VIDEO: The Buddleia flower is a butterfly’s best buddy

Peter Dowdall says care is needed when choosing a Buddleia. They are pretty but some varieties are invasive.

Who doesn’t love butterflies? Synonymous with summer, there are at least 34 species found in Ireland.

Over the next month or two, gardens all over the country will come alive with their fluttering wings.

While the caterpillars are often pests munching through choice garden plants, the adult butterflies are beneficial pollinators.

There are many plants that will attract butterflies to the garden, few better than Agastache, Nepeta or Catmint. Hebes are great evergreen shrubs that flower all summer long and will be alive with butterflies this month and next but if you really want them in your garden, then there are few better to attract them than the Butterfly Bush or Buddleia.

Buddleia davidii is the species of many of the varieties grown in gardens throughout Ireland and England, varieties such as ‘White Profusion’, ‘Royal Red’ and ‘Black Knight’. It’s a relatively modern introduction, discovered in China in the late 1800s and transported soon after into Russia and Europe.

It achieved an RHS Award of Garden Merit in 1898 but in a pretty dramatic fall from grace it is now to be found on the list of invasive species in many countries around the world alongside such beauties as Japanese Knotweed and Giant Hogweed.

Growing to about 4 metres in height and similar in spread if left unchecked, it does create a beautiful display at the moment and over the next few months.

However if a thing of beauty is a joy forever then Buddleia can paraphrase that sentiment by spreading everywhere.

Buddleias will colonise open ground and for that reason I would urge you to reconsider if thinking about a Buddleia for your garden.

Yes they are great to attract butterflies, bees and other pollinators and visually stunning but be careful which variety you plant.

Look for the compact growing varieties called ‘Buzz’. These are low growing, patio varieties, ideal for pots or containers as well as the open ground.

They are non-invasive and won’t take over your whole garden. I have been growing them now for about four years and they have not outgrown their space.

Available in different shades of indigo, blue, magenta and white the flowers aren’t as long as the species, davidii but they are still worth their place nonetheless, for mine are now nicely maturing and producing masses of flowers and yes, the bees and butterflies are flocking to them like some kind of pollen drive-through.

Japanese Knotweed and Giant Hogweed are two invasive plants that are deservedly receiving much publicity at the moment as the Knotweed is busy colonising roadsides and riverbanks all over the country, creating monoculture stands at the expense of native flora and fauna.

It’s creating problems for buildings, pipework and septic tanks. The Giant Knotweed, though not as widespread, is doing the same.

Growing to 4 metres in height in one season it thrives in damp soil and spreads easily along rivers and streams, germinating wherever the flowing water deems fit to drop the seed.

The main problem with the Giant Hogweed is that it’s a public health and safety issue. One chance encounter with this herbaceous giant can leave you scarred for life, in extreme cases.

But in all cases, you will suffer severe skin burns, blisters and rashes. It can even lead to blindness if it comes in contact with the eyes.

Buddleia was introduced as an ornamental plant and it’s atractive and loved by the beneficial wildlife we strive to encourage into our gardens — on the other hand it’s a problem plant on a national level.

It can get tricky this gardening business, can’t it? Can’t do right for doing wrong — we all have to be careful what plants we plant into our gardens. If someone gives you a present of a plant or you picked it up for pennies at a sale, be careful and check it out.

Video Dan Linehan