help with buddleia please

[yorkshire lassie]

my parents bought us two buddleia just before easter this year. they were in their 'dormant' state. we planted them early in april after following the instructions about soaking roots and filling hole with water. so far they have done nothing! is this normal? is there anything we can do to 'awaken' them? thanks in advance for your advice.

[cramock]

http://www.howtogrow.co.uk/how-to-grow-buddleia.html
http://www.creativehomemaking.com/gardening/butterfly-bushes.shtml

i dont know much on these plants but these 2 sites might be of help to you :)

[yorkshire lassie]

thanks cramock. i've read loads of stuff online but they don't seem to tell me what i want to know! like how long i can expect them to stay dormant for and whether i can give them a kick-start.

[cramock]

dormant from november to february from what i read up but i'm no expert lol i just had a wee read up on them when i seen your post :)

[cramock]

Some varieties of buddleia grow to a height and spread of 10 feet or more. The North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service states that the Royal Red cultivar attains a height of up to 12 feet and a spread of up to 10 feet. Buddleia is a perennial, meaning it loses its leaves and becomes dormant in the winter before starting growth again in the spring each year. You can cut buddleia back to just a couple of feet in the fall, and it will grow back the next season. If you want a large specimen, just give it a light pruning to maintain its shape. Buddleias produce conical blooms up to 18 inches long comprised of many small flowers clustered together. The blooms come in various shades of purple, and also in yellow and white. Buddleia attracts bees and other nectar-feeding insects.

it says about pruning back to a few feet before the next season maybe that will help if you haven't tried already

i never wrote the passage above lol i just copied it for you lol

[Scunner]

Scrape the bark with your nail or a knife and see if the sap is rising. If it is, under the bark should be green.

[essex boy]

I'm afraid to say it but if there are no shoots/leaves on them now then they are well and truly 'brown bread'!

[yorkshire lassie]

thanks for the advice. i contacted the garden centre that my parents bought them from and they said that they are most likely dead. they will exchange them when we go back down south in october. in the meantime, bought a couple more today from torrisdale tunnel, along with some lovely jam and raspberries. thanks linda.

[Kenn]

Brought some north when I moved, they have established well, remember that buddelia likes a dry ,bad soil and will not thrive in a moist or clay one.
Hope you can get it going, if not let me know as I have a couple of spare ones in the garden.