Why do I have one branch that is purple, and the rest of the hundred are white? Three plants here, all three supposedly white .... had three purple flowerings last year, now about seven?
(Note the butterfly on the largest purple flower - tried to get a closer pic, but he blew outta here)
WJ
I suspect there may be a smaller plant of the purple mixed in with your whites. However, I have had a hibiscus that had two different colors of blooms on the same branch. It did this every year for many years, so I suppose the same thing could happen with buddleija.
Yup
I have checked all the way down to the branch point ... it comes off the same branch that the other whites come off of ....
Sigh ...
But it sure is pretty! I'd just call it 'special'.
You know, there are some of these plants proclaimed to have three colors on one plant. Purple, pink and white. I had never seen one in person. It is worth a second look. Thanks pod
Consider the proclaimation to be true!
I just went back out there and traced back the branch to its point, and - yes - it is on the same branch as another white.
In fact, there is a second purple and branch that comes off of a yet different white branch.
Now, to find the pink one :)
Could it be grafted?
Where did you get this plant?
When we had the pool put in, we had a group of landscapers (Landscape Concepts) do the surrounding stuff. they have since gone belly up ... were associated with Southwest Fence and Deck in Carrollton, TX.
It has gotten larger each season, despite me pruning it back in November.
WJ
sublimaze....How large is it? I just bought one, and I'm trying to decide where it should go.
~Lucy
first year, they will stay two to three feet.
also depends on soil.
we have "junk" clay here - even with compost, mulch, etc. and mixed in, they will have a hard time getting big the first year.
second year they got 6 feet tall. I deadheaded them in november.
(that - in itself - is another topic of conjecture)
now they have come back and are about five to six feet already.
put them in view of your back window, and somewhere where they will spread to a 5X5 foot or slightly more.
hummingbirds and butterflies will inundate you.
It is like a Willow tree - some people consider it a junk bush.
It looks really ugly in the winter (but in FL you may not have to worry about that)
hope my harangue was not too much
You cut them down to the ground for the winter don't you? I have one that's still very small and hasn't bloomed, so I'm really curious to see what color it's going to be. It was a volunteer in a pot of DL that was a gift. When I planted the DL I put the buddleia in another part of the yard.
I just looked this plant up on PF and was really surprised. There were no pictures and it says that it grows in full sun. I thought it was a woodland type shrub. Somebody also said it blooms only sparsely.
here is a pic of mine, grown as a standard. Hopefully you can see there are two trunks. One is for BB that produces white flowers and the other one is Black Knight, which produces dark blueish purple flowers. I planted them very close together to give the illusion that the same tree had two color flowers. Most of the times I do have both colors going, but right now, in this picture, white blooms dominate.
In another part of my garden I planted the same white BB with a rose red BB, also trained as standards and also planted very close together to create the illusion of double color BB.
This message was edited May 29, 2007 12:38 PM
Thanks sublimaze, out from my back window, close to my shed, sounds like the perfect place for it.
~Lucy
vossner,
I like what you have done with the sculpting. Mine are a bit too late for that, and in the area I have them, they are better as a full spread,
The Black Knight is absolutely stunning. They are a deep purple shade that I have loved from the get go. Wish I had put them in, instead of the white.
And Blue Glancer ... they ARE full sun, and will do absolutely wonderfully, even in some dry hot weather. They don't need as much water as, say, a hibiscus, but gentle watering during drought will keep them going.
W J
thank you, I was pleased with the outcome as it leaves me more ground space for short plants. But still, BB needs A LOT of room. Since I was so impressed with how the buttlerfly population increased, I have gone BB crazy. I have a variegated one, a pink one, a yellow one. But that's gonna be it. I have no more room for this kinda biggie plant.
sublimaze, Mine is a Buddleja lindleyana.
I think it is alittle different than the davidii cultivars. Or so I've read. Found it in a back woods nursery. Anyway, it's my 1st Buddleia.
I think I'm gonna like it. Thanks for the info. : )
I have a pink BB davidii. It's been in the ground a little less than one year, in full sun. It's about 6 feet tall and about 4 feet spread. It's has been blooming profusely for weeks now. I love these plants and wish I had room for the Black Knight. I'm looking for a spot, but I'm running out of room.
FYI (y'all)
This is the full spread of the B davidii in my back yard. It is actually three plants, each are "supposed" to be white, but you can see the middle lower purple showing through.
Not Black Knight, but just purple
Oh, that's beautiful, sublimaze.
NOW, ............ I have to have a white one. When will it stop? : )
That is a beautiful butterfly bush!
Gorgeous plants all. Not sure if I like the standard or the bush better... maybe both. Come on butterflies!
I once had a dwarf BB. I transplanted it and it didn't survive. I know that is not too helpful but smaller ones do exist. Let me know if anyone finds one!
Silver, which one were you looking up that has no pictures?
http://davesgarden.com/pf/adv_search.php?searcher%5Bcommon%5D=&searcher%5Bfamily%5D=Buddlejaceae&searcher%5Bgenus%5D=Buddleja&searcher%5Bspecies%5D=&searcher%5Bcultivar%5D=&searcher%5Bhybridizer%5D=&search_prefs%5Bsort_by%5D=rating&images_prefs=with&Search=Search
I got one at Lowes last year on the "save me" table. It is growing like everything. It was real burnt on the outer leaves when I got it and I cut it back agressively. It had a few spent blooms on it so I know it is a light purple color, but I can't wait to see it bloom this year.
I would be interested to know if others in my area cut their BB back each year?
S_FW,
I have had mine for three years. First year did nothing. Came back almost 6ft high. Cut it back last november. Maybe so the highest portion was four feet - three feet in areas where the branches were impeding other plants.
Came back perfect this year. I am going to dead head mine (or rather, cut back) each year. That will keep it in a respectable area.
Thanks for the shared info Sublimaze! I know it didn't seem to skip a beat after last year, but it had been abused until I rescued it.
Sheila, when I looked it up, I spelled it buddleia. Does anybody grow these in dappled sun? or full shade?
I planted my yellow in dappled sun and it seems to be doing fine. At worst, it's not growing as fast as the others, and to me, that's not entirely bad.
Ok, I guess I'll leave mine where it is and see what happens. It seems very happy so far and has lots of buds on it. I think I'd like to get another one and try it at the back of the lot near the gh. There's not much back there to screen the view from the neighbors' lot. It would still be close enough to smell it. Thanks for the idea ya'll. I'm always looking out for hardy plants with good scent.:)
RE: Shade -
I'm guessing they will not fully flower in the shade ... this information is just based on the fact that any plant of mine that traditionally flowers well in the dry hot heat will do poorly in the shade.
Dappled (e.g. partial shade) light is probably fine, as portions of my buddleia (yes, silverflutter, it is a "u") are speckled by a live oak to the east.
.......................
Mine is in shade a lot of the morning and gets the hot afternoon sun. It is just now begining to flower, so it does slow them down not being in full sun.
My pink one is going crazy sitting in full sun from 8 in the morning till 7 or8 at night. I planted it on the south side of the house for that reason
Well, if you could only have one BB, which variety would it be? Davidii or something else?
silverfluter
(if I may answer that) - having a davidii myself, it is a preference for me, as it looks great in contrast to a vitex tree (with it's similar blooms this time of year) and its ability to magnetize butterflies and hummingbirds.
however
if I had to do it again, I would plant three bushes, white-scarlet knight-white.
That would make for a great visual beauty.
W J
That sounds awsome Sublimaze. I didn't know there was a scarlet knight. I have seen something called black knight I think. Do you know anything about the varieties other than Davidii?
I have a Royal Red, which I would describe as a blueish raspberry red. I googled for Scarlet Knight and couldn't find it, must be a new variety.
sorry - scarlet knight is my version of black knight.
same thing.
bad, bad, bad on me ....
I have "black knight" but it blooms purple. I trimmed my back a LOT this year... It had gotten a bit gangly. I used a hedge trimmer and just went at it until it was about 2 ft wide and 4 ft tall. It is now over 6' tall and about 4' wide. I need to take a new picture of it. I has come back much more compact and has hundreds of blooms.
renatelynne:
exactly what happened to mine. I let it grow scraggly for two seasons ... get it established. Last Nov, went ape with the clippers. My wife was unsure that I had done the right thing.
Now you can see what it looks like (fifteen posts above or so)
:)
