Asked May 22, 2021, 6:09 PM EDT
Hello, I'm hoping you can help me with a problem concerning several of my butterfly bushes in my garden. They all have the same symptoms: Leaves turning yellow, with brown and black splotches/spots. Some leaves curling. At various nodes on limbs, there is an accumulation of dead material that I have been manually wiping away with my hands. I shake the bush and lots of leaves fall to the ground. I have cut back these bushes and cleared and thrown away all material. In general, the plants do not look healthy. They are not producing many limbs and therefore there are few appearances of future flowering panicles. I noticed early signs of this blight probably two years ago. It has gotten progressively worse. This year, I combined a mixture of epsom salt, generic soluble fertilizer, and a general purpose tree/shrub insect protection application (liquid concentrate). I have about 10 bushes scattered throughout about a half acre of garden and about 90% of them are suffering from these symptoms. My garden consists of several raised beds with the soil coming from a very reputable N. Raleigh nursery. I have dug up one of the plants to inspect the roots. Upon inspection, they looked fine to me, with no indication of rotting or mold. I am at a loss and I hope that you can help. I know about the overall negative opinion of butterfly bushes, but I am an avid butterfly gardener and I really do not want to pull them all out. I'm hoping that you can help. Thanks for reading about my "very sick butterfly bushes." Charlene
Wake County North Carolina