for that info.  I grew a butterfly bush last year for the first times. I only pruned mine a minimal amont, so this year I will cut it back a lot more, so it will bush out more next year.  I now have 5 more about 8 inches each.

Grannyrose - Calendar Manager - Zone 9 - Houston,TX

Hello dhakacsc,

The conventional method of prunning butterfly bushes is to cut them completely back to within 12 to 18 inches of the cound every year in late winter.  You are past that point.  Prunned this way they will come back out as full as ever every season, growing to 6 to eight feet and blooming profusely.

Thats not to mean you can't do a some shaping now and even further into the summer.  So for now, I would go ahead and take off what you need to bring it back into bounds, trying not to remove more than a third of it.  If at possbile do your shaping by thinning the shrub..  By this I mean, removing stems to the base and minimizing the "shearing"  type of prunning where you just cut off the outter tips.  Try to maintain its natural shape and appearance.  To me that is part of the charm of the butterfly bush. 

Then next February or early March in your area, do the heavy cutback I stalked about in the beginning.  If you have enough space for a bit of spread, you don't neccessarily need to do this every year, but maybe every second or third year.

Wes

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