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Buddleja Conundrum

wildlife, gardening, environment, Rural living, Pets and Vets
JillyB
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Buddleja Conundrum

#312984

Postby JillyB » May 28th, 2020, 11:36 am

Hello everyone,

Thought I'd share a current gardening problem.

I bought and planted a buddleja plant to attract butterflies to my garden, however it is currently being decimated by caterpillars.

It would seem silly to sacrifice the buddleja, but on the other hand ....

What would you do?

Jill

Breelander
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Re: Buddleja Conundrum

#313018

Postby Breelander » May 28th, 2020, 12:40 pm

JillyB wrote:I bought and planted a buddleja plant to attract butterflies to my garden, however it is currently being decimated by caterpillars.


These?
Image
creative commons licence

If so, then you've attracted moths rather than butterflies.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mullein_moth

Nimrod103
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Re: Buddleja Conundrum

#313084

Postby Nimrod103 » May 28th, 2020, 4:10 pm

How common is that? The Wikipedia article suggests it is more of a southern/central European creature, though there is a Grdener's World article about it:

https://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/s ... lein-moth/

AleisterCrowley
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Re: Buddleja Conundrum

#313089

Postby AleisterCrowley » May 28th, 2020, 4:25 pm

I still find that (entirely correct) spelling of Buddleia a bit odd !
Looks like it is the dominant form these days: I must be getting old(er)

JillyB
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Re: Buddleja Conundrum

#313290

Postby JillyB » May 29th, 2020, 10:59 am

Yes my caterpillars look exactly like that - all clear to remove them perhaps. :)

Breelander
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Re: Buddleja Conundrum

#313383

Postby Breelander » May 29th, 2020, 3:04 pm

JillyB wrote:Yes my caterpillars look exactly like that - all clear to remove them perhaps. :)


Up to you. Garderner's World says just remove them. Depend on whether you like the looks of that moth, moths are wildlife too ;)

Buddlejas are tough survivors, look at how they self-seed on waste ground - even growing out of walls and rubble. For most varieties standard pruning is to cut them back hard to about 30cm in the spring and they'll return with vigour. Yours will likely survive this attack if left unchecked. But as yours is newly planted, maybe best to remove them to give it a chance to settle in.

How to prune buddleja - BBC Gardener's World Magazine


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