Buddleia

Our Buddleia has been exceptional this year, growing by leaps and bounds (well over 10' now) and its so nice to see the butterflys attracted. However what do we do come winter - cut it right back or?

Maybe someone can identify the butterfly too!

Thank you. Ellis

 

Cut it back to a height that suits you: it will sprout from a stump, so it's hard to go wrong.

Looks like a swallowtail butterfly....

 

Buddleja davidii has become a nuisance plant in this region, Oregon and Washington are already listing it as a noxious weed.

 

Noxious about Buddleja d.?, excepting those that neither see it for a plant of beauty and attracting Butterflies and hummingbirds, nothing noxious about them either. I would prune every winter to maintain shape and form... branches can become rather irregula, large, pendulous, and misshaped over time. Enjoy your shrub. The yellow and white flowering varieties add vibrant contrast to the widespread purple flowering...

 

Buddleia is listed as an invasive alien plant in SW BC, Check out GVIPC (Greater Vancouver Invasive Plant Council) or BC IPC.

Don't get take-in by a pretty face! There are couple of issues with Buddleia. The usual one, of enthusiastically taking over habitat that would otherwise be ocupied with a variety of native species, supporting a range of other life forms. The more intersting one is that, while Buddleia is great as a food source for adult butterflies of many species, it is not a food plant for their caterpillars or many other insect larvae, which is the critical stage for the insect populations. I would never have thought of that, till I saw the research.

BTW I have a couple of Buddleias in my garden that I have had for years. I cut-off the seed heads bvefore they mature & put them into the municipal green waste. Looks better & prevents spread - we hope. If the Municipal green waste system is working properly. When they die, I will think of something else to replaced them.

...be nice to local caterpillars. What's a few nibbled leaves between friends?

gb

 

I love my butterfly bushes .. I have 3 of them light purple, pink and midnight black(which is my fav!!) In the right spot and taken care of properly are a beautiful addition to a butterfly friendly garden. I cut mine back to about 8 inches from the ground in the fall. Cutting the seed heads off is also a very good idea once the flower is spent. It makes the bush look nicer as well. Just a warning if not cut back in the fall the shrub (bush) will look very wild and very woody the next year.
Enjoy the butterflies !!

Suez

 

I've seen butterfly bush growing out of the front of a building in downtown Tacoma. The thing is everywhere now and spreading fast, as mentioned a source of particular alarm is the cane-like thickets it forms along local rivers.

 

Invasiness is a trait that varies on a regional, local & even a neighbourhood basis. Suez is in London Ontario. Ron is talking about a mild climate in Washington State, I am in SW BC.

Not surprising our take on this is different. I can well believe that Buddleia is not invasive in London ON...just a bit surprised that it grows at all!

gb.

 

Many thanks to all who have written in - I'm a lot wiser now in the ways of invasive plants. Ellis

 

GB, Our Butterfly bushes are thriving. The one my parents purchased my husband last year is over 7 ft tall this year. We were taken so much we ran out and purchased 2 more in different colours ... LOL
Being in south-western Ontario, I'm sure is why it grows so well !

Happy growing everyone