Hi there, I need your help to find out which Buddleia specie or cultivar has the longest blooming period because I am a little deceived about mine.
Thank you all!
Buddleia with the Longest blooming period ?
I don't ever remember the names of mine, just the colors. My white one had the longest blooms, 12 inches! But it didn't bloom all the time.
My dark purple one had blooms all season but not always a lot of them. It would go thru periods where there were more and that was probably our heat.
My Honeycomb yellow one bloomed really well almost all season too.
I had a pink one just up and die last year so I was leary about doing anything to them so I didn't give them a lot of fertilizer. I try to use organic stuff anyways which is a lot lower in phosphorous than what some people use on their b. bushes.
What color do you have? Did it have problems?
I do have a fuchsia (Royal Red) which has the loveliest scent, a pale blue (blue Nanho) and a pink (pink Nanho). Actually what I understand is that almost all varieties are beginning to bloom late in the summer and are stopped by frost. I should have asked which one is triggered to bloom the first since here our season is shorter. I also understand that deadheading contribute to keep it in bloom for a longer time.
Does Honeycomb have a nice scent? I am willing to try this one if I can find some cuttings around here, it has a very nice color.
Most butterfly bushes will bloom all summer if you deadhead them.
HEre you go: http://butterflywebsite.com/articles/bgq/buddleia.htm
This has a long list of cultivars and their approximate bloom times. You can plant some back to back and have continuous bloom.
I planted White Profusion 2 summers ago from a little cutting and last summer - its 2nd year it was over 6 ft tall and covered in butterflies in what really was a partly shaded spot. I had pots on the deck with Verbena bonariensis and the butterflies went back and forth between the 2. This year I'm taking out some other plants so the Verbena bonariensis can grow right with the White Profusion - which ought to show off the white flowers a bit more also.. Kyjoy is right - the more you deadhead, the longer they bloom. There is also a smaller shrub called Petite Nanho that gets about 3-4 ft max and is a lighter blue-ish purple but I was surprised that more butterflies didn't go to it. I've had Nanho Blue and Nanho Red - both were magnets. Last fall I planted Dark Knight which I'm hoping will do well in its site.
Thank you so much for the information, it is very insteresting. I want them all ;) LOL!