Buddleia review

Buddleia "Miss Ruby"

Buddleia "Peach Cobbler"

Buddleia "Peach cobbler"

 I might have a love/hate thing going with Buddleia.  This winter/spring I bought and planted several. It took some effort to find the "legal", "horticulturally politically correct" varieties.  By that I mean, legal to buy and grow, noninvasive, non-see bearing intergeneric hybrids.  These are patented so can't be grown from cuttings.

My goal was to have a fast growing shrub with nectar bearing flowers for insects and hummingbirds.  Especially honeybees.

Online photos of buddleia flowers are usually cropped or pruned to show the pretty, but not the ugly.  There is a lot of pretty but also a lot of ugly.

As the flowers fade, they turn brown.  They brown from the start to the end, over what seems to be a few weeks.  That leaves a choice:  Deadhead, which removes a lot of 'fresh' flower too, or leave the flower on the plant until it's totally brown, which is not attractive.

These photos show the "pretty", except for the bottom photo that shows the "ugly" too.

I will deadhead them.  There should be lots of new flowers following deadheading.

In my garden, the "Cobbler" type buddleias ("Peach Cobbler" and "Blueberry Cobbler") seem to grow much faster and look more weedy, compared to the "Miss" type buddleias (Miss Molly and Miss Ruby).  The flowers on the "Miss" buddleias are more compact and richer in color.

Buddleia "Blueberry Cobbler"

Bumblebees often visit the buddleias.  I haven't seen honeybees on them at all.

Buddleia "Peach Cobbler"

Hummingbirds also visit them.

Insect photos

Borage with honeybees.

Borage with honeybee.

 The good thing about fatigue is I can sit for a long time with the camera and catch some fleeting insects.  So here we are. 

I don't know the wasps that took over the oregano flowers.  They are a small wasp.  I think they are wasps.

Buddleia X  "Peach cobbler" with bumblebee.

Oregano flowers with wasps?

Another Buddleia  X "Peach Cobbler" with bumblebee.

Clark County Fair

Antique equipment

Beekeepers Association

Antique saw and antique visitor

Blacksmiths

The goats were my favorite

Judging the goats.

More goats

I want some goats.

In the honey barn.

There were lots of llamas

More llamas.

We're a long way from Peru.

There's Ning.

Ning petting a goat.

Petting another goat.

Petting a chicken.  A strange looking chicken.

Petting a sheep.

He's thinking...  "How do I get out of here and into Daniel's garden?"

Veggies.

More Veggies.

Bee Forage. 8/3/2013

Bee Garden

Agasstache

 I've been sick this week.  No gardening this weekend.

OK, except.  Fred Meyer had perennials at 3 for price of 2, so I bought 3 6inch pots.  Sedum - in bud.  Agastache, in bloom.  Another Caryopteris.  Not in bud or bloom  The plant I bought earlier has been blooming steadily and is regularly covered by bees.  There is time for this one to bloom and provide forage.

Catnip is blooming.  Some bee foraging.
Oregano continues.  Lots and lots of foraging bees.
Caryopteris continues.  Lots of foraging bees.
Buddleia continues.  occasional bumblebees.
Borage just started this week.  Frequent honeybees.
Thistle started this week.  Frequent honeybees.

Bees are ignoring the Perosvkia, and Melissa, now blooming actively.

Bumblebee on Caryopteris

Bee on Catnip

Borage

Kitchen Garden.

Zucchini

Blueberries

Now picking a couple of zucchinis a week.  We've eaten 4 nice zucchinis.  At the moment, all of the flowers are male.  The yellow ones are more tender.

Blueberries are in full season.

Mulberries are near the end.

Shiro plums are in full season.

We are getting a few figs a week.

Starting to get more Sungold tomatoes.

It's nice.