Buddleja virgata L.f.

Buddleja virgata is a small twiggy shrub (the epithet ‘virgata’ means twiggy), somewhat resembling common Broom (Cytisus scoparius) in habit, although the narrow silvery foliage is more similar to rosemary or lavender. Hardy when receiving ample summer heat to ripen its wood, it is more tolerant of wetter soils than most Buddleja, its natural habitat being watercourses and river banks thoughout southern Africa (Leeuwenberg 1983), often growing as rheophyte among the stones of the river bed, a surprising sight. It has a wide range in the southern half of Africa and it is probable that the material in cultivation originates from the Drakensberg, where it grows in mountain streams at higher altitudes. John Grimshaw (pers. comm.) has seen it at c. 2500 m in central Lesotho. It is probable that it was introduced to the northern hemisphere through Silverhill Seeds, Cape Town, under the proprietorship of Rod and Rachel Saunders, tragically murdered in 2018. It was in cultivation from this source at K. Sahin, Zaden B.V. in The Netherlands by about 2000 (J. Grimshaw pers. comm. 2021) and probably first reached the British nursery trade through Cotswold Garden Flowers, Badsey, Worcestershire, in 2003, when it appeared as a new item in their catalogue. Bob Brown, proprietor of this nursery, tells us (pers. comm. 2021): ‘I did a random choice from the Silverhill list top right-hand entry of every 5^th page in 1993’ – one of these lucky-dip plants was Buddleja virgata, which is the only one of this selection to have persisted at Cotswold Garden Flowers to the present day. It has since become widely cultivated across the milder parts of Europe, but perhaps because it falls between the stools of ‘perennial’ and ‘shrub’ it has not received much attention in published literature.

The usually white flowers are arranged in erect spikes (though the plant may be quite floppy) and appear mid-summer onwards. B. virgata makes an attractive garden plant, tolerant of most soils except very dry conditions, and may even be grown as a marginal. It prefers full sun but will tolerate light shade. It is hardy down to at least –10°C in otherwise optimum conditions (pers. obs.). It may be pruned hard in early spring to encourage bushiness and more prolific flowering.