Buddleia

[OnTheGin]

Hi a couple of bundleia plants have appeared in my garden - they are growing quite quickly. I like the look of them but someone mentioned to me they are weeds. Are they? Thanks

A weed is just a plant that's growing where it isn't wanted.

Buddelia are lovely, but they do spread and are fast growing - hence the weed reference.

If you like it keep it.
If you like it buy it gets too big, prune it back - hard.

They get lovely flowers on them and insects love them, especially butterflies. They are weed like in the way they grow very quickly but I think they are a great addition to a garden. You can prune them back really hard and they come back.

It's not a British native plant - it was introduced in the late 1800s. It does propagate itself very effectively, however, which is why you often see it growing wild - it's an early coloniser of wasteland sites. In my city there's a lot of post-industrial land that has been virtually taken over by it - great for butterflies and other insects, which love the flowers.

There's no reason to think it will take over your garden - you might have to root up the odd seedling, but if you like it then keep it! A lot of people buy and cultivate them as part of a posh border.

Thank you.

I will keep them - I like them. - I just didn't want people thinking I had a massive weed in the garden.

Definitely keep it! I've got 2. One purposefully planted which is a rich deep purple and the other self set which is the more common lighter purple. Conveniently the self set one set up home in a disused corner of the garden so we are happy to leave it be!