Buddleia

When we moved into the bungalow, there was a buddleia in the garden, and it was big. It measured 6ft high and 6ft across, and had plenty of blooms on it. The problem was, it was right where I wanted to plant some dahlias, so I went hunting on that there interwebby thing to find out how to control it.

Prune it in spring it said, cut it down t the ground it said. Fine, no problem. So the next spring it cut it right back.

What they DIDN'T say, is that the damn thing will get it's revenge. That year it regrew, and grew, and grew, and ended up 8ft high and 8ft wide, and overshadowed the dahlias I planted. Damn thing.

So the next spring, I pruned it right back again. And again it was massive. So I dug it up.

Don't get me wrong, I like a buddleia, I love watching the butterfly's it attracts. It was just too bloody big.

I also bought a new one, This one is staying in a large pot, hopefully that will control it, hopefully.

I got rid of the branches, but I've still got the root. After it had been stuck in a corner of the garden next to the compost heaps for a month, I noticed that the bloody thing was sprouting again, two small shoots had appeared. Ah ha, free plants, so I cut them off and put them in two pots.

So now I've got three small buddleia in pots. “why don't you plant one of them over there?” said Beloved, so I did.

Earlier this year, I went out into the garden to do some weeding, and right there, right next to the big Camelia, guess what I found. Yep, a fourth buddleia. I've no idea where it came from, but I've a good idea where it will end up!