Buddleia - Seeds?
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So cuttings easier? I see plenty of big healthy Budds on waste ground that i could take cuttings of without issue.
How best to take cuttings and is it then just case of putting in pot?
I would say seeds are easier and with care you can get loads of plants (100s). You also don't need a parent plant. But it you want to clone a plant then cuttings guarantee the new plants will be identical. I prefers the darker flowers and although the seeds were mixed most of the plants are pale.
No, that will cause it to sweat and develop mould which you definitely don't want.
If you want to bag them then use a paper bag as that allows movement of moisture but can be soaked if it rains. To be honest just let nature take its course and as the flower heads dry out give them a gentle shake whilst holding a receptacle to catch anything as it drops off. Buddleias are prolific seeders so you won't have any trouble gathering some.
The other way to gain new plants is by layering low hanging in either the ground or pots. There's plenty of videos on YT that demonstrate this method.
As slowworm mentioned, the thing to remember is if you want a particular plant because of flower colour, size, cultivar etc. then seed collection doesn't guarantee you'll get that plant as the flower could have been cross fertilised from a different plant with different characters. The only way to ensure you get the exact plant you're after is to either take cuttings or by layering.
I am struggling to think why anyone would want to encourage buddleia 
I spend a lot of time every year pulling the blasted deep rooted seedlings out of the gaps in one paved area or another! I have a mature plant in my back garden that I carefully prune before it sets seed, but the big one that has grown up behind the shed where it is hard to get to (and I do appreciate what shade it gives the shed in summer) spread seeds far and wide the year before last 
The same goes for thyme and lavender!
I spend a lot of time every year pulling the blasted deep rooted seedlings out of the gaps in one paved area or another! I have a mature plant in my back garden that I carefully prune before it sets seed, but the big one that has grown up behind the shed where it is hard to get to (and I do appreciate what shade it gives the shed in summer) spread seeds far and wide the year before last The same goes for thyme and lavender!
I am struggling to think why anyone would want to encourage buddleia
The same goes for thyme and lavender!
Easy prolific grower which translates as a non fussy grower - I've seen Budds grow literally everywhere in the hardest of terrains ( railway tracks somehow seem a solid fave ) - most want to grow it as a good , quick growing colourful food source and attractor of Insects.
Gotta love Butterflies.
I was thinking that if you've got some growing in your area, you might be able to pull up some small plants with roots and plant that. I certainly have them coming up everywhere where they're not wanted in the garden.
The seeds do need a cold period and plenty of light to germinate, but cuttings root very easily if you have access to a bush that you like the look of.
The seeds do need a cold period and plenty of light to germinate, but cuttings root very easily if you have access to a bush that you like the look of.
I think that cuttings are the way forward. There are a few plants on some wasteland close to my place of work so I will harvest some.
Same could be said for many things. Ash trees are hated by many as the seedlings grow so easily, soon we might not have any.I am struggling to think why anyone would want to encourage buddleia
I grew a batch of buddleia plants from seed as the few plants we've got have never self seeded and I had an area of poor soil to plant. As mentioned, buddleia does provide some good late season nectar, not just for butterflies but it also helps to fatten up new bumble queens for over wintering.
I also grow gorse from seed much to the chagrin of some as that's also a great late season forage plant. I'll not mention transplanting nettles.
Have one in my garden, basically a 10 foot high ugly weed that spread seeds everywhere.
only keep it because it attracts Hummingbird moths.
only keep it because it attracts Hummingbird moths.
Yet another reason to grow it. HBHMs are lovely to see about the place, we occasionally get them on our flowering gingers.
When I was a child the buddleia in my parents' garden would be covered in butterflies for much of the summer. Hasn't been like that for years now. I rarely see any butterflies on the buddleia here. I grow the lavender, thyme and oregano for bee food, but we don't get all that many of those here either.
@slowworm
I will take your word for it about the ash, but there used to be a huge ash at the foot of the neighbour's garden where my parents live and I never heard a complaint about there being seedlings. The same could not be said for the maple seedlings that blew in from the similarly huge tree in the next garden over.
@slowworm
I will take your word for it about the ash, but there used to be a huge ash at the foot of the neighbour's garden where my parents live and I never heard a complaint about there being seedlings. The same could not be said for the maple seedlings that blew in from the similarly huge tree in the next garden over.
