The Lemon Fool

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

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

These?

creative commons licence

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

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

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/

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)

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

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