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What to spray butterfly bush and zinnias with?
Posted on 6/12/25 at 12:35 pm
Posted on 6/12/25 at 12:35 pm
Have a cluster of butterflybush I put in last year that did very well attracting butterflies and added this year a strip of Zinnias. They are blooming and attracting them but the leaves are getting ate up by caterpillars.
First thought is to spray with malathion but I'm concerned how that would affect the butterflies. Soapwater?
First thought is to spray with malathion but I'm concerned how that would affect the butterflies. Soapwater?
8
Posted on 6/12/25 at 12:40 pm to Turnblad85
lol. This must be clickbait
Is that not the point of a butterfly bush?
To attract them to lay their eggs and once again complete the life cycle
The leaves will
Grow back. Don’t worry.
Is that not the point of a butterfly bush?
To attract them to lay their eggs and once again complete the life cycle
The leaves will
Grow back. Don’t worry.
Posted on 6/12/25 at 1:18 pm to Turnblad85
quote:
They are blooming and attracting them but the leaves are getting ate up by caterpillars.
That's one of the goals. Let them be.
*Unless they're army worms, then you might want to take care of them with something like neem oil. Just remember, anything you spray on them to kill/control the caterpillars will impact the butterflies, bees, and other pollinators you are trying to attract.
This post was edited on 6/12/25 at 1:31 pm
Posted on 6/12/25 at 1:23 pm to Turnblad85
quote:
attracting butterflies
quote:
getting ate up by caterpillars
Posted on 6/12/25 at 2:23 pm to Turnblad85
LOL
Posted on 6/12/25 at 2:44 pm to DickTater
quote:
attract them to lay their eggs and once again complete the life cycle
I'd rather them do their egg laying and leaf eating somewhere else though. I like watching them in the flying stage and not the worm leaf-destroying stage.
Posted on 6/12/25 at 3:09 pm to Turnblad85
quote:
I'd rather them do their egg laying and leaf eating somewhere else though. I like watching them in the flying stage and not the worm leaf-destroying stage.
If serious, and you want butterflies but not caterpillars, look up nectar plants and host plants for local butterflies. Plant the ones that are a nectar plant but not a host for anything. Bug spray will kill them.
Posted on 6/12/25 at 4:10 pm to DickTater
quote:
Is that not the point of a butterfly bush?
To attract them to lay their eggs and once again complete the life cycle
There's Butterfly bush and then there's Milkweed. He must be talking about Milkweed because nothing eats my Butterfly bush.
When I had Milkweed they ate all the leaves and they never did bounce back. Maybe I just didn't have enough.
Posted on 6/12/25 at 4:37 pm to Turnblad85
Posted on 6/12/25 at 4:56 pm to tigerfoot
butterflies don’t use butterfly bush or zinnias to lay eggs, they use them for nectar. It’s not that OP would be killing baby butterflies, he’d be killing adult butterflies 
Posted on 6/12/25 at 5:28 pm to Turnblad85
If your goal is to attract butterflies but not allow them to propagate then squash some caterpillars with your fingers. And if you want to allow both then squash only 50% of them. They don’t bite. It’s not all about us.
Posted on 6/12/25 at 6:05 pm to Turnblad85
Leave them be if you treat them you risk harming pollinators that you planted them for in first place.
Posted on 6/14/25 at 11:04 am to Turnblad85
quote:
I'd rather them do their egg laying and leaf eating somewhere else though. I like watching them in the flying stage and not the worm leaf-destroying stage.
Those leaves aren't for you. They mean a whole lot more to the stuff living on them than to you.
Posted on 6/14/25 at 4:09 pm to Turnblad85
You must have missed "Metamorphosis Day" in biology class.
Posted on 6/15/25 at 8:09 am to Rick9Plus
quote:
If serious, and you want butterflies but not caterpillars, look up nectar plants and host plants for local butterflies. Plant the ones that are a nectar plant but not a host for anything. Bug spray will kill them.
Thank you for the lone actual helpful response. I endeup using some talstar I already had mixed up for the house and tried to only spray the leaves. Though I'm thinking the damage might be from deer as I saw one nibbling when I pulled up the other night.
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