This is my fourth house with clematis. I am still here. Eating tomato leaves can be toxic but people still grow them.

Irrational fears aside, I doubt Buddleia can be espaliered to your satisfaction due to its growth habit. But give 'er a whirl if you want.

Dan

it not a very long lived plant...

i surely wouldnt want to invest in all that training and pruning.... on something like that ..

they are terminal in z5 .... one bad winter.. and your z6 is z5 .. and it is gone .. wouldnt you hate that winter to be 10 years down the line???

i agree with don ... dont eat it if its toxic ... they arent going to attack you in your sleep .... lol

ken

Thanks for the input. I guess I should have been more specific in my prior post. While I have no intentions on eating the clematis, I have a son that just turned 3. I have taught him not to eat or pull on the plants, but kids will be kids. Better safe than sorry. The spot in question is a 4 ft tall by 12 ft wide black rail fence that is above the walk down stairs to our basement. The landscapers put an espalier pyracantha there that is a real beast to prune due to the very long, sharp thorns. I am not happy with my son running around it either. If I did try to espelier a butterfly bush, I could always throw some burlap over it for the winter quite easily since it is not an extremely huge railing. I have a dwarf butterfly bush in a different bed in the backyard. It didnt have any dieback this year. Although, it wasnt that bad a winter. Hmmm, something to think about. Thanks again for the advise.

Melissa

We have barberry for thorns and numerous poisonous plants in the yard. The kid is still alive, as we taught her what to eat and what not to eat. She is almost 6 now and has her own plants that she is growing to give to a food closet when ripe. Give your kid some credit.

Dan

Well, I guess I'm just an over protective, paranoid, nit-wit. Thanks for the enlightenment.

Melissa

You can choose to continue your behavior without change, or you can reflect on the fact that our species has made it for >40k years among poisonous plants, and somehow despite the ubiquitous danger, our population has burgeoned all over the surface of the planet and survived to the year 2009.

Even while cultivating butterfly bush as a specimen plant, which attracts stinging insects.

Nonetheless, unless something has changed and we suddenly are unique and cannot look to the past for instruction, we are still, today, able to give our kids some credit for having innate genetic adaptations to listen to authority figures and to learn basic knowledge about things that may be harmful.

And children may find the fine flowers of clematis beautiful and inspiring, and choose to play with the seed heads and create amazing worlds in their heads, just from a beautiful flower.

Dan

Oh geez, people. How about lowering the self-righteous level and either answering the lady's question or moving on.

Melissa, It appears that espalier'ing a butterfly bush is not advisable. Were you considering anything else?

as a stay at home dad ... i insist that my children play in.. and eat a goodly amount of sand and dirt... to get over all those pesky allergy problems ... lol ... i too worried with the first... yet i barely bother to bathe the second .... and he is just happy as a clam ....

by the time you have our second or third... trust me ... you wont be all that worried..

besides.. the kid is a genius... you told him.. he learned... dont worry about it ...

anyway ... i hope.. in regard to the actual topic posted.. you find a LONG LIVED plant.. to invest all the time and effort needed to properly Espalier

i have seen it done to apple or pear i think .. now that would be something ... and edible too .. but don might choke on it .... lol ...

good luck

ken

Melissa,

The other thing I was thinking about would be to prune back all of the prickers and branches up the main trunk(s) of the pyracantha to a height that the little one won't be able to get to them. That might not work given where they're located and how you have the espalier currently done.

I'm doing that now with my Pyracantha, but since I've been pruning it this way for a while, I only have 2 main trunks to deal with.

Steve

Steve,

Thank you for your kindness. I am sure I will eventually find something to replace the pyracantha. Perhaps a small vine or climbing rose, one without thorns preferrably :) I could always try for another espaliered shrub, but I think, like the pyracantha, most would get too big for the fencing and require alot of upkeep.

Thanks again for your generosity and taking the time come to my aid. And thanks to everyone who took the time to give their input.

Take care,
Melissa

"Perhaps a small vine or climbing rose, one without thorns preferrably"

Look no further: Zephirine Drouhin

Here is a link that might be useful: Zephirine Drouhin

Thanks for the link ego45! That is one beautiful climbing rose! I will keep a lookout for this one.

Melissa

Flowering quince would also be an option. I have tons of fence to mute and I have a number of things that I have either semi-espaliered or trained flat. Some are vine types, some are shrub types. I have 'Gnome' and 'Mojave' pyracanthas, 'Cameo' quince, various honeysuckles, numerous climbing and shrub roses, ornamental grapes, and clematis, etc. One of the roses I did this with was 'Lyda Rose' which says it is a 4' shrub. The first year it was a glorious 8' flat wall of fragrance.

It's like a lot of things, your options are often only limited by your imagination :-) I agree with the previous opinions though that your imagination would be wasted on a BFB !!!

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:257899}}

I can't get the Allman Brothers out of my head now :-) Wasn't your namesake from the Eat a Peach album ? Great tune !!!

Anyways, here's a pic of a trained 4' shrub rose......

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:23152}}

Teach your children/grandchildren well.

If you do, they are less likely to eat poisonous plants.

As a Mom of One, and Nana to Three "grands", no children ever eaten anything poisonous...to my knowledge...