buddliea

[oops!!!]

Anyone having probs with  buddleia this year? My buddleia flowers are forming long spikes as usual but are all brown crispy and dried up.The leaves are green and look ok. I have a lilac one and a white one but both are the same .I hope there is not a virus around .This has never happened before and I am very concerned.

[Lindy Loo]

Depending on where you live, it could be that the blooms have been the victim of late frosts. I have roses and clematis and some of the new growth has been damaged by the frosts.

Unfortunately the mild winter has caused most plants to put out the spring growth ahead of time, so any frost will have affected it. Hopefully most should recover.

It might be worth having a chat with your local garden centre to.

[Cetti]

What kind of Buddleia do you have? Davidii is  the most widely grown one with the white, lilac or purple flowers and that  doesn't usually come into bloom until July/August/ September time. This is the variety with the long spikes. I cut mine hard back in March but my neighbour still has the old brown looking blooms from last year.

[woofgang]

I bet its frost, my camellias got caught

[Robinia]

I'd have to agree with Cetti, it's very early for buddleia, mine hardly have leaves yet but I've hard pruned this year.  The only thing that I can think of with similar shaped flowers are lilacs (syringa) & it is time for them to start coming into flower.  Either way, it sounds like frost or cold wind damage.  Have a look at these

http://www.crocus.co.uk/search/results/?q=syringa&x=11&y=10