Poor old buddleia gives so much pleasure with its beautiful flowers and gets such a bad press. Yes, it can be invasive, it's an opportunistic and if you don't want to control it then, maybe, you'd be best not growing it. But I don't think it need be invasive. When I discovered how invasive they could be, after planting two relatively young Davidii buddleias in my garden border, I dug them up and transplanted them into large containers where they cannot spread out, overgrow, or turn into the garden monsters. After each flower has finished, dead-head it long before it can set seeds. Don't delay! Besides, dead-heading encourages new flowers. Make sure that the spent flowers are disposed of in a way that they cannot germinate and grow elsewhere i.e. Don't throw them on your garden, on your neighbour's garden, over the hedge, or on the compost heap!
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| Buddleia Davidii Nanho Blue and Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) |
The problem with buddleia comes when they are allowed to set seed and grow just where they will. Don't let them. You are in control, secateurs at the ready! :D
Invasive buddleia (RSPB external link)
Buddleia, the plant that dominates Britain's railways (BBC external link): "Buddleja davidii...is viewed by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) as an invasive non-native species...the highly-dispersible seed...has resulted in extensive buddleia populations in the wild, where the shrub has often out-competed native vegetation and reduced biodiversity. Gardeners are being asked by Defra to remove seed heads after flowering to prevent its spread before it becomes "ubiquitous". (Tanya Gupta, 2014).
Each spring I cut the shrubs back hard, within a foot or two of the base, and back they come the same year.
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| Buddleia Davidii Nanho Blue |
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| Buddleia Davidii 'Empire Blue' |
Strange flowering growth on one buddleia Nanho Blue stem this year. How odd!
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| Unusual flower pattern on Buddleia Davidii Nanho Blue this year, 2019. I think it's rather lovely! |