Re: Buddleja

At 10:37 AM 8/1/00 -0700, William A. Grant wrote:
>Not one of these international plants that I have grown failed to get 
>infested with a bug that messed up buds so that few flowers ever made it 
>to maturity. I have tried everything (no spray) to inhibit the damage to 
>the buds with no success. In London they grow with great abandon in the 
>cracks of the walls along the full length of the subway from Heathrow, 
>only disappearing when the cars go underground.In some places they are 
>thugs. I give up.   bill grant

Hi Bill -

How are you?!

I also have this pest on my own Buddlejas.  It came into my garden on a 
specimen of B. xweyerana 'Sunkist'.  From there, it spread to my B. 
'Lochinch', B. nivea nivea, and B. lindleyana.  The symptom is that leaves 
on new shoots are 'glued' together so that they develop twisted and 
deformed.  The culprit is apparently a tiny caterpillar who is making 
itself a home and dining on the leaf juices.  These little guys move to the 
newer leaves routinely, causing more problems throughout the season.  I 
have never actually seen one, but I'm told they are there and I certainly 
see their work!

I've had very good luck with Safer's Caterpillar Spray, which is non-toxic 
to humans, birds, and most insects.  It contains an algae extract which 
causes problems for caterpillars.  If I remember to keep up with routine 
spraying from a simply, hand-held utility sprayer/mister (like you find in 
supermarkets or home supply stores), then I get it under control.  I 
haven't been able to eradicate it completely, but then I am not been very 
persistent in my application.  I spray only the Buddlejas, especially at 
their shoot tips, where it does the most good.

Currently, my B. lindleyana has numerous spikes on it, gracefully pendant 
with their delicate tubular flowers of lavender with purple lips.  In past 
years, the pest mentioned above would have inhibited this 
blooming.  Unfortunately, B. nivea nivea, with its huge, felty-white, 
slightly serrated leaves is hit bad at the moment, without a good leaf on 
the plant.  This is the only reason I grow this species as the flowers are 
somewhat unremarkable.  Hopefully I'll get it under control before the end 
of summer!

I have B. madagascariensis in a gallon can, which I thought might be immune 
to this pest, but it's terminal shoot is now effected.  Fortunately, 
another specimen of this plant I raised with this one is now planted at my 
son's school, growing vigorously with lots of dark green foliage, white 
felty underneath and on the stems, and producing beautiful loose spikes of 
rich yellow orange flowers with darker throats.  The fragrance of this 
species is like stinky gym socks, which is a shame - it is so beautiful 
otherwise.  Occasionally, I find parents & children walking past this 
beautiful shrub wrinkling their noses as they catch a whiff of the strange, 
foul smell!   ;-)

Regards,
Sean O.

Sean A. O'Hara                       sean.ohara@groupmail.com
h o r t u l u s   a p t u s          710 Jean Street
'a garden suited to its purpose'     Oakland, CA 94610-1459, U.S.A.
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