Buddleya David: Cultivation, Use, Types And Varieties

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

"Autumn lilac" - pleases with flowering in late summer and autumn

Fast growing herbaceous plants always surprise and delight me. Their ability to reach a height of 2-3 meters or more in just one season is simply amazing. And although buddlea is a shrub, it can also be reborn every spring from dormant basal buds and reach the same impressive size.

I will say right away that it was not at all easy to grow this magnificent plant.

It took several years of trial and error for David's buddleya to delight me with its bloom every year. At the time when I purchased the seeds of this plant, I could only use the growing information printed on the bag. For some reason, it was indicated there that buddleya is a frost-resistant perennial.

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I sowed its seeds at the end of April in a cold greenhouse. The first seedlings appeared ten days later, they grew slowly. Until the end of June, only two plants survived, which I planted in a permanent place. This year the buddleya has grown by 30 centimeters, but it never bloomed. She covered her with dry leaves for the winter. The winter was frosty and little snow, and my buddleya was completely frozen.

The next year I bought three packets of David's buddley seeds (mixture) and at the beginning of March I sowed them in a box on the surface of a sifted and slightly moistened substrate, and on top I poured a thin layer of earth, moistened the planting with a sprayer and covered them with glass. She put the box on the windowsill, protecting it from direct sunlight. Amicable shoots made me happy. Gradually she accustomed the seedlings to the air, opening the glass for a while. I made sure that the soil in the box did not dry out, but it was not too wet either.

When two real leaves appeared on the seedlings, I transplanted it into cups. I got a lot of seedlings: I left seven plants for myself, distributed the rest to neighbors and friends.

I planted it in the ground in early June, when the threat of frost had passed. All seven seedlings grew to a height of 70 centimeters and bloomed in early September. Two turned out to be with white flowers, and five with lilac flowers).

In the fall, she transplanted five seedlings into flower pots, and cut the remaining two to 15 cm with the onset of the first frost, sprinkled the roots with a layer of earth, and then dry sawdust, covered it with a film on top. With the seedlings in pots I did the following: I put two on a warm, sunny window, two more I put in a bright but cool (+ 10 … + 12 ° C) place; I put one pot in the cellar.

The plants that were on the warm windowsill could not be preserved (the spider mite killed, which I did not immediately notice), but those that were in a cool place and in the cellar overwintered well. Already in mid-April, I cut cuttings from them and planted them in a greenhouse. The winter was not very harsh, and the plants left in the garden retained all the aboveground buds. With the onset of warm days, my plants quickly began to grow, and at the end of July, reaching a height of 2-2.5 meters, they bloomed with magnificent, fragrant inflorescences.

The next winter was severe, with temperature fluctuations, and in spite of the shelters, the entire above-ground part of the buddleya froze out. In the spring I cut the plants to ground level, and a little later young shoots appeared from the ground. This year, buddleya bloomed only in mid-September, but the young plants that overwintered at home and in the cellar, after being transplanted into the ground, bloomed in early August. Now I am not afraid of any vagaries of the weather. I have my own planting material (seeds, cuttings and the plants themselves). So, what kind of plant is this - Buddleja davidii. It also has other names - nicodemia, butterfly bush.

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Description of the plant

At home, in China, it is an evergreen tree up to 5 m tall. In a temperate climate, it is formed as a deciduous shrub 1.5-2.5 m high. Freezing over the winter to the root collar, by the end of summer it grows overgrown and blooms profusely. Flowering occurs on the shoots of the current year.

The leaves of David's buddleia are lanceolate, pointed at the ends, dark green above, tomentose-pubescent below, up to 25 cm long. Flowers are small, purple, white, purple, pink, at the throat - orange, they are up to 1 cm long, collected in panicles at the ends of the shoots. The flowering of the plant is abundant and long - from late August to October. During flowering, it is very similar to lilac, therefore buddley is also called "autumn lilac".

Growing conditions

The plant is more or less thermophilic, some species winter in central Russia if the base of the bush is well covered. Mulch protects dormant buds at the base of the shoots from frost. If they are still frozen, then flowering will be delayed for 2-3 weeks. Young shoots can withstand frosts down to -8 ° C.

Breeding method

The buddlea is pollinated by large brown butterflies, for which it is called the butterfly bush. This shrub reproduces by seeds, which are small and ripen in October, as well as vegetatively - green and lignified cuttings, less often by dividing the bushes.

The seeds of David's buddley for seedlings are sown in winter or early spring; no stratification of seeds is required. Lignified buddlea cuttings are cut in the fall from fully matured shoots. The length of such cuttings is 20-30 cm. For the winter they are buried in the garden, and in the spring they are planted in flower pots or in a greenhouse. Typically, buddley seedlings bloom in the second year of life, but with very early sowing and good care, young plants can bloom in the first year.

It is better to transplant buddleya in the spring, when young shoots are just starting to grow, in a cool time, preferably in the evening, since buddleya does not tolerate transplanting well.

The main types and varieties of buddley

The species is named after the French naturalist Armand David. There are about 100 species of beautifully flowering deciduous or semi-evergreen shrubs, herbaceous plants growing in tropical, subtropical and, less often, in temperate latitudes of America, Asia and South Africa in the genus Buddley (family Loganievs).

They usually do not withstand frost very well, but some species can tolerate up to -20 ° C. There are many varieties and garden forms. Buddley of David in culture since 1890.

Buddleja David changeable (Buddleja davidii Franch). There are many varieties with different shades of flowers: Cardinal - corollas are bright crimson-pink; Empire Blue - purple-blue flowers with an orange eye; White Profusion - white flowers with a yellow center.

Buddleja albiflora Hemsl, buddleja alterni-folia Maxim, buddleja japonica Hemsl, buddleja alternifolia, buddleja colvilei, buddleja coriacea (Buddleja coriacea) Buddleja crispa), medicinal buddlea (Buddleja officinalis).

Using

Used in group and single plantings, it looks especially impressive in a group of 3-4 copies. You can combine buddleya with other low flowering shrubs and herbaceous perennials. In Chinese medicine, medicinal buddley is widely used.

Budleia preparations are prescribed for eye inflammation with lacrimation and photophobia, as well as in case of loss of clarity of vision with liver failure syndrome, with clouding of the cornea and in the presence of a thorn. According to other sources, flowers are prescribed for cataracts, as well as for gonorrhea, hepatitis and hernia.

This plant is also used in cosmetics. Davidlea David extract contains active ingredients that protect the skin from toxic radicals. Preparations from this plant retain moisture inside the epidermis, help skin prone to flaking and irritation to acquire a flawless appearance, as well as prevent skin loss of elasticity and help delay the appearance of wrinkles. At home, you can make a face cream from buddlea flowers by pouring them with olive oil and insisting in the dark for a month.