Glenna

I would like to try growing these. Please send a packet along for me. Is there anything special that your looking for??

Lisa

Yes, I am in tokens swap, Thank you! If you should ever see something that I have please feel free to email me for a packet.

Lisa

I am in the WS swap and I added BB seeds to my wish list. Maybe I will get some of yours! I just love them, such pretty flowers.

Karen

I wish I had some seeds for you! I have common stuff like cleome, larkspur, cilantro, dill, chives, nicotina, marigold, petunia, candaluna (sp?) and some others I cannot think of right now.

Karen

I've been told that to get the color of Butterfly Bush that you want, you need to root cuttings of the one that you want. What has been your experince?

Linda

Butterfly bushes

BRB...going to take cuttings. :)

I plan to mail my winterswap packs this weekend. Just trying to let the BB seeds dry a little more before I package them.

Eileen are you saying they need the cold for 210 days? I had no idea they would need that much time. I did snatch some regular dogwood from a tree in my sons yard and have them in the fridge. I have some white swan seeds I collected from my neighbor but do not know the other 2 you mentioned.

By the end of the month, they had their first leaves. I've read that seed grown dogwoods are often prone to infections and fungus. I lost all of mine this summer. They slowly started dying. I'm trying again this year too.

To prepare the seeds, I removed all the pulp and left them sitting in water for a few days. I sowed them and covered them with a layer of sand to keep moss away. I was expecting it to take two years.

Token I cant believe they died on you. They looked so healthy.

We had a very wet spring and a humid summer. Lots of things got powdery mildew. They were no exception. Even the larger trees around my house had it. My leg injury also kept me from treating or watering them properly. I'm hoping with more care next summer, I can get a half dozen or so to survive.

Well next spring Token will have boulders and mighty oaks with sedum growing all around them! ;0)

Remember, Buttefly Bush is on the invasive lists of many states, including PA.

To those of you collecting so many seeds, there is a reason as to why. These bushes produce so many seeds, that they choke out native landscapes not only nearby but miles away.

I have cut down my butterfly bushes this past month and will rip out the roots soon or in the spring. I pulled out literally hundreds of seedlings this year just from two bushes.

Just an FYI and trying to steer some people to more native flora.

I always wonder about info like this and think to myself that some of these labled invasive plants that are so nice we want to grow them in our yards ... then why is it a bad thing to have them grownig all over the place just like the native plants? I am sure I am being short sited here but really I would rather see the BB growing along the side of the road than some of the other stuff that I see. I have a hill behind my house that is covered with a big mess of who knows what all native plants. If it was covered with BB it sure would be more attractive. Would it be bad? Please explain so I can be a more informed gardener.

I don't know if it is in IL though. I might do some research.

Karen

I just checked your state weed list and Buddleja isn't listed as invasive for Pennsylvania, so that's good if you want to grow it. Also of note, the individual cultivars aren't listed as noxious--I'm sure they have varying degrees of ability to reseed but which has a greater capacity I don't know. So for gardeners who are very concerned about invasiveness they could grow Blue Beard ~ Caryopteris as a substitute for attracting butterflies.

Buddleja davidii is listed as noxious in Oregon and Washington, and in upper most elevations of Hawaii.

It's a wonderful website to explore too ;-)

To be on a watch list as being an invasive species is enough for me to not grow it.

In addition, I pulled out hundreds of butterfly bush seedlings this year. That did it for me!

Cultivation of this bush is very easy, which is why so many big box stores sell these at low prices.

I am in my own personal movement to remove as many non-native plants from my yard as possible and replace them with native ones. Natives to my area will thrive with minimal maintenance and water, which also helps the environment. Less water being used, especially during a drought and any plant food needed for non-natives is not really needed for natives once established.

Plus, the native wildlife will enjoy the seeds and berries of the native plants much more than the non-native ones.

Think of it as re-establishing a native ecosystem in your backyard.

http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/forestry/wildplant/invasivelist.aspx

Glenna

A few years back I became concerned when we had an amazing amount of beginner Winter Sowers who seemed enthralled with sowing as many containers as possible their first year--I'm all for enthusiasm but I was alert that some beginners would also be new gardeners and innocently unaware of the effect their joyful compulsiveness could have on the local environment.

WS is wonderful, it's uplifting, it works like a charm...but it shouldn't be used without wisdom. It's important to sow wisely. In response, without a screeching sound of stomping on the brakes, I created a site venue called "Observing the Natural Environment" and made a link table (I had to learn how to do that!) that has many places where someone can go to observe the natural environment.

It's been along time since I've worked on that page--it has a few stale links which I apologize for, and will take care of them ASAP.

Karen