For the soap people use all kinds, but a soap is better than a detergent, I have used dawn and haven't had any issues, but insecticidal soap is the best/safest for plants. Something like a castile liquid soap is also a good choice. The flowers are a too perfumy of a smell I don't like.
Thanks carolyn I'm feeling better about taking care of this situation. Sprayed em down today but will soap spray them soon as I want the right one. I did some more reading on spidermites and other peoples problems with them and I think I can get this under control. I was out trimming off the spent bb flower heads a min ago and I noticed something quite peculiar! I have a single black knight on one side of the front/side yard. It has a dark purple colour bloom (lighter in sun) and is always uniform in flower colour. Well a side shoot off a main branch on this plant is bearing the flowers of another type of butterfly bush that I have on the other side of the front yard? How in the heck is this other type of butterfly bush (a pinky light coloured bloomer with yellow center) showing up on a single branch on an already established different flowered plant? I took some pics.... The 2 varieties on the same bush... Here's the other plant.
Interesting difference in bloom colors,..i wouldn't say that the darker bloom on one side of your garden has anything to do with the lighter bloom you have elsewhere,..it could well be that the darker blooming plant originated from a light blue plant and the strain is still coming through,..this has happened to me with roses.
mutations happen quite frequently in plants. This is where some of our really unusual plants are developed from... mutations. just my opinion... there maybe some entirely different different explanation.
yes this is very weird to me... i havnt done much research on this happening to other butterfly bush owners but it is totally out there with my experiences with them. The only thing i could think of similar to this kind of varied flower display on one plant is from grafting. This plant isnt a grafted one so who knows hehe.... I will be watching to see if it happens again...
