Buddleja

We didn't choose this Buddleja - it chose us.  We all know it as the Butterfly Bush but apparently it was called the Bombsite Bush during the war years as it has an invasive nature and it sprang up on any waste ground.  In fact it is banned in some USA states because it is classified as a noxious weed!

Well, five years ago part of the hawthorne hedge was removed from the field side of our lane and this Buddleja was definitely NOT there then ... but I'm very glad it is here now.  It's right outside our window and gives hours of entertainment this time of year. 

In the half hour I spent watching Peacock butterflies were chasing the Small Tortoiseshells; Small Whites were dancing round and unsettling Large Whites; a Red Admiral (or Admirable as they used to be called) paid a brief visit while a Comma posed for ages in the sunshine.

The flowers not covered in butterflies were covered in bees.

This particular shrub is a Buddleja davidii.  It was named after Father Armand David (1826 - 1900), a missionary Catholic priest, zoologist and botanist who worked in China.  It was Armand David who first discovered the Giant Panda together with 200 other wild animals and 807 birds many of which had never been described in scientific journals before. He discovered 52 new species of Rhododendrons and 40 new Primulae.

If I had chosen to grow a Buddleja I would have planted a darker purple, a red one or a white one.

This shrub has grown to 15 feet in just four years and it has spread to about the same width so I'm glad it is on the lane and not in the garden!

September 2012


Spurred on by Elaine at A Woman of the Soil I went out to tidy up the greenhouse yesterday.  I need to get all the geraniums and fuschias lifted, I still have some cuttings to take and some seeds to sow.  LOADS to do .... so why does it look exactly the same today as it did yesterday? How did I get side tracked so easily?  Why does this always happen whenever I am gardening?? 
The sun was shining so collecting the sweetpea pods and planting a few cyclamen seemed like a much better idea!

The roses are looking good and smelling delightful!

The leaves are not so good!

I will be prunning most of them right back this year after listening to Ann Bird of the Rose Society at the Garden Club.  I have cut them back in the past but not nearly enough according to her. She REALLY prunes!




Here are my Autumn favourites for this week:
The Sedum takes over the kitchen border. I remembered to put the plant supports in this year so there isn't a bald patch in the middle! So easy to grow: cuttings are blooming all down the lane and in neighbours' gardens.

Berries and seeds are adding colour now.  The honeysuckles round the door and over the rose arch have done particularly well this year.  The Quince numbers are down on last year when we had a bumper crop.  The skin smells lovely and I have a recipe for jam but they are difficult to prepare.

Pyracantha

 Wild birds soon find the Pyracantha berries. 

Comma

  Visit The Patient Gardener for more End of Month views.

Pinch, Punch, End of the Month

We had an interval of sunshine yesterday but the grey clouds are back.  I know we need the rain but it is depressing! 
A pair of Robins have been working very hard over the last couple of weeks.  When they think we aren't looking they are flying into the ivy near the front door with full beaks.  I listened for them yesterday but there was silence.  I planted a few seedlings and he didn't appear to grab the grubs.  I was feeling abandoned but as I prepared to go for tea there he was singing in the holly tree.  I am glad he is okay but I don't think I will be seeing his chicks.  There was sad news from the Nottingham Peregrines this weekend too - two of their chicks have died.  Nature is brutal.
Here's my garden at the end of the month:

After spending almost every day of March in the garden I have spent lots of April at the new allotment.  Parts of the garden seemed overgrown yesterday.  Round the pond in particular.  There are masses of buds on the Aquilegia and the Honeysuckle.  The Poeny is ready to burst and the Oriental Poppies are spreading nicely so we should have a good show soon.  One surprise is a Golden Rod I bought for a pound at the side of the road in Norfolk last summer.  I only had five 'sticks' last year  but this year ,,, it's a good job I like Golden Rod!

The back of the garden is shaded by Oriental Cherry trees, Rowan and Lilacs.

The wind is blowing the pink blossom everywhere - amazed there is any left on the tree!  It will look lovely next to the Lilac trees next week.  They are underplanted with whitebells and bluebells and masses of Forget-me-nots.




Comma butterfly

 A Comma flew in for a visit.  It is pretty common these days but the population crashed at one time and in 1920 there were only two sightings.  It gets its name from this small white mark on its underwing:

Go over to Helen at The Patient Gardener for more End of the Month gardens.