Buddleia is a plant that tends to divide gardeners.  It grows enthusiastically; too enthusiastically.  You can find it flourishing in abandoned chimneys, or whole shrubs somehow rooting themselves into the cracks in brick walls.  Even in the most discouraging conditions it is able not just to survive but to thrive and lay on a feast of nectar for passing butterflies.

The problem comes when buddleias start to grow dense thickets and crowd out other species in important conservation areas, particularly river banks and brownfield sites.  While it provides a lavish meal for butterflies in the summer, buddleia isn’t a caterpillar food plant and it can’t single-handedly replace all of the other nectar sources adult butterflies need throughout the year.  Butterflies need more than just the Butterfly Bush.

Balance is a key principle of far more than just garden design: whether it’s maintaining a good work-life balance or eating a balanced diet; maintaining an equilibrium between different priorities and activities is necessary for wellbeing.

When life feels overwhelming it is instinctive to respond by protecting ourselves from things that are difficult and nursing ourselves by mostly, or only, engaging in things that feel safe.  This might mean withdrawing from social settings and communicating only virtually.  Or it could be depending on quick mood boosts from exercise, social media likes, chocolate or other substances.  While we all need to steward our mental health carefully when we are struggling, only doing the things that make us feel comfortable can lead to us becoming trapped, unable to engage with anything outside of the “box” we have created for ourselves.  Being able to push ourselves back towards a healthy balance is an important part of managing mental health struggles.

At Just Caring we try to design our group activities to help our beneficiaries with some of these issues.  This could mean:

• Providing a safe space to be outside and experience nature for those who rarely leave their homes.
• Learning about and growing fresh fruit and vegetables for those who don’t have the confidence to cook anything other than a ready meal.
• The opportunity to try new things and develop confidence.
• Being in a welcoming environment, where it is less intimidating to engage with others for those who struggle with social anxiety.
• Having a routine of needing to be in certain places at certain times when the rest of life is chaotic and unpredictable.

Our HUB is going to be built over the area where our buddleia is currently growing.  So will we dig it up and move it out of the way?  Probably.  Will we be making sure that we manage it properly by taking as many of the seed heads off as we can, so it doesn’t spread?  Certainly!

Helpful References:

• https://butterfly-conservation.org/sites/default/files/1.bc-position-statement-on-buddleia-updated-2015.pdf
• https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/gardening-for-wildlife/plants-for-wildlife/shrubs-for-gardens/invasive-shrubs/#:~:text=It%20has%20become%20increasingly%20clear,seeds%2C%20which%20spread%20extremely%20easily