Am I growing the World’s biggest weed?

stupid.little.genius

Last year I had a very small plant appear in my garden. It’s flowers looked like a buddleia, so I left it and grew it this year too. But now it’s 10 times the size! No exaggeration!! It’s taken over!! 

Is it a buddleia, or am I growing the world’s biggest weed???

fidgetbones

Buddleja davidii. The butterflies like it. It was introduced from China but escaped from some gardens.

fidgetbones

Just cut it down by about half in September to stop wind rock in winter, then cut down hard to about a foot in March each year to keep it under control. It will still put on 6ft of growth and flower each year on the new wood.

K67

Cut down in spring as low as you like as it flowers on new wood.

stupid.little.genius

Oooo yay! Thank you so much! So I’m not growing a weed! I was right! 

And you are right about it escaping! No idea where this “little” fella escaped from, but I didn’t plant it! It just started growing! I have a policy of not digging up weeds once they get to a certain height, just to see what they will do! Last year we had this Buddleja, three giant sunflowers and some love in a mist! 

Thanks for the care tips too! That was my next question!! Just one more question: when and how can I transplant it? It’s right on the edge of the stone work, and needs to be moved back into the flower bed.  Any ideas?? 

Loxley

To be honest I'd just chop it down and plant a new one where you want it. They grow fast! You can then choose one that's a bit more special than the typical mauve one which I associate with waste ground and railway lines. 

Buddleia alternifolia is a particularly nice one. 

stupid.little.genius

But it chose me!  

As long as the butterflies and bees will love it, it can stay! Besides, even common waste ground/railway plants deserve a time to shine too! It came from goodness knows where and landed in my garden. So it can stay! Common or not!!   

raisingirl

Good for you. But it is a weed - a very big one. You'll get lots of them coming up unless you take the flowers off very promptly. I just let mine go to seed - the birds stuff their little faces on it - and keep an eye for them popping up in flower beds or my whole garden would be one big buddleia patch 

stupid.little.genius

  lol!! So it is Worlds biggest weed then!!! 

Awesome tip! I didn’t now it could go to seed like that! So it’s good for bees, butterfly’s and birds!  We have lots of little birds visit the feeders so maybe they will like the buddleia too! 

stupid.little.genius

If this is a weed, then weeds are welcome in my garden!! 

Yes, it finally flowered and it was well worth the wait! It's beautiful and it's scent is heavenly!  It is full, and I mean busting with buds and flowers all over!  It's a riot of colour!  

It is a weed no more!  It's a plant in my garden, which I will cultivate and care for the same as any other!  I might not know where it came from, or have meant to grow it, and I defiantly didn't plant it, but it's beautiful and it's here to stay!

And the moral of the story is: Weed is just a name for a plant you didn't intentionally grow So it doesn't always pay to pull weeds up!  Sometimes we discover a wonderful surprise!

raisingirl

completely agree - there are some lovely weeds about. Foxgloves, primroses - I have wild angelica coming up in my garden. It's a glorious thing.  I do love the scent of buddleia. Apparently so do the peacock butterflies