Return to the Butterfly Garden Forum
| Post a Follow-Up
Which Buddleia attracts the most BF's?
| | |
Posted by tamgirl99 Dallas (My Page) on Sat, Jul 4, 09 at 10:48
| I'm thinking about getting another buddleia and thought I'd find out from this group if one variety has more success at attracting BF's than others. I've searched and can't find anything mentioned. Right now I have two, attraction (dark purple/pink) and the other is a very pale lavender. I don't know that I've ever seen a BF on the light lavender one, but then again it is a much smaller buddleia than my attraction.
I'm now considering possibly the yellow honeycomb for variety, but just wondered if there is a known favorite buddleia based on it's ability to attract BF's. Thanks! |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Which Buddleia attracts the most BF's?
| | |
| Color doesn't seem to be much of a factor. How much nectar is produced is what's important. The white varieties seem to die out and are not nearly as vigorous. If you'd like a medium bush size try out one of the Nanho varieties. I like these the best. Note - if you have a friend, they might let you take a cutting - they root fairly easy. |
RE: Which Buddleia attracts the most BF's?
| | |
| The yellow is a big hit in my yard. This year, there isn't a variety that the BFs aren't visiting. They are hitting them all. The nectar is so strong that I can smell the flowers as I walk by the plants. Sandy |
RE: Which Buddleia attracts the most BF's?
| | |
| hey, tam i have two black knights, and they're not as popular as i thought they would be - unfortunately, that's all anybody sells around here ~ freshair |
RE: Which Buddleia attracts the most BF's?
| | |
| Thanks everyone! I think I've decided to take a cutting to propagate from my attraction one and plan to get a yellow to try as well. I think the yellow will be a nice addition to the mix. |
RE: Which Buddleia attracts the most BF's?
| | |
| My Pink Delights are the belles of the ball: tiger and zebra swallowtails, painted ladies, buckeyes, skippers of all types, hummingbird moths and ruby-throated hummingbirds galore. Black Knight and Nanho purple are next in line, and my white variety is like the last resort. I bought my Pink Delights on sale from Spring Hill. They arrived as small rooted plants in 4-inch pots that immediately took off like rockets in my clay soil. I have two that I planted in spring 2008 that are now over 6 feet tall and have bloom spikes over a foot long. |
RE: Which Buddleia attracts the most BF's?
| | |
| I have been growing buddleias for about 13 years now and have had all kinds practically and currently I have at least 30 bushes. I have to say that a lot depends on "location, location, location." And I think size makes a difference too. Or would number of blooms be a better way to say that? The other day I called my local nursery and ordered a "Honeycomb" to add some variety. I had a yellow one years ago and it seemed to get a fair amount of attention from the butterflies and I have had nanho blue and I currently have a nanho purple but in my yard they have not gotten much attention at all. In fact, I tried to dig out the purple recently but gave up because my back gave out. I have long since gotten rid of the nanho blue. At this point I have to say that the most popular buddleias are the Cornwall Blues, but they are quite full right now and are very prominent and that may be the real reason. My Pink Delight was very popular for a long time but died this year for some reason. It was very old. This year I added a bunch of new ones and they are still small but of those new ones the tigers have gone to the "Butterfly Heaven" even when it only had one bloom on it. My Attraction is popular too and all that leads me to say that it is most likely influenced by the location of the bush and the number of blooms. Let me know how your "Honeycomb" does. Almost all of the new ones I have added are the compact and dwarf varieties like "Miss Ruby", "Peacock" and "Blue Chip" which only supposedly reaches two feet. We shall see!!!! MY FAVORITES are "Purple Emperor", "Guinevere", and "Miss Ruby". But it remains to be seen what the butterflies think of them. Murray |
RE: Which Buddleia attracts the most BF's?
| | |
| I'm having good luck with Pink Delight. I had Honeycomb for only one year. It didn't attract butterflies for me and a late freeze killed it the next spring. It may have just been too small but I didn't try it again. Here's a link to a study done at Clemson. 'Attraction' wasn't one of the varieties in their study but if you already know that it works well in your yard, you may want to just stick with that one. Looks like a pretty color and it may attract hummingbirds as well. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Relationship of Butterfly Visitation with Nectar Qualities ...
RE: Which Buddleia attracts the most BF's?
| | |
That's an interesting study, Christie. I used to have Royal Red, and it was very popular - if I plant any more buddleia davidii, I'll probably add that one.
I agree with Murray that butterflies prefer the butterfly bushes with a LOT of blooms on them. I think this is why they like my Ellen's Blue so much - it blooms heavily all the time. I had a declining Black Knight that I dug up last year, because when it made only a few blooms at the time, the butterflies ignored it.
All my butterfly bushes start to decline after about 4 or 5 years. I'll be digging up my old White Profusion as soon as the weather gets a little cooler - it's only making a sporadic cluster here and there and won't grow much, even if I fertilize it.
Sherry |
RE: Which Buddleia attracts the most BF's?
| | |
| Hmmm...interesting! I'm glad others are finding that their Buddleia die after a number of years. I was wondering what I was doing wrong. DH was just looking at my Buddleia jungle yesterday, trying to decide where "I" should move it (mine are all in pots) but there just isn't any place to move the pots anymore. I agree with Murray. Location, location, location! I have a variety and it seems they all get some action. I've got the 'jungle' in one area, two in another, and a single in another part of my little sanctuary. All of the Buddleia are visited. |
RE: Which Buddleia attracts the most BF's?
| | |
| I have found the buddleias to be relatively short-lived also. I read somewhere that they do well in pots for up to 5 years but I have never kept one in a pot that long. In the beginning I kept everything in pots because I couldn't get the courage to take a risk with my back that could cost me a week or more of work. But now that I am retired I started doing the digging thing and try not to do too many pots because they need so much watering. Sometimes I cheat and use a very large pot that I put on the ground after I have worked it a bit and added lots of compost and other nutrients and let it send down roots on its own. That buys you time but in the end the pot ends up with the soil gradually having drained out of it and the whole plant needs staking or replacement of the soil. If you have the space the ideal thing is to do the work involved and provide the best garden soil you can and plant things in it. But I am very limited and have to the best I can. Murray |
RE: Which Buddleia attracts the most BF's?
| | |
| I have been wondering about which buddleias for the garden too. We have about 10 growing in different stages (young/old; pots/garden; 'stand alones' or in the border; overwintered in the garage or not). After some observation it occurred to me (here in Zone 6a Cincinnati, Ohio) that the 'best buddleias' for our garden would be the ones that had their bloom cycle coincide with the butterfly 'flights' for our area. Unlike some of you southern/southwestern BF gardeners, it seems like our BFs arrive in distinct waves, and for our garden, I need to find (or prune/manipulate) plants so that they come into bloom when the butterflies are here. (I try to do this for Milk Weeds, too.) Does anyone else find this is the case (here in northern climes)? Thanks. f. Attached is a useful link from the MA BF Club on butterfly flight dates (for many northern butterflies in MA). It shows the variations in population for different periods of the BF season. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Mass. BF Club Butterfly Flight Dates
|
|
|
|
