In article , Peter Goddard
writes
I cut off the flower spikes before they drop seed and then prune hard in
spring. Globosa is pruned after flowering but NOT in spring.


But why not in spring? Do you lose the flowers if you prune in spring?

When does globosa start flowering?

--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm

In article , Peter Goddard
writes
I cut off the flower spikes before they drop seed and then prune hard in
spring. Globosa is pruned after flowering but NOT in spring.


But why not in spring? Do you lose the flowers if you prune in spring?

When does globosa start flowering?

--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm

Kay Easton wrote:

In article 1g0zhwm.m1utbgv1d824N%00senetnospamtodayta@macunl imited.net
, Jim W writes
GoldDustRhiannon wrote:

If its flowers are spherical and orange or yellow then its a B. globosa
cultivar . 'Orange Ball' and 'Lemon Ball' (what a surprise)

or just the species.

Gave the 2 commonest cultivar names I've seen. There may be others. They
may not even be true cultivar names as you suggest but I have seen them
sold as such.

They should
be pruned after flowering in summer.

Mine is still flowering!

What is the rationale about buddleia pruning? I usually work on the rule
of thumb of pruning anything just after it's flowered, with the
exception that where that would make that late autumn, it's probably
better to prune in spring because autumn pruning may stimulate young
growth which will be knocked back by frost.

So why can't I prune my B davidii now?

You can prune your B davidii whenever you like;-) No ones stopping
you-) Generally though, heard pruning of these is recommended in the
spring. Though a light 'tidyup' post flowering is also OK. It may
prolong flowering or lead to a second flush.

My rationale is I check it in a book if I'm not sure...;-))

Especially since they are all over, whereas my B globosa is still
producing flowers.
Lucky you!-) Mine are well finished.

And then there's that other one -B alternifolia???? long arching stems
of tiny leaves with small groups of flowers all along, flowering much
earlier. What does that flower on? New or old wood?

Yep thats one of the 'other ones' I don't have one of those so don't
have any experience in pruning it... Rough guides I gave are from the
old RHS guide which means they aren't necessarily correct;-))


Either way. mine seem to grow OK on the pruning they get!-)
//
Jim

In article , Kay Easton
writes

So why can't you get even more 'this year's' growth by pruning it in the
autumn? Plants don't necessarily start their year on 1 Jan.

I always assumed, knowing me, probably incorrectly, that plants 'assume'
it is a new year when they start to make new growth after being dormant
for the winter. The growth from this time to the time they loose their
leaves and go dormant again I assume is 'this' year's growing season.
And I always assumed, again, probably incorrectly, that it was that new
growth they stuck flowers on!!!

Alternifolia you cut back branches bearing faded blooms immediately
after flowering.

So that flowers on new wood too?

Not quite, if you define new wood simply as wood that has grown since it
last flowered, that is.
It flowers on shoots produced during the previous year's growing season
(see above for my definition of growing season!). So you want to
encourage as much new growth this year as you can so that next year it
will bear flowers on it. You do this by cutting out stems that have
flowered as they won't flower (or not profusely) next year and leave
room for more growth to take its place.
--
Jane Ransom in Lancaster.
I won't respond to private emails that are on topic for urg
but if you need to email me for any other reason,
put jandg dot demon dot co dot uk where you see deadspam.com

In article , Kay Easton
writes
In article , Peter Goddard
writes
I cut off the flower spikes before they drop seed and then prune hard in
spring. Globosa is pruned after flowering but NOT in spring.

But why not in spring? Do you lose the flowers if you prune in spring?

Globosa flowers in May so it flowers on last year's growth indicating
that it should be cut back immediately after flowering. If you cut it
back in spring, you cut off the flowering branches.
However, globosa, apparently, belongs to a group of shrubs that do not
regularly produce vigorous replacement growths from the base or lower
branches so you mustn't cut it back hard.

--
Jane Ransom in Lancaster.
I won't respond to private emails that are on topic for urg
but if you need to email me for any other reason,
put jandg dot demon dot co dot uk where you see deadspam.com

Jane Ransom wrote in news:xl+m2SAc0dX
:

However, globosa, apparently, belongs to a group of shrubs that do not
regularly produce vigorous replacement growths from the base or lower
branches so you mustn't cut it back hard.

I think these things are relative.

At any rate, we once had a globosa that was the most rampant of things - we
could (and indeed did) clobber it bigtime, and it always sprang back very
cheerfully. Its new owners had to take a digger to it to remove it, I
think.

I reckon that globosa may not recover quite so quickly from very hard
pruning as other buddleias, but it certainly does bounce back very well
compared with lots of other plants.

I find that whenever I prune my buddleia (davidii), I don't usually lose a
whole years flower. It just flowers later if I prune it late, or early if
I prune in autumn. Last year my mother had one come into flower in late
October, I seem to recall.

Victoria
--
gardening on a north-facing hill
in South-East Cornwall
--

In article 1g10u5d.1m64954u1h810N%00senetnospamtodayta@macun limited.net
, Jim W writes
Kay Easton wrote:

In article 1g0zhwm.m1utbgv1d824N%00senetnospamtodayta@macunl imited.net
, Jim W writes
GoldDustRhiannon wrote:

If its flowers are spherical and orange or yellow then its a B. globosa
cultivar . 'Orange Ball' and 'Lemon Ball' (what a surprise)

or just the species.

Gave the 2 commonest cultivar names I've seen. There may be others. They
may not even be true cultivar names as you suggest but I have seen them
sold as such.

No, I'm not suggesting that at all, simply that it may be the species
that they're growing rather than a cultivar. Not everything that's grown
in a garden has been specially bred!


So why can't I prune my B davidii now?

You can prune your B davidii whenever you like;-) No ones stopping
you-) Generally though, heard pruning of these is recommended in the
spring.

Yes, I know - but what I'm trying to find out is *why*?
I hate obeying rules if I don't know the reason for them.

Though a light 'tidyup' post flowering is also OK. It may
prolong flowering or lead to a second flush.

My rationale is I check it in a book if I'm not sure...;-))

Yeah, but the book is over there .......
and the keyboard is within arms reach ;-)

Besides, books are great for giving rules but not always great for
explaining why :-(

Especially since they are all over, whereas my B globosa is still
producing flowers.
Lucky you!-) Mine are well finished.

One of the joys of living in the frozen north ;-)


--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm

Kay Easton wrote in news:AQwxkdNsjfX
:

You can prune your B davidii whenever you like;-) No ones stopping
you-) Generally though, heard pruning of these is recommended in the
spring.

Yes, I know - but what I'm trying to find out is *why*?
I hate obeying rules if I don't know the reason for them.

I've heard it said (can't remember where, sorry) that if you prune them in
autumn they can get frosted over winter and that holds them back.

I say 'sod that' and prune when I like: mine is against a south-facing
Cornish wall, but given that they seem to survive and flower growing in
exposed Liverpool chimney-pots I can't believe they are really that frost-
tender, or that the loss of a few growing tips in midwinter does anything
much to restrict flowering next year.

I fully intend to prune mine this autumn: it's flowering late this year,
cos last year I didn't get round to it till about May.

I've also seen people saying to dead-head them. I reckon those people must
have either very small buddleias or a lot of time on their hands!

Victoria
--
gardening on a north-facing hill
in South-East Cornwall
--

In article ,
Victoria Clare writes:
| Kay Easton wrote in news:AQwxkdNsjfX
| :
|
| You can prune your B davidii whenever you like;-) No ones stopping
| you-) Generally though, heard pruning of these is recommended in the
| spring.
|
| Yes, I know - but what I'm trying to find out is *why*?
| I hate obeying rules if I don't know the reason for them.
|
| I've heard it said (can't remember where, sorry) that if you prune them in
| autumn they can get frosted over winter and that holds them back.
|
| I say 'sod that' and prune when I like: mine is against a south-facing
| Cornish wall, but given that they seem to survive and flower growing in
| exposed Liverpool chimney-pots I can't believe they are really that frost-
| tender, or that the loss of a few growing tips in midwinter does anything
| much to restrict flowering next year.
|
| I fully intend to prune mine this autumn: it's flowering late this year,
| cos last year I didn't get round to it till about May.

Liverpool is pretty mild, actually :-)

In areas like Cambridge, the warning is justified. On the other
hand, they are inclined to shoot early and then get frosted, even
if you do nothing to them. What is probably true is that it is a
bad idea to prune them hard now or VERY hard in early spring, so
that there are some joints to fall back on if the leading ones
get killed by frost.

But I prune them when I get around to it, and they recover pretty
fast from frosted shoots, so it isn't a big deal. Certainly not
in the west, and not even here in most years.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In article , Kay Easton
writes

One of the joys of living in the frozen north ;-)

Kay . . . . are you ok??
Never known you so obstreperous!!!!!!!!!!
--
Jane Ransom in Lancaster.
I won't respond to private emails that are on topic for urg
but if you need to email me for any other reason,
put jandg dot demon dot co dot uk where you see deadspam.com

(Nick Maclaren) wrote in news:bjl208$i34$1
@pegasus.csx.cam.ac.uk:

Liverpool is pretty mild, actually :-)

The roofs must get fairly cold in the winter...

I do think it feels colder here than Cheshire a lot of the time - all those
cities really warm things up, whereas Dartmoor and Bodmin moor are quite
the other way, and we've had a fair bit of frost every winter so far.

My memory of Cambridge is that it was too well-tended (let alone too cold?)
to have buddleias in the chimney-pots, but I've only been there twice, so
maybe I missed them.

I can vouch for the flowering of buddleia in chimneypots all over East
Oxford, but that's even warmer than Liverpool.

Victoria
--
gardening on a north-facing hill
in South-East Cornwall
--

In article , Victoria
Clare writes
Kay Easton wrote in news:AQwxkdNsjfX
:

You can prune your B davidii whenever you like;-) No ones stopping
you-) Generally though, heard pruning of these is recommended in the
spring.

Yes, I know - but what I'm trying to find out is *why*?
I hate obeying rules if I don't know the reason for them.

I've heard it said (can't remember where, sorry) that if you prune them in
autumn they can get frosted over winter and that holds them back.

Thanks :-)


--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm