It's well overdue for starting. This is the link to last years thread
Butterflies and Moths 2023
There haven't been a lot of butterflies around here this year so far. The earliest was a fresh Red Admiral on the 3rd of january
Since then I've seen a Speckled Wood & Peacock. There have been Brimstone's about but I haven't seen them. Plenty of time left in the year to go chasing butterflies.
Best wishes
Hazel in Southwest France
It is a Buddleja davidii 'Black Knight'. About 2 - 3 years old. I have cut it back once. It is about 3 feet tall, but mostly looks dead apart from the one branch. Maybe it is start again time ...
Are you able to plant it out BD? otherwise I think I would repot and spring prune - I know they are meant to be tough yours might not be the type thats 100% happy in a container - there are dwarf cultivars for growing in pots
Cin J
Look what has popped up on Butterfly Conservation Facebook page
Thanks for the advice Cin. I do prefer to keep things in pots if I can, but I have room to plant it out if necessary. For the time being I have some larger pots, so I will re-pot it in fresh soil, then prune in spring as you suggest. Thanks again ...
It might be recoverable if planted in a very large pot or in the ground but my advice would be to start off a new one as well straight into the ground ... this Black Knight variety is one of the big beasties so would struggle in a pot ... I have a couple of different ones in pots & they aren't doing well ... here is advice from RHS
www.rhsplants.co.uk/.../
2013 photos & vids here
eff37 on Flickr
You're probably right Wendy. I will get another one when I go to the garden centre. As I said to Cin, I do prefer to keep things in pots, but I have quite a large garden and if it needs to be in the ground then so be it ...
Finally seen a couple of peacock butterflies in the garden. Still a small number of gatekeepers. No large or small whites, no red admirals, no commas etc yet this year.
That plant is definitely pot-bound and the developing moss on the surface may also indicate low nutrient levels in the compost.
Buddleia d. mainly needs a good (expansive) root run.
Thanks for the advice tuwit., much appreciated. I am not the best of gardeners, but I do my best ...
I think the pot may have been very wet for a long time too. One of the down sides with pots....controlling moisture levels (too wet, too dry).