Amateur Gardening – 24 August 2019

24 AUGUST 2019AMATEUR GARDENING 45

Gardening’s king of trivia and brain-teasers, Graham Clarke

BUDDLEJASoriginatemainly

fromChina,andmostof thetypes

wegrowin ourgardensare

typesofBuddlejadavidii, although

someof thenewestvarietiesare

hybrids.Theirgreyish-greenleave

makethemattractivefromthe

momentgrowthburstsin spring.T

frommid-summertomid-autumn,theycarryconicalspikes

of flowersin shadesfromdeeppurpleanddark red, through

lavenders,lilacsandpinks,topurewhite.

B.davidiiis namedafterFrenchmissionaryandexplorerin

China,FatherArmandDavid(1826-1900),thefirstEuropeanto

describetheshrub.SeedofB. davidiiwassentto theFrench

seed firm Vilmorin, and the first plants went on sale in the 1890s.

5

buddlejas that aren’t purple,

mauve, violet, lavender or lilac

Red:B. davidii ‘Royal Red’

Pinkandorange:B.x

weyeriana ‘Bicolor’

White:B. ‘Morning Mist’

Buddleja’sbig

butterfli

Brilliant buddlejas

Flightsof fancywiththebutterflybush,availablein a range of colours

This

week

it’s:

All

photographs

Alamy/TI

Media

unless

otherwise

credited

SOMETIMESwethinkof buddlejas

asa bitlikeweeds.Theseplantsself-

seedbetweencracksin agedbrick

walls,orin deepshinglealongside

railwaytracks,andevenin plastic

gutteringthathasn’t been cleaned

outin a while!

Theydoa brilliantjobof growingin

such inhospitable situations, yet they

stillflowerin abundance.Sois nurturing

(feeding,wateringandpruningthem)

worthit?Ohyes– thereis a worldof

differencebetweencultivated buddlejas

andcunningones.

Asbuddlejasarein flowernow,and

brighteninggardenseverywhereforthe

restof summer,let’slookat some of

the facts surrounding them...

Buddlejas are available in various hues

HEREarethreethingsyoucandoto

elpbuddlejasshowofftheirbest:

Choosea sunnyspot:If plantedin

hadetheytendtogrowlongand

pindly,andfloweringis poor– the

owerspikesaresmaller and there

refewerof them.

Prunehardin spring:Mosthybrids

andB.davidiicultivarsneedtobecu

backhardbeforegrowthresumesin

spring.Withoutthis,theplantsbecom

verylarge,andtheflowersbecomemuchsmaller.

Deadheadregularly:Thisis verysuccessfulin prolongingthe

floweringseason,andat the same time it reduces the nuisance

of self-sown seedlings.

BUTTERFLIES

flockto

buddlejas

• theyare
  notcalled
  ‘butterfly
  bushes’for
  nothing!Most
  butterflieswillc
  aroundmidday,whenthenectarsupply
  is at itsstrongest.Redadmiral,peacock
  andsmalltortoiseshellbutterfliesare
  mostfrequentlyseenonthebuddlejasin
  mysouthcoastgarden,butwhatabout
  whereyoulive?Youcanhelpassessthe
  strengthof butterflypopulationsacross
  thecountrybytakingpartin TheBig
  ButterflyCount– justcountthenumbers
  of differentspeciesin your garden over
  any15-minuteperiod.
  Youhavejusta fewdayslefttolog
  yoursightingsforthisyear,asthecount
  closesat theendof August.Sovisit
  bigbutterflycount.organddownload
  a free identification chart.

The attraction? Get the best from them

Golden yellow:B.xweyeriana ‘Sungold’

White:B. davidii ‘White Profusion’

Buddleja davidii

Prunebuddlejahard

in spring

Peacock,meadowbrown

andsmalltortoiseshell

butterfl ies on buddleja

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