A cautionary tale for you green thumbs out there. Here is what happens when you say to yourself, “Oh, what could happen if I put one leetle butterfly bush in my garden?” –
Behold the awesome might of Buddleia Kong!
I still remember the morning four years ago when I gently planted a little two-inch seedling, the only survivor of a tray of them that I had started under the lights in the basement some weeks before. So frail, so delicate, so unlikely to last outside the miniature hot house that had been its only home.
Ha.
You got that?
Ha, HA!
But Kong was not content to rule in solitude. Oh, no. Last year it started to produce Konglings in profusion. How it managed this I still don’t know, given that it was the only butterfly bush anywhere in the area, so far as I could see. Nonetheless, there it is. And here is what happens if you say, “Oh, what could happen if I just let one or two of the offspring grow up as well?” –
There are at least five of these Titan children firmly anchored about the garden now. Fool that I was, as they started shooting up earlier this year I thought that by a rigid schedule of pruning I could keep them in control. Well, so much for that. Rigid schedules of pruning do not comport well with my general schedule of spring and summah activities, and certainly not well enough to keep up with this gang, who, Kruschev-like, have been busy burying every other plant since.
Sure, I could go and hog them back to the quicks now, but a fat lot of good that would do.
However, if nothing else, the jungle-like state of things has convinced me to do what I had been mulling for some time already, namely, digging the whole thing up and starting over again. Not only am I going to root everything up, I’m also going to put in raised beds, complete with two feet of fresh, new, rich soil, embedded drip hoses and a stapled anti-rabbit fence all the way round that will stop the little bastards in their tracks. Yes, it’s going to be a back-breaking project, but I feel it is worth it. Think of it as the Green Thumb’s Burden.
Oh, I should mention that I am still very fond of butterfly bush, but from now on it won’t get anywhere near my garden. However, as you can see, the eco-crowd need not despair, as I have found that it does perfectly well in whiskey barrel seclusion as well.
The Port Stands At Your Elbow 
5 comments
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July 26, 2009 at 3:16 pm
NOVA Curmudgeon
We’d be glad to take any mutant son of kong’s off your hands. Thewife has mentioned putting them in our yard.
July 26, 2009 at 6:31 pm
Jordana
Although I’ve read that butterfly bushes were horribly invasive, at my old house they never were and I don’t have any at the moment to try them here on the other side of town. However, in England they were one of the weeds you would see growing everywhere, invading every nook and cranny of the above-ground parts of the Tube and such places. So they scare me a bit. I already have several invasive, self-seeders that drive me crazy.
July 27, 2009 at 10:52 am
Vicki
After reading your gardening posts, I’m thinking you should pay my homestead a visit and advise us on planting and so forth. We keep forgetting what the deer won’t eat, you see, and so haven’t really planted much.
July 27, 2009 at 9:13 pm
The Maximum Leader
My wife keeps our 2 very tightly pruned. In fact I think she over pruned one of them that is still little more than a tall stalk with a few short twigs branching off.
July 28, 2009 at 2:27 am
Chuck
I admire your ambition Robbo. Raising your beds by two feet. Two whole feet?! Is that right?? Do you have a dump truck brigade lined up? I tried to raise a 5×18 bed just 1 feet with a new soil and peat mixture. I happily (and thankfully) gave up after getting it barely 8 inches higher in elevation on what had to be the 7th gazillion 40 lb bag of topsoil. I guess I didn’t know that that little Mantis tiller could mix at the subatomic level. Anyway good luck to you and your back Buddy!