Buddleia

Nom scientifique latin : Buddleia x ‘Lochinch’

Nom français (vernaculaire) : arbre aux papillons

Nom anglais (english name) : Lochinch butterfly bus

Nom chinois : Mi Meng Hua 密蒙花 « Fleur qui couvre l'intimité »

Arbre à papillons, Buddleia davidii arbuste de la famille des Loganiacées Étymologie : "Arbre à papillons" en raison de l'attirance de ses fleurs pour les papillons (comme les Vulcains, Vanessa atalanta et les paons de jour Inachis io).

Le nom Buddleia est dédié au révérend Adam Buddle, médecin pasteur et botaniste amateur anglais (1660-1715). "Davidii" rappelle le Père missionnaire français David (1826-1900), qui explora la flore chinoise et le découvrit en Chine en 1869.

La plante retomba dans l'oubli jusqu'à ce que le docteur Augustine Henry (1857-1930), botaniste anglais, la redécouvre en 1890 dans la province de Se-Tchouan. Les premières graines parvinrent en Europe en 1893.

Origine : Chine.

Habitat : le Buddleia s'acclimate facilement dans l'hémisphère Nord, en situation ensoleillée, sur un sol drainé. Il est même envahissant et colonise les remblais, les friches, au risque de déstabiliser les enrochements de berges de rivières.

Rusticité : zone 6 (il supporte le froid jusqu'à -23°).

Taille maximale : 3 m. Croissance rapide.

Port : élancé et irrégulier. Les branches souples sont réunies en faisceaux à la base et se recourbent en arc sous le poids des fleurs. Écorce : marron, lisse chez le jeune arbre, se couvrant de lenticelles de plus en plus serrées chez le sujet âgé. Feuillage caduc. Feuilles de 10-20 cm, disposées en opposition, sans pétiole. La forme est oblongue, étroite, lancéolée, et la bordure finement dentée. Le dessus est vert gris à vert foncé, le dessous vert clair. Fleurs blanches, lilas ou violettes, groupées en panicules coniques dressées à l'extrémité des rameaux. Elles apparaissent en été et peuvent se renouveler jusqu'en début d'hiver. Elles exhalent un léger parfum qui attire les papillons. Elles ressemblent aux fleurs de lilas, par leur forme et leur couleur. Fruits : petites capsules, en grappes dressées, en hiver.

Conseils d'entretien : Couper les rameaux ayant porté des fleurs au fur et à mesure que celles-ci fanent. Cela facilite l'épanouissement de nouvelles fleurs tout au long de l'été. Tailler les branches mortes au printemps. On peut tailler le Buddleia au ras du sol, pour le régénérer.

Le Buddleia n'a pas d'ennemi ou maladie et il pousse facilement et se répand rapidement : un seul arbuste produit 3 millions de graines très légères, que le vent emporte au loin. Dans le sol, elles peuvent «dormir» de nombreuses années en attendant des conditions favorables. Sa résistance au froid, au chaud, à la pluie et à la sécheresse lui facilitent la survie. Aussi, il convient de l'implanter en connaissant le risque de colonisation.

buddleia alternifolia

buddleia globosa

buddleia nain Sources bibiographiques : les arbres chine-informations buddleia nain BLUE CHIP 'COV' Images : Elisabeth Boutevin : Jardin des Plantes, Museum d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris Meilland Richardier

Wild flowers in March

1) Oxalis articulata - Pink Oxalis

2) Lavandula stoechas - French lavender

3) Erica arborea - Tree Heather

4) Gynandriris sisyrinchium - Barbary Nut, Iris double (french)

Photo's Michelle Power

Shoot Gardening

Shoot Gardening is a UK website which is easy to use, useful quick reference – just type in the name of a plant to get an idea (after which the headings are) :

Plant detail
How to care
Where to plant
Ask us
Buy (gives names of nurseries – this is VERY USEFUL but of course UK growers only )

(from Sue Spence)

Spring

I love spring anywhere, but if I could choose I would always greet it in a garden.

Ruth Stout

Lavandula stoechas colloquially known as Italian, French or Spanish Lavender

At this time of the year Lavendula stoechas is in flower all along the Mediterranean coast. The word "stoechas" is derived from the Greek name for the Iles de Hyeres (Ile de Porquerolles, Ile de Port Cros and Ile de Levant) namely "Stoechades". It was this type of lavender that was known by the ancient Romans and Greeks. It was used as an antiseptic. The essential oil of Lavandula stoechas has a rather camphorus odour, very different from the usual lavender smell. Nowadays it is used in diluted form in aroma therapy to treat chronic sinusitis, bronchitis and upper respiratory infections.

There are several species of L. stoechas found in the Mediterranean region, Madeira and Tenerife. The differences are in the size, colour and length of the plant and the sterile bracts (rabbit's ears). In the shops at the moment the modern cultivars of L. stoechas are breathtaking.

How do we look after it? It needs very different care from the usual lavender. It likes acid soils and as we have mainly alkaline soils in this area of the Provence, it is best grown in a pot. They are more frost tender and grow best in warmer areas. They are also more tolerant to humidity, but will not do well in an area with very high humidity or heavy rainfall. Prune lightly after flowering, the plant will very often flower again, but the main pruning should be done in early to mid autumn by pruning one-half of the plant.

Bibliography: Virginia McNaughton: Lavender the grower's guide, Julia Lawless: Lavender Oil

Photo: Gerda Nagtegaal

Newspaper pots

These are perfect containers for the season's flurry of sowing, as it's possible to pop them straight into the ground once seedlings are ready.

Place a tumbler so that the top lies halfway across the end of a 10 cm-wide strip ot newspaper. Roll the paper around it, folding the excess inside the lip. Pull the glass out and using the bottom of the glass, press down the paper that you'd tucked inside the lip so that it forms a base.

Country Living May 2010

What is Bouillie Bordelaise

In France Bouillie Bordelaise is universally used as a preventive measure against fungal and bacterial diseases. It limits the settling of cankers, moniliose (fungicide causing rotting of fruit), leaf curl, scab and mildew.

Bouillie Bordelaise is composed of copper sulphate and hydrated lime. Copper, a trace element, naturally present in small doses in all living things is indispensable in the defense against illnesses. Bouillie Bordelaise is allowed to be used in the organic food chain.

The first treatment of the season should be early spring, a day without rain and wind, when the buds on fruit trees, vines and roses are ready to burst. Make sure that the complete tree, vine and rose are covered with the spray. The second treatment should be in autumn, just after the leaves have dropped. My rose grower in addition sprays when the new rose leaves are on the roses, but with the recommended dose halved. Do not use it during the summer, if there are illnesses, they have by then manifested themselves plus the fact that certain plants do not like to be sprayed at that time of the year.

It comes in powder form, traditionally it is blue in colour, but a colourless version is available. The powder is dissolved in water, measurements given on the box.

Bibliography: Rustica