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butterfly bush invasive
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Posted by woodlandpixie_6 z6 NJ (My Page) on Wed, Dec 7, 05 at 11:39
Since buddleia is now considered invasive in my area what "native" small tree or shrub can I replace it with? It's in a sunny spot behind a virginiana rose so in the winter the delicate silvery leaves of the buddleia back the red canes and small red rose hips
of the rose.
Pixie |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: butterfly bush invasive
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- Posted by Pam_AA z5 Berwyn Il. (My Page) on
Fri, Dec 9, 05 at 15:16
| Your butterfly bush should be OK if you are disciplined enough to trim the flowers off before they go to seed, easier said then done though. As far as a replacement, maybe a conifer would be a great player with the rose in winter. If you want flowers I would look into a Annabelle type Hydrangea, it will really shine when the rose is done blooming, nice dried flower heads in winter too. If you are interested something for the butterflies, here are some more choices, good luck! |
Here is a link that might be useful: Good Shrubs for Wildlife
RE: butterfly bush invasive
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Pam, Thanks for the suggestions and link. the Annabelle Hydrangea is native to the U.S.? Does it grow very large? How
ould it look with oakleaf?
Pixie |
RE: butterfly bush invasive
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- Posted by Pam_AA z5 Berwyn Il. (My Page) on
Sat, Dec 10, 05 at 18:27
| Your most welcome but I should of asked you about size. Oh well! Yes, Annabelle is a selection of our native H. arborescens It has much larger flowers than the straight species. I cut mine back a little in spring to keep a nice shape and it's 4-5' tall x wide.
H. Quercifolia, Oakleaf Hydrangea is also a native and could be a good choice. It's foliage will give you more texture than H. arborescens. I don't know how that will jive with you rose foliage, which depends on what you personally like. It also has beautiful fall leaf color and interesting bark too. In my experience the flowers don't keep well into winter though. There are many selections to choose from on the market.
Just do some googling and you will find TONS of info and there is a Hydrangea Forum. |
RE: butterfly bush invasive
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| They have identified a new subspecies of h. arborescens known as h. arborescens ssp. radiata. It has silvery backs to the leaves. It looks like it might be sold under the cultivar name "Samantha". Hydrandasplus has it for sale on their website. |
RE: butterfly bush invasive
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| I have heard of people using blueberry bushes to replace buddleia. They ge the same red color in the fall. THey do prefer acidic soils though... so you may need to check your soil condition. |
RE: butterfly bush invasive
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you could go with other species of buddleia such as
b. fallowiana, b. globosa or b. x weyeriana that are considered non-invasive by the source linked below. as i understand, this plant has shown invasive potential on the west coast more than it has back east, though it is on tennessee's exotic invasive plant list.
personally, i like and grow chaste tree. it is similar in form(only better) to the butterfly bush and flowers in either white or blue. |
Here is a link that might be useful: butterfly bush alternatives
re: native alternative
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oops, forgot you wanted "native". do the parentheses indicate you mean in the sense that it is native to the country but not necessarily to your area?
one native shrub that is a butterfly magnet in my garden is clethra alnifolia. 'ruby spice' is a pretty cultivar with pink flowers and yellow fall foliage.
itea virginica is another possibility that also has good fall color(reds) and white flowers.
both of these need regular water in summer and are not really drought tolerant. |
RE: butterfly bush invasive
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Thanks for all the suggestions. I think I'll try the h. aborescens along the fence line (either Annabelle or radiatta-Hydrangaplus looks like a good source) with my exsisting oakleaf. I already have a blueberry in that area (Patriot) but would like to add a low bush . There is also a clethera (hummingbird-not sure if this cultivar draws butterflys like the rubyspice). I'm looking for the Itea
Little Henry-to fill this space. Does anyone know if this cultivar is also a food source for butterflys? Pixie |
RE: butterfly bush invasive
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| Lindera benzoin is a native butterfly host plant. Birds love the fruit. It's not a showy shrub and since it's dioecious, you need a male and female. The foliage of Lindera when bruised, has a nice scent, similar to Sassafras I would say. If you go with a Hydrangea, I think the lacecap form of arborescens ( either discolor or radiata) is much more attractive, does not flop, has fertile florets, so more insect friendly than sterile florets like 'Annabelle'. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Lindera
RE: butterfly bush invasive
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Carol, the Lindera link was informative. It did list lindera as a companion for virginia rose. I actually found a volunteer lindera at my fence line this spring, It came from my neighbors fence line stand of 3 large shrubs. I'm not sure 2 big suckering shrubs, rose and spicebush, would fit in the area I'm thinking of but I will try a cutting of the rose with the spice bush along the fence -maybe too
much shade but worth a try.
Pixie
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RE: butterfly bush invasive
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| I am growing a thicket of Lindera Benzoin and I can't find out how to tell the difference between male and female shrubs. Does anyone know? I've planted 23+/- seedlings so I'm sure there will be a mix of each gender but I would still like to know how you tell the difference and how long it will be before they will flower/fruit. The seedlings were first years when I planted them in the fall. Barb in Ontario |
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