Buddleia originated in China. They are also called the butterfly bush. If you want to attract butterflies to your garden, back yard or allotment plant a Buddleia. Sedums attract them to.
The Buddleia was used to reinforce newly constructed railway embankments with their roots. I noticed a lot of them growing wild near Temple Mead train station in Bristol when I visited Dorset in 2018. Perhaps their ancestors came from bomb sites in the second world war?
I make cuttings from mine every year and you can also let the flowers go to seed and sow them next Spring. I think they like to spend time frozen in the fridge to make them jolt into life and germinate.
Here's one I planted twenty years ago:
Can you see the butterfly?
Yes. I can see the butterfly. He's called Maurice and he comes from Stoke-on-Trent. I have a buddleia in our garden that is more than twenty five feet high. It wrapped itself around an old apple tree and climbed up to the sky.
ReplyDeleteIs Maurice a Robbie Williams fan YP? I have some large specimen buddleias like your one. Some people cut them right back in March and this creates a profusion of new growth and flowers in the summer time. Does your Buddleia attract lots of butterflies?
ReplyDeleteYes it attracts Romanians, Syrians, Afghans and the bloody French too! Maurice is actually a big Kansas fan and he likes Pukka pies.
DeleteMaurice sounds a cool butterfly. He's got good Prog Rock music taste.
ReplyDeleteThere is a large Buddleia hedge at the end of our street. It is always buzzing with bees every time we walk past.
ReplyDeleteBuzzing with bees. Yes JayCee they attract the bees along with the flutterflies. What colour is the Buddleia?
ReplyDeleteIt is the common purple one. We have lots over here. They seem to do well in our climate.
DeleteThanks. They like our climate very much. They are quite easy to root from cuttings. I must look for a red Buddleia. I could have my very own Manchester United Buddleia Bush.
ReplyDeleteGosh, I wish you could visit here and come for a walk with me and identify all our plants. I love putting a name to them all.
ReplyDeleteHi Linda. You can get plant identifier apps on your mobile phone. Google play have them. I have Pictture This on my phone. It costs about twenty Euros a year. You just take a photo of the plant and it identifys what it is.
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