Buddleia

[Neil Jones]

As a buddleia enthusiast myself I would add this
The two hybrids mentioned above appear to be second generation crosses between davidii and globosa. Which is interesting. It would be most interesting to grow on any seedlings that they might produce.
http://www.jstor.org/pss/2437811

There are a large number of Buddleia species and I don't think their full potential for producing hybrids has been tapped yet.

[Susie]

Thanks, Neil, that is very interesting and certainly something to think about. Perhaps I shall making my own crosses and see what happens.

[Neil Jones]

It seems that there are issues with the chromosome number and that the hybrids do not produce good pollent
http://www.springerlink.com/content/k5545h4202l26280/

This is interesting!

[Jack Harrison]

Does anyone have any experience of "dwarf" varieties? How tall are they? Small bushes would of course make photography much easier. But the real motivation is that I would like to be able to grow several different forms of buddleia. However, the huge size of most bushes, even with sensible pruning, does of course impose limitiations.

Jack

[Susie]

I haven't grown one yet but I walk past, with envious eyes, one locally on a regular basis. It has a deep purple flower and is bushy and compact; no taller than 3 feet with no visable pruning having taken place this year. The best thing about it though is that it has flowered constantly all summer. The potential downside is that I haven't seen a single insect on it either.

[Neil Jones]

I'm interested in knowing more about your collection Susie.
Do you have more interesting buddleias?

[Susie]

Hullo Neil, although I laughingly call it my "collection", that is just a term of endearment for my lovely little plants, it isn't really very grand. Most are still tiny as only purchased or taken as cuttings this year, but all are coming on swimmingly.

So far I have:

Royal Red x2
Santana x1
Pink Delight x 3
Black Knight x 1
Lochinch x 2
Empire Blue x 1
White Profusion x 2
Silver Anniversary x 1
Golden Glow x 2
Moonlight x 2
Sungold x 2
Chilean Orange Ball x 1
Alternafolia x 1

and various wild buddleia seedlings that I have stolen from cracks in the pavement! I want to see what they turn into.

You seem to know a lot on the subject, do you have a professional interest?

[Neil Jones]

I don't grow buddleia professionally. It is just how my personality is about things I am interested in. I am always reading technical things about the stuff that interests me. Butterflies interest me a great deal so I know a lot about the things that surround them . I own what has been one of the world's largest wildlife related websites. It is being overhauled. I am working on an artificial intelligence system to rebuild it at present. It is all a bit experimental and I have had problems with the computer that holds the prototype system. It has had a severe hardware failure and I am rebuilding it by cannibalising bits and pieces.

[Susie]

And I thought I was obsessive about things I like!

Edit: Oh, and I found out what that compact buddleia I walk past is. It is called Nanho Purple and is supposed to be naturally compact with a maximum height of 4 to 5 feet when fully grown.

[Piers]

Hi Susie,

Do you fancy swapping some cuttings next year? from your list I notice that I have a few davidii varieties that you do not (yet!), including a fairly new (and beautiful) variety 'Summer House Blue'; also Blue Horizon, Orchid Beauty, Bicolour, and White Wings (each flower spike of white wings is flanked by two shorter spikes, all the spikes droop - looks really lovely).

Felix.

[Susie]

Sure do, Felix, that would be fab!

Just let me know which cuttings, if any of mine, you would like in return and they are yours.

I should have a bicolor coming, I am just waiting for delivery.

[Neil Jones]

This is definitely one for you Susie.

The Royal Horticultural Society have published a Plant Collector Guide to what they spell Buddlejas.

I tripped across it this week when researching things for the garden.

Amazon have it for sale and mine arrived this morning.
It lists a large number of species and varieties and their origins and sections on propagation and cultivation. There is even a list of nurseries and it was only published in 2006 so it should be reasonably up to date.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Buddlejas-Royal ... 189&sr=8-1

I suppose my passion for technical information on the things I like seems a bit obsessive I am really a well socialised extravert. I don't even own an anorak.

[Susie]

Thanks, Neil.

Want to see my collection of anoraks?

Susie, the disfunctional introvert.

[Matsukaze]

Will Buddleia grow in large (2' tall or higher) pots? I would like to add a couple to the garden, but do not have space in any of the beds in which they might grow.

[Susie]

Buddleia will grow in a crack in the wall or the pavement, a 2' high pot is the height of luxury!

I have buddleias in pots and it doesn't seem to cause any problems although, obviously, it will restrict their growth a tad and you need to ensure that they are watered when it is hot. Just treat them like any other pot plant really.

Oh, and the reason why they do so well in brickwork and the like is that they like the lime in the cement.

[Jack Harrison]

BBC "alien invaders". (includes buddleia)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/757 ... aimap_budd

Jack

[Neil Jones]

I do have some concerns about this. The BBC's science is often very bad and not at all what you would expect. You certainly cannot rank buddleia with rhododendron, japanese knotweed and himalayan balsam. Buddleia does well in an urban setting but it is unusual to find it as a problem invasive plant in a wild setting.

What it looks like to me is some journalist doing a bit of research for a nice story without a great deal of real knowlege. If you watch BBC Breakfast you see bad science all the time. I have complained a few times like the time they had someone saying that science said that climate change was not happening and they had him labelled as "professor so and so". Well yes he was a professor. OF ECONOMICS NOT CLIMATE SCIENCE.

I actually got an email back from the presenter Sian Williams herself last week. She acknowledged her mistake of saying she had filmed tigers in Africa. So some of them at least do pay attention.

Always treat what you read in the press or see on the TV with suspicion. Find out the facts for yourself.

[Jack Harrison]

Always treat what you read in the press or see on the TV with suspicion.

You are so right. My father was a journalist and he certainly got things wrong at times. But in fairness, he did TRY his best against deadlines, etc.

We all make mistakes whatever our profession. As a pilot, I never actually landed at the wrong airfield but did once land in the wrong country (Congo as opposed to Zambia). However, there was a very good reason for that. Some of my superiors agreed with my decision but not all were entirely happy.

Jack

[Susie]

My Buddleia silver anniversary is still flowering! What a smashing plant, it doesn't seem to care what the weather throws at it!!!

[Jack Harrison]

Susie:

My Buddleia silver anniversary is still flowering!

That is amazing. Where can I get a plant. Or do cuttings take easily?

By the way, my provisional plans are to explore the Southwater Woods at the very end of June/early July (depends on how the season goes). No doubt I'll meet up with the Sussex Kipper and maybe I'll finally be able to put a face to "Susie". For your information, I am a Tom Cruise look-alike but don't share his vertical limitations. Well, if I am to be really truthful, I am a little more grey, perhaps slightly wider and not really that much taller. I am a mere 24 years older than Mr. Cruise. But you get the idea. When you come across this handsome stranger lurking suspiciously beneath the Dogbarking Master Tree you will know who you have met.

Jack

PS. I will be able to show you the Geranium Bronze induced scar on my leg if you are interested.