GArdeNs & PlANTs
“i love plants that are as
bra
nd
n
ew tough as old boots but smell
colu
mni
st
gorgeous and look stunning”
Vine welcomes Andy Garland, Sevenoaks resident
and host of BBC Radio Kent’s popular Sunday
Gardening show as our new monthly columnist
m
my predecessor the lovely tom
hart-dyke is renowned for his ability
to cultivate the most tender and
temperamental of plants. whilst i
applaud and am totally in awe of
tom’s skill, passion and dedication, i
on the other hand, am completely at the far opposite
end of the horticultural continuum. loving gardening
as an antidote to my work life of deadlines, minute-
by-minute decisions, instant information and breaking
news, the plants i enjoy are inevitably ones that will not
only survive but also thrive on the patchy care that i am
November is a good
able to give. i like my plants as tough as old boots but
time to take cuttings
preferably old boots that smell gorgeous, look stunning
of the Buddleja
when in bloom and even better perform some ulterior
davidii plant: (from top)
higher purpose.
The white profusion, sungold
Step forward then the first of these, the humble
and lochinch
buddleja davidii. found growing in the cracks in
sevenoaks’ pavements and buildings it’s a constant
reminder of how powerful Mother Nature can be.
November is a good time to take hardwood cuttings to
bring this plant to your garden and best of all you can
get the basic plant for free. hardwood cuttings need to
be 20–30cm of woody, one-year old growth. Cut a flat
cut above a pair of buds at the top, and below buds at
the bottom. insert in some rooting hormone, before
planting two thirds of the cutting in the soil either in a
sheltered nursery bed with good drainage or in tall pots
of multipurpose compost ensuring in both cases that the
growing medium remains moist. they should be ready
for transplanting next autumn.
if that all sound too much like hard work, you could
invest in some of the different species and varieties that
are available. Jackie aviolet from buddleja specialists
rosie’s garden Plants in aylesford and a regular at
listen to andy hildenborough farmer’s market says “buddleja x
along with Steve Bradley weyeriana ‘sungold’ is my favourite. it’s a cross between
and Jean Griffin on BBC buddleja davidii (the common mauve variety) and
Radio Kent’s Sunday buddleja globosa (a species with globular orange balls).
gardening programme. It’s fragrant, and flowers late July to September.”
Every Sunday morning for more variety in colour there’s buddleja davidli
from 8–11am ‘white profusion’, my own personal favourites buddleja
davidli ‘royal red and ‘black Knight’ and if it’s scent
you are after buddleja ‘lochinch’ will provide it.
Finally, given its common name is the butterfly bush,
you can sleep safe in the knowledge that you have a
tough reliable performer in your garden that’s also doing
its bit to help our native insects.
onlinevine.co.uk November 2008 vine 
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