so they will come back if they get munched. I don’t think one variety will be more or less tasty than another.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks all. Just dug it all up. I had bought it as a recommendation from here a couple of years ago and was told as long as it was in a pot it was fine. But it keeps making babies in the adjacent bed and pot. And in the pot it never got as bushy and pretty as I had imagined. It's gone now. Replaced with milkweed!

I think many of us are changing the way we garden just like you are. I went from gardening for pure beauty/ornamentals to gardening “for butterflies” to now trying to garden for ecosystem services (and making it beautiful). I had butterfly bush, too. Just today I bought and planted a native hydrangea, a swamp milkweed for my tiny pond, and some goldenrods.

Any recommendations for a native hydrangea that is deer resistant?

Anonymous wrote:Thanks all. Just dug it all up. I had bought it as a recommendation from here a couple of years ago and was told as long as it was in a pot it was fine. But it keeps making babies in the adjacent bed and pot. And in the pot it never got as bushy and pretty as I had imagined. It's gone now. Replaced with milkweed!

I think many of us are changing the way we garden just like you are. I went from gardening for pure beauty/ornamentals to gardening “for butterflies” to now trying to garden for ecosystem services (and making it beautiful). I had butterfly bush, too. Just today I bought and planted a native hydrangea, a swamp milkweed for my tiny pond, and some goldenrods.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks all. Just dug it all up. I had bought it as a recommendation from here a couple of years ago and was told as long as it was in a pot it was fine. But it keeps making babies in the adjacent bed and pot. And in the pot it never got as bushy and pretty as I had imagined. It's gone now. Replaced with milkweed!

Kudos!

Excellent choice!

Anonymous wrote:Thanks all. Just dug it all up. I had bought it as a recommendation from here a couple of years ago and was told as long as it was in a pot it was fine. But it keeps making babies in the adjacent bed and pot. And in the pot it never got as bushy and pretty as I had imagined. It's gone now. Replaced with milkweed!

Kudos!

Thanks all. Just dug it all up. I had bought it as a recommendation from here a couple of years ago and was told as long as it was in a pot it was fine. But it keeps making babies in the adjacent bed and pot. And in the pot it never got as bushy and pretty as I had imagined. It's gone now. Replaced with milkweed!

Anonymous wrote:Not only invasive, but not good for butterflies. Like feeding them soda - they like it, but it's not good nutrients for them

+1

Why butterfly bush isn't good and some native alternatives:

https://www.laurensgardenservice.com/3-native-flowering-shrubs-to-replace-butterfly-bush/

Not only invasive, but not good for butterflies. Like feeding them soda - they like it, but it's not good nutrients for them

Deadhead before goes to seed in the fall.

Yes, it's invasive. There are some sterile ones, but assume that's not the case. I'd dig it up and bag it before it blooms and goes to seed.

Is butterfly bush harmful/invasive in the area? I planted some a couple of years ago without knowing and it's spreading. Should I get rid of it? If so how? (Should I avoid my usual compost pile?)