Buddleia

[Lee Hurrell]

Hi Susie,

I remember hearing that it is supposed to like ashy soils, but can't be that fussy seeing where it grows in the wild!

Cheers

Lee

[Susie]

Thanks Lee. I knew they liked lime but didn't know they liked ash. I've an excess of wood ash so I'll look into that further

[Lee Hurrell]

I got some mixed Buddleia seeds in a tiny test tube from a garden centre in Somerset last weekend.

The actual seeds are miniscule! I thought they were the the seed type looking things you get after the flowers die but apparently not...

Cheers

Lee

[Susie]

What type of buddleia are they, Lee?

I have never tried growing buddleia from seed. Please let us know how it goes.

Buddleia does take ever so easily from stem cuttings.

[Lee Hurrell]

Hi Susie,

No idea! It just says mixed, so I thought I'd give it a go

Cuttings are good, I've got a 6 footer in the garden that started as 4".

Will do!

Cheers

Lee

[Susie]

If you want a cutting of any I have gimme a shout and I can pop it in the post to you over the summer.

[Zonda]

I've got a pot full of rooted cuttings,,, they have been outside and survived all winter, when should i plant them out?

[Lee Hurrell]

That's very kind of you Susie!

What types do you have? PM me if appropriate.

Thanks

Lee

[Jack Harrison]

I still don’t understand the thought of feeding buddleias. Few soils are as poor as ash yet we hear how they do well in ash. Much of our native flora does best on “unimproved grassland”. I would have thought that buddleia, although not native, is one of those plants that thrives on unimproved soils. I can’t imagine that fertilizing will do any harm (except perhaps result in long leggy growths) but why feed when clearly it isn’t necessary?

Incidentally Susie, the Verbena bonariensis seeds you sent me have just germinated after three weeks – sown 19th March.

Jack

[Susie]

Jack: Thinking about it logically I expect you are right, Jack. I would imagine I would end up with leggy plants with possibly lots of leaf but not many flowers. I think I will leave them as they are apart from bunging a bit of ash on.

Zonda: As long as your cuttings have rooted I would have thought, being where you are in the country, you could plant them out any time from now onwards.

Lee: I have a royal red, black knight and honeycombe which are fairly small and taken as cuttings last year. All have rooted. I also have pink delight, and several others in the garden but no cuttings of these at the moment.

[Matsukaze]

buddleia, although not native, is one of those plants that thrives on unimproved soils

Judging by the ones I see growing high on buildings, or on the walls and bases of limestone quarries, soil is not a requirement!

[Vince Massimo]

My understanding is that it is beneficial to feed a plant after it has been pruned back hard. Some websites I have visited recommend a slow-release feed for buddleia at this stage of the year. However you have to be careful not to overfeed. If you think about it, most of the garden buddleias that we grow are cultivars and these may well have different requirements compared to the "wild" plants, in order to get the best out of them. Also, the ones in the wild do not get pruned back, so we are not really comparing like with like. I had 5 varieties in my old garden including a wild one and that is the one that attracted the most butterflies.

I have got 4 plants that self-seeded in my new garden and am waiting to see how they turn out.

Cheers,

Vince

[Susie]

Yesterday I chopped my buddleias back with various grades of severity so i hope they flower continuously from when the first one starts in June (the alternafolia) until the first frosts (the weyrianas) and possibly beyond (such as silver anniversary)

[Zonda]

Well, to my utter dismay the six Buddleia plants that i transplanted from pots to chalk downland garden a few weeks back, despite watering, are dying or dead. I thought that this wild strain would grow anywhere, i have just three left in pots, and it looks like my only chance of having these in the garden is to have them in large pots, because the potted ones are doing well. Very strange, as i have seen them growing wild on limestone outcrops.

[Susie]

The first of my buddleias is in bloom.

[Dave McCormick]

When is buddliea supposed to flower? My two are really thick but no flowers yet, tried looking up online when they flower, but couldn't find anything except information on the bushes and how they grow but not when they flower

[David M]

Ours is starting to flower now. In another week I expect it to be resplendent.

I think you can hold it back till later in the summer by pruning it late.

[Dave McCormick]

Just checked, one of mine has flowers starting to appear, my other has big lilac pink flowers but it hasn't yet even hinted at flowering, suppose it flowers later on?

[Lee Hurrell]

My neighbour has a huge purple variety which is always early and has been in full bloom for over a week now. I saw more of the common pink one flowering on my visits last week while in my garden mine is only just starting to show a bit of colour.

Cheers

lee

[Susie]

Black Knight, Loch Inch, and Naho Blue is in bloom here at the moment.