anemonepfloblandavioletstarrvroger

Flower. Photo from R.V. Roger.
See photo of Flower and Form from R.V. James

Foliage.
Click on photo of Foliage from NjuTIKA
 

Form
See photo of Form from Magnus Manske

Plant Name

Anemone blanda 'Violet Star'

Anemos is the Greek for 'wind' and 'mone' meaning place, habitation. Theophrastus was the first to use the name 'anemone'; however, some authorities believe the word comes from the Syrian nama'an, the cry for the dead Adonis whose blood is described in legend as returning to life in the scarlet anemones.

Common Name

Winter Windflower

Soil

Well-drained Chalk or Sand (Sandy soil is preferred). Mulch with fallen autumn leaves to provide frost protection and food during the winter. Natural habitat is sandy soil enriched by leaf mould in established woodlands, where they receive both full sun and part shade. Also grows well on the warm chalk soils near the south coast of England.

Sun Aspect

Full Sun and Part Shade

Soil Moisture

Moist

Plant Type

Herbaceous Tuber

Height x Spread in inches (cms)
(1 inch = 2.5 cms,
12 inches = 1 foot = 30 cms,
24 inches = 2 feet)

6 x 4 (15 x 10)

Foliage

Dark Green fern-like leaves

Flower Colour in Month(s). Fruit

Rich Violet with White centres in March-May. The richer in humus the soil is, the more flowers each corm will produce over a 4 to 6 week period. They open their blooms in the morning and shut them at night.

Comment

Anemone blanda is native to Greece. Should be grown in light shade where summers are hot; in full sun in cooler climates. Plant tubers 5 inches deep and spaced about 6 inches (15 cms) apart in bold drifts in September or October. Where soil is not moist, soaking the tubers in lukewarm water for about 24 hours will speed start of growth. Once started, plants must be given adequate moisture until flowering is past and foliage begins to die down. Between June and July, lift and divide tubers after foliage has died down.

Mound-forming habit, can be grown in pots provided they are not given any heat. Use to underplant roses and deciduous shrubs/trees.

Companion plants from the Department of Horticultural Science of NC State University for Anemone blanda and its cultivars as published by the International Flower Bulb Center, Hillegom, the Netherlands on behalf of the Dutch Flower Bulb Industry:-
Alyssum, Arabis, Aster alpinus, Centaurea dealbata, Coreopsis, Digitalis, Gypsophila paniculata, Hemerocallis (yellow cultivars), Iris (rhizomatous white and yellow cultivars), Kniphofia (yellow cultivars), Peonies (white and yellow cultivars), Verbascum, Rhododendron species (deciduous and evergreen), Cotoneaster, Berberis, Acer palmatum, Deutzia gracilis and Weigela.

"Rich violet flowers, March and April. Height 15cm (6")." from R.V. Roger

 

See Gardenia with their pages on
plant combinations of Anemones (Windflowers)
with other plants
.

 

"The seeds of Anemone blanda should be sown as soon as ripe." from Vol.V. Handbooks of Practical Gardening, edited by Harry Roberts - The Book of Bulbs by S. Arnott F.R.H.S. together with an introductory chapter on the botany of bulbs by the editor. Published by John Lane: The Bodley Head in MCMI (1901).

 

"It will naturalize in turf on light, alkaline sandy soil." from Christopher Lloyd's Garden Flowers - Perennials, Bulbs, Grasses, Ferns by Alan Titchmarsh. Published by Cassell & Co in 2001. ISBN 1-84188-124-4.

 

Available from Shoot ,
R.V. Roger and Brent and Becky's Bulbs in USA.

 

ANEMONES

"During their period of growth they like plenty of moisture, but once the bulbs have begun to ripen, damp injures them; hence, although many growers content themselves with providing winter protection, it is far safer to lift the tubers at the end of the flowering season and store them in a dry, frost-proof place during the winter months.
Planted in pots, or bowls in sandy soil, Anemones prove most attractive in the cold greenhouse or Alpine House.
If the seeds of single Anemones are sown in beds out of doors in January or February, they will quickly form small tubers, many of which will flower the same season. The seed may also be sown as soon as ripe in July.
The stock of Anemones may be quickly increased by the division of the tubers." from The Culture of Bulbs, Bulbous Plants and Tubers made Plain by Sir J.L. Cotter, Bart., F.R.H.S., F.N.C.S, N.R.S. Published by Hutchinson & Co.
My suggestion: Plant in 6 inch (15 cm) pot and plunge in outside bed after frost has passed, let them flower and then lift them and place in cold greenhouse during the winter without watering them.

 

"Anemones thrive best in an open position in semi-shade and in a moist, light, rich medium loam, but generally succeed in any which is well drained, well dug and manured.
The dwarf-growing kinds are most excellent for carpeting under and amongst small shrubs, and for filling odd corners in the rock garden, while such species as Anemone blanda, Anemone hepatica and Anemone hortensis may also be grown with advantage in pans in the Alpine House.
The star-like, bell-shaped flowers, appearing through a clump of woolly Globe-flower-like leaves, are delicate and extremely lovely. A few anemones, at least, should be in every rock garden as shown in the table below.
Culture - Tuberous -
Plant from October to the end of March. Set the tubers about 3 inches deep (7.5 cm) and 5 inches apart (12.5 cm). The roots are best left undisturbed, but may be taken up as soon as the leaves have died down for removal or for drying-off and replanting in the autumn. A change of position is recommended at intervals of 2 or 3 years. These anemones may be propagated by means of division of dry rhizomes from September to March.
Culture - Fibrous-rooted Herbaceous Perennials -
Sow in April, in the reserve garden, thinly in drills a foot apart (1 foot = 12 inches = 30 cms) and 0.75 inches deep (18mm). Shade from the sun until the seed is up. Thin out the seedlings to 3 inches (7.5 cm) apart, and leave them in the reserve garden until the leaves have died down after flowering the following spring, then lift, store, and replant in their flowering positions 8 inches (20 cm) apart early in September.
Autumn-flowering, in types that should only flower in spring, may generally be prevented by excluding light and air by means of heavy top-dressings of well-rotted manure during the summer months.

 

ANEMONES FOR THE ROCK GARDEN

These are all tuberous, except those indicated with an *, which are fibrous.

Anemone alpina and Anemone pulsatilla like lime in their soil;
Anemone nemerosa and Anemone sulphurea dislike lime; and
Anemone pratensis and Anemone pulsatilla like a rather dry site.

Name

Colour of Flowers

Flowering Period

Height in Inches (cms)

Remarks

*
Anemone alpina

Creamy-white

May-Jul

12-18 (30-45)

Star-like blooms, fine ferny carrot-like foliage

Anemone apennina

Blue or White

Mar-May

9
(22.5)

Naturalize in Grass

Anemone blanda

Blue, Pink, or White

Mar-Apr

6
(15)

Plant in broad patches on sunny, sheltered slope

Anemone coronaria (Poppy Anemone
)

Various

May-Jun

12
(30)

Plant in drifts in sunny position

Anemone fulgens

Scarlet

May-Jun

12
(30)

Warm, sunny places in the rock garden

*
Anemone hepatica

Blue, Red, Pink, or White

Mar-May

6
(15)

Plant in drifts in damp, shady places

*
Anemone hortensis
(syn.
Anemone stellata)

Lilac

Early Summer

9
(22.5)

Warm, sunny places in the rock garden

Anemone narciss-iflora

Very pale Rose

May-Jun

18
(45)

Plant in drifts in a sunny position with a moist root run

Anemone nem-erosa
(Wood Anemone
)

Lavender-pink, Blue, or White

Apr

6
(15)

Plant in large drifts or naturalize in Grass

Anemone pratensis

Purple, Blue, Pink, or White

Apr-May

10
(25)

Plant in semi-shady position

Anemone puls-atilla (Pasque Flower)

Purple or White

Mar-May

9
(22.5)

Large-flowered and fern-like foliage

Anemone sulphurea

Pale Yellow

May-Jun

12-18
(30-45)

Plant in clumps in a sunny position with moist root-run

Anemone sylvestris

Cream

May

12
(30)

Of very spreading growth

 

" from Rock Gardens - How to plan and plant them - with sections on the wall, paved, marsh and water gardens by A. Edwards (Assistant Curator) in charge of the rock garden, at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published by Ward, Lock & Co in 1929.

 

"Anemones are especially plants to be grown in large masses and a small colony, if left undisturbed, will often spread to carpet with colour a large area - a dark blue form of Anemone blanda can spread to cover many square yards and even to spread out into the neighbouring grass walks to provide flower for 3 -4 weeks and requires the minimum of upkeep.
Another good combination is the planting of anemones under old fruit trees where the soil needs little disturbance and where they will flower before the trees open their leaves.
They combine well in rock gardens with many dwarf bulbs such as the species of Narcissus and the early tulips.
The Poppy anemones, hybrids and strains developed from Anemone coronaria, Anemone hortensis, Anemone pavonina and Anemone fulgens are very widely grown for the flower market.
Most anemones are easily grown from seed. The seedlings do not transplant easily when small and it is probably better to leave the box or pan until the green leaves have died down and then shake out the little tubers for replanting.
The flowers of all the tuberous varieties only open in the sun. The leaves are finely divided and provide a pleasant complement to the flowers." from Collins Guide to Bulbs by Patrick M. Synge V.M.H. Published by Collins with first edition 1961, Second Edition 1971, Reprinted 1973. ISBN 0 00 214016-

 


Contractile power of roots in connection with bulbs and corms helps them to pull to an appreciable distance from the parent.
"As in the case of the tulip, so the crocus, having flowered in the early days of the year, proceeds to make and store up fresh supplies of starch and other food in readiness for the following year. The base of the stem enlarges above the old and withering corm, from which it sucks the remaining nutriment. Fresh roots are formed, some of which, having penetrated the soil to a varying depth, contract in length, and so draw down the new corm to the level of the old.
This contractile power of roots has another office of great interest in connection with bulbs and corms. I have said that new bulbs form around the old exhausted ones by the development of buds in the axils of the leaf scales. It is obvious that in this way overcrowding must result, and that the young bulbs must often fare badly through being obliged to seek nourishment from soil already half exhausted of the elements necessary for the plant's health. But by the development of lateral roots which subsequently contract, such bulbs are often pulled to an appreciable distance from their parent, and thus gradually by yearly steps spread over a considerable area.
Kerner quotes an interesting illustration of this process. Some soil containing bulbs of Tulipa sylvestris was once put in a garden in Vienna in the middle of a grass plot shaded by maple trees. As the grass was mowed every year before the flowers opened there was no formation of seeds, and the tulips could only multiply by offshoots. After about 20 years, the lawn was covered with tulip leaves, which arose from subterranean bulbs occupying an area 10 paces in diameter. Thus, in the time mentioned, the bulbs had spread for about 5 paces in all directions in consequence of the pull of the contracting roots.
" from Vol.V. Handbooks of Practical Gardening, edited by Harry Roberts - The Book of Bulbs by S. Arnott F.R.H.S. together with an introductory chapter on the botany of bulbs by the editor. Published by John Lane: The Bodley Head in MCMI (1901).
My suggestion: After a bulb has flowered, please do not tie their foliage together or cut it off before it has naturally died and generally gone brown. If you do, then gradually over the years, you will find that the flowers will go and then the leaves will vanish as will the bulbs.

 

 

"In the dry oak wood high up on the hills, sub-dominants are gorse, ling and bracken. In the dry oak wood of lower levels, the sub-dominants are holly, anemone and bluebell, with the foxglove well distributed. The damp oak wood is much more shaded and the herbaceous undergrowth is represented best by wood sorrel, wood geranium, violet and woodruff." from The Foral Year by J.F. Brimble. Published by Macmillan & Co. in 1949.

Topic
Plants detailed in this website by
Botanical Name

A, B, C, D, E, F, G,
H, I, J, K, L, M, N,
O, P, Q, R, S, T, U,
V, W, X, Y, Z ,
Bulb
A1
, 2, 3, B, C1, 2,
D, E, F, G, Glad,
H, I, J, K, L1, 2,
M, N, O, P, Q, R,
S, T, U, V, W, XYZ ,
Evergreen Perennial
A
, B, C, D, E, F, G,
H, I, J, K, L, M, N,
O, P, Q, R, S, T, U,
V, W, X, Y, Z ,
Herbaceous Perennial
A1
, 2, B, C, D, E, F,
G, H, I, J, K, L, M,
N, O, P1, 2, Q, R,
S, T, U, V, W, XYZ,
Diascia Photo Album,
UK Peony Index

Wildflower
Botanical Names,
Common Names ,

will be
compared in:- Flower colour/month
Evergreen Perennial
,
F
lower shape Wildflower Flower Shape and
Plant use
Evergreen Perennial Flower Shape,
Bee plants for hay-fever sufferers

Bee-Pollinated Index
Butterfly
Egg, Caterpillar, Chrysalis, Butterfly Usage
of Plants.
Chalk
A, B, C, D, E, F, G,
H, I, J, K, L, M, N,
O, P, QR, S, T, UV,
WXYZ
Companion Planting
A, B, C, D, E, F, G,
H, I, J, K, L, M, N,
O, P, Q, R , S, T,
U ,V, W, X, Y, Z,
Pest Control using Plants
Fern Fern
1000 Ground Cover A, B, C, D, E, F, G,
H, I, J, K, L, M, N,
O, P, Q, R, S, T, U,
V, W, XYZ ,
Rock Garden and Alpine Flowers
A, B, C, D, E, F, G,
H, I, J, K, L, M,
NO, PQ, R, S, T,
UVWXYZ

Rose Rose Use

These 5 have Page links in rows below
Bulbs from the Infill Galleries (next row), Camera Photos,
Plant Colour Wheel Uses,
Sense of Fragrance, Wild Flower


Case Studies
...Drive Foundations
Ryegrass and turf kills plants within Roadstone and in Topsoil due to it starving and dehydrating them.
CEDAdrive creates stable drive surface and drains rain into your ground, rather than onto the public road.
8 problems caused by building house on clay or with house-wall attached to clay.
Pre-building work on polluted soil.

Companion Planting
to provide a Companion Plant to aid your selected plant or deter its pests

Garden
Construction

with ground drains

Garden Design
...How to Use the Colour Wheel Concepts for Selection of Flowers, Foliage and Flower Shape
...RHS Mixed
Borders

......Bedding Plants
......Her Perennials
......Other Plants
......Camera photos of Plant supports
Garden
Maintenance

Glossary with a tomato teaching cauliflowers
Home
Library of over 1000 books
Offbeat Glossary with DuLally Bird in its flower clock.

Plants
...in Chalk
(Alkaline) Soil
......A-F1, A-F2,
......A-F3, G-L, M-R,
......M-R Roses, S-Z
...in Heavy
Clay Soil
......A-F, G-L, M-R,
......S-Z
...in Lime-Free
(Acid) Soil
......A-F, G-L, M-R,
......S-Z
...in Light
Sand Soil
......A-F, G-L, M-R,
......S-Z.
...Poisonous Plants.
...Extra Plant Pages
with its 6 Plant Selection Levels

Soil
...
Interaction between 2 Quartz Sand Grains to make soil
...
How roots of plants are in control in the soil
...
Without replacing Soil Nutrients, the soil will break up to only clay, sand or silt
...
Subsidence caused by water in Clay
...
Use water ring for trees/shrubs for first 2 years.

Tool Shed with 3 kneeling pads
Useful Data with benefits of Seaweed

Topic -
Plant Photo Galleries
If the plant type below has flowers, then the first gallery will include the flower thumbnail in each month of 1 of 6 colour comparison pages of each plant in its subsidiary galleries, as a low-level Plant Selection Process

Aquatic
Bamboo
Bedding
...by Flower Shape

Bulb
...Allium/ Anemone
...Autumn
...Colchicum/ Crocus
...Dahlia
...Gladiolus with its 40 Flower Colours
......European A-E
......European F-M
......European N-Z
......European Non-classified
......American A,
B, C, D, E, F, G,
H, I, J, K, L, M,
N, O, P, Q, R, S,
T, U, V, W, XYZ
......American Non-classified
......Australia - empty
......India
......Lithuania
...Hippeastrum/ Lily
...Late Summer
...Narcissus
...Spring
...Tulip
...Winter
...Each of the above ...Bulb Galleries has its own set of Flower Colour Pages
...Flower Shape
...Bulb Form

...Bulb Use

...Bulb in Soil



Climber in
3 Sector Vertical Plant System
...Clematis
...Climbers
Conifer
Deciduous Shrub
...Shrubs - Decid
Deciduous Tree
...Trees - Decid
Evergreen Perennial
...P-Evergreen A-L
...P-Evergreen M-Z
...Flower Shape
Evergreen Shrub
...Shrubs - Evergreen
...Heather Shrub
...Heather Index
......Andromeda
......Bruckenthalia
......Calluna
......Daboecia
......Erica: Carnea
......Erica: Cinerea
......Erica: Others
Evergreen Tree
...Trees - Evergreen
Fern
Grass
Hedging
Herbaceous
Perennial

...P -Herbaceous
...Peony
...Flower Shape
...RHS Wisley
......Mixed Border
......Other Borders
Herb
Odds and Sods
Rhododendron

Rose
...RHS Wisley A-F
...RHS Wisley G-R
...RHS Wisley S-Z
...Rose Use - page links in row 6. Rose, RHS Wisley and Other Roses rose indices on each Rose Use page
...Other Roses A-F
...Other Roses G-R
...Other Roses S-Z
Pruning Methods
Photo Index
R 1, 2, 3
Peter Beales Roses
RV Roger
Roses

Soft Fruit
Top Fruit
...Apple

...Cherry
...Pear
Vegetable
Wild Flower and
Butterfly page links are in next row

Topic -
UK Butterfly:-
...Egg, Caterpillar, Chrysalis and Butterfly Usage
of Plants.
...Plant Usage by
Egg, Caterpillar, Chrysalis and Butterfly.

Both native wildflowers and cultivated plants, with these
...Flower Shape,
...
Uses in USA,
...
Uses in UK and
...
Flo Cols / month are used by Butter-flies native in UK


Wild Flower
with its wildflower flower colour page, space,
data page(s).
...Blue Site Map.
Scented Flower, Foliage, Root.
Story of their Common Names.
Use of Plant with Flowers.
Use for Non-Flowering Plants.
Edible Plant Parts.
Flower Legend.
Flowering plants of
Chalk and
Limestone 1
, 2.
Flowering plants of Acid Soil
1.
...Brown Botanical Names.
Food for
Butterfly/Moth.

...Cream Common Names.
Coastal and Dunes.
Sandy Shores and Dunes.
...Green Broad-leaved Woods.
...Mauve Grassland - Acid, Neutral, Chalk.
...Multi-Cols Heaths and Moors.
...Orange Hedge-rows and Verges.
...Pink A-G Lakes, Canals and Rivers.
...Pink H-Z Marshes, Fens, Bogs.
...Purple Old Buildings and Walls.
...Red Pinewoods.
...White A-D
Saltmarshes.
Shingle Beaches, Rocks and Cliff Tops.
...White E-P Other.
...White Q-Z Number of Petals.
...Yellow A-G
Pollinator.
...Yellow H-Z
Poisonous Parts.
...Shrub/Tree River Banks and other Freshwater Margins. and together with cultivated plants in
Colour Wheel.

You know its
name:-
a-h, i-p, q-z,
Botanical Names, or Common Names,
habitat:-
on
Acid Soil,
on
Calcareous
(Chalk) Soil
,
on
Marine Soil,
on
Neutral Soil,
is a
Fern,
is a
Grass,
is a
Rush,
is a
Sedge, or
is
Poisonous.

Each plant in each WILD FLOWER FAMILY PAGE will have a link to:-
1) its created Plant Description Page in its Common Name column, then external sites:-
2) to purchase the plant or seed in its Botanical Name column,
3) to see photos in its Flowering Months column and
4) to read habitat details in its Habitat Column.
Adder's Tongue
Amaranth
Arrow-Grass
Arum
Balsam
Bamboo
Barberry
Bedstraw
Beech
Bellflower
Bindweed
Birch
Birds-Nest
Birthwort
Bogbean
Bog Myrtle
Borage
Box
Broomrape
Buckthorn
Buddleia
Bur-reed
Buttercup
Butterwort
Cornel (Dogwood)
Crowberry
Crucifer (Cabbage/Mustard) 1
Crucifer (Cabbage/Mustard) 2
Cypress
Daffodil
Daisy
Daisy Cudweeds
Daisy Chamomiles
Daisy Thistle
Daisy Catsears Daisy Hawkweeds
Daisy Hawksbeards
Daphne
Diapensia
Dock Bistorts
Dock Sorrels
Clubmoss
Duckweed
Eel-Grass
Elm
Filmy Fern
Horsetail
Polypody
Quillwort
Royal Fern
Figwort - Mulleins
Figwort - Speedwells
Flax
Flowering-Rush
Frog-bit
Fumitory
Gentian
Geranium
Glassworts
Gooseberry
Goosefoot
Grass 1
Grass 2
Grass 3
Grass Soft
Bromes 1

Grass Soft
Bromes 2

Grass Soft
Bromes 3

Hazel
Heath
Hemp
Herb-Paris
Holly
Honeysuckle
Horned-Pondweed
Hornwort
Iris
Ivy
Jacobs Ladder
Lily
Lily Garlic
Lime
Lobelia
Loosestrife
Mallow
Maple
Mares-tail
Marsh Pennywort
Melon (Gourd/Cucumber)
Mesem-bryanthemum
Mignonette
Milkwort
Mistletoe
Moschatel
Naiad
Nettle
Nightshade
Oleaster
Olive
Orchid 1
Orchid 2
Orchid 3
Orchid 4
Parnassus-Grass
Peaflower
Peaflower
Clover 1

Peaflower
Clover 2

Peaflower
Clover 3

Peaflower Vetches/Peas
Peony
Periwinkle
Pillwort
Pine
Pink 1
Pink 2
Pipewort
Pitcher-Plant
Plantain
Pondweed
Poppy
Primrose
Purslane
Rannock Rush
Reedmace
Rockrose
Rose 1
Rose 2
Rose 3
Rose 4
Rush
Rush Woodrushes
Saint Johns Wort
Saltmarsh Grasses
Sandalwood
Saxifrage
Seaheath
Sea Lavender
Sedge Rush-like
Sedges Carex 1
Sedges Carex 2
Sedges Carex 3
Sedges Carex 4
Spindle-Tree
Spurge
Stonecrop
Sundew
Tamarisk
Tassel Pondweed
Teasel
Thyme 1
Thyme 2
Umbellifer 1
Umbellifer 2
Valerian
Verbena
Violet
Water Fern
Waterlily
Water Milfoil
Water Plantain
Water Starwort
Waterwort
Willow
Willow-Herb
Wintergreen
Wood-Sorrel
Yam
Yew


Topic -
The following is a complete hierarchical Plant Selection Process

dependent on the Garden Style chosen
Garden Style
...Infill Plants
...12 Bloom Colours per Month Index
...12 Foliage Colours per Month Index
...All Plants Index
...Cultivation, Position, Use Index
...Shape, Form
Index

 


Topic -
Flower/Foliage Colour Wheel Galleries with number of colours as a high-level Plant Selection Process

All Flowers 53 with
...Use of Plant and
Flower Shape
- page links in bottom row

All Foliage 53
instead of redundant
...(All Foliage 212)


All Flowers
per Month 12


Bee instead of wind pollinated plants for hay-fever sufferers
All Bee-Pollinated Flowers
per Month
12
...Index

Rock Garden and Alpine Flowers
Rock Plant Flowers 53
INDEX
A, B, C, D, E, F,
G, H, I, J, K, L,
M, NO, PQ, R, S,
T, UVWXYZ
...Rock Plant Photos

Flower Colour Wheel without photos, but with links to photos
12 Bloom Colours
per Month Index

...All Plants Index


Topic -
Use of Plant in your Plant Selection Process

Plant Colour Wheel Uses
with
1. Perfect general use soil is composed of 8.3% lime, 16.6% humus, 25% clay and 50% sand, and
2. Why you are continually losing the SOIL STRUCTURE so your soil - will revert to clay, chalk, sand or silt.
Uses of Plant and Flower Shape:-
...Foliage Only
...Other than Green Foliage
...Trees in Lawn
...Trees in Small Gardens
...Wildflower Garden
...Attract Bird
...Attract Butterfly
1
, 2
...Climber on House Wall
...Climber not on House Wall
...Climber in Tree
...Rabbit-Resistant
...Woodland
...Pollution Barrier
...Part Shade
...Full Shade
...Single Flower provides Pollen for Bees
1
, 2, 3
...Ground-Cover
<60
cm
60-180cm
>180cm
...Hedge
...Wind-swept
...Covering Banks
...Patio Pot
...Edging Borders
...Back of Border
...Poisonous
...Adjacent to Water
...Bog Garden
...Tolerant of Poor Soil
...Winter-Flowering
...Fragrant
...Not Fragrant
...Exhibition
...Standard Plant is 'Ball on Stick'
...Upright Branches or Sword-shaped leaves
...Plant to Prevent Entry to Human or Animal
...Coastal Conditions
...Tolerant on North-facing Wall
...Cut Flower
...Potted Veg Outdoors
...Potted Veg Indoors
...Thornless
...Raised Bed Outdoors Veg
...Grow in Alkaline Soil A-F, G-L, M-R,
S-Z
...Grow in Acidic Soil
...Grow in Any Soil
...Grow in Rock Garden
...Grow Bulbs Indoors

Uses of Bedding
...Bedding Out
...Filling In
...Screen-ing
...Pots and Troughs
...Window Boxes
...Hanging Baskets
...Spring Bedding
...Summer Bedding
...Winter Bedding
...Foliage instead of Flower
...Coleus Bedding Photos for use in Public Domain 1


Uses of Rose
Rose Index

...Bedding 1, 2
...Climber /Pillar
...Cut-Flower 1, 2
...Exhibition, Speciman
...Ground-Cover
...Grow In A Container 1, 2
...Hedge 1, 2
...Climber in Tree
...Woodland
...Edging Borders
...Tolerant of Poor Soil 1, 2
...Tolerant of Shade
...Back of Border
...Adjacent to Water
...Page for rose use as ARCH ROSE, PERGOLA ROSE, COASTAL CONDITIONS ROSE, WALL ROSE, STANDARD ROSE, COVERING BANKS or THORNLESS ROSES.
...FRAGRANT ROSES
...NOT FRAGRANT ROSES


Topic -
Camera Photo Galleries showing all 4000 x 3000 pixels of each photo on your screen that you can then click and drag it to your desktop as part of a Plant Selection Process:-

RHS Garden at Wisley

Plant Supports -
When supporting plants in a bed, it is found that not only do those plants grow upwards, but also they expand their roots and footpad sideways each year. Pages
1
, 2, 3, 8, 11,
12, 13,
Plants 4, 7, 10,
Bedding Plants 5,
Plant Supports for Unknown Plants 5
,
Clematis Climbers 6,
the RHS does not appear to either follow it's own pruning advice or advice from The Pruning of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers by George E. Brown.
ISBN 0-571-11084-3 with the plants in Pages 1-7 of this folder. You can see from looking at both these resources as to whether the pruning carried out on the remainder of the plants in Pages 7-15 was correct.

Narcissus (Daffodil) 9,
Phlox Plant Supports 14, 15

Coleus Bedding Foliage Trial - Pages
1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
6, 7, 8, 9, 10,
11, 12, 13, 14, 15,
16, 17, 18, 19, 20,
21, 22, 23, 24, 25,
26, 27, 28, 29, 30,
31, 32, Index

National Trust Garden at Sissinghurst Castle
Plant Supports -
Pages for Gallery 1

with Plant Supports
1, 5, 10
Plants
2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9,
11, 12
Recommended Rose Pruning Methods 13
Pages for Gallery 2
with Plant Supports
2
,
Plants 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Dry Garden of
RHS Garden at
Hyde Hall

Plants - Pages
without Plant Supports
Plants 1
, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Nursery of
Peter Beales Roses
Display Garden

Roses Pages
1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
6, 7, 8, 9, 10,
11, 12, 13

Nursery of
RV Roger

Roses - Pages
A1,A2,A3,A4,A5,
A6,A7,A8,A9,A10,
A11,A12,A13,A14,
B15,
B16,B17,B18,B19,
B20,
B21,B22,B23,B24,
B25,
B26,B27,B28,B29,
B30,
C31,C32,C33,C34,
C35,
C36,C37,C38,C39,
C40,
C41,CD2,D43,D44,
D45,
D46,D47,D48,D49,
E50,
E51,E52,F53,F54,
F55,
F56,F57,G58,G59,
H60,
H61,I62,K63,L64,
M65,
M66,N67,P68,P69,
P70,
R71,R72,S73,S74,
T75,
V76,Z77, 78,

Damage by Plants in Chilham Village - Pages
1, 2, 3, 4

Pavements of Funchal, Madeira
Damage to Trees - Pages
1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
6, 7, 8, 9, 10,
11, 12, 13
for trees 1-54,
14, 15,
16, 17, 18, 19, 20,
21, 22, 23, 24, 25,
for trees 55-95,
26, 27, 28, 29, 30,
31, 32, 33, 34, 35,
36, 37,
for trees 95-133,
38, 39, 40,
41, 42, 43, 44, 45,
for trees 133-166

Chris Garnons-Williams
Work Done - Pages
1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
6, 7, 8, 9, 10,
11, 12, 13

Identity of Plants
Label Problems - Pages
1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
6, 7, 8, 9, 10,
11

Ron and Christine Foord - 1036 photos only inserted so far - Garden Flowers - Start Page of each Gallery
AB1 ,AN14,BA27,
CH40,CR52,DR63,
FR74,GE85,HE96,

Plant with Photo Index of Ivydene Gardens - 1187
A 1, 2, Photos - 43
B 1, Photos - 13
C 1, Photos - 35
D 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
Photos - 411
with Plants causing damage to buildings in Chilham Village and Damage to Trees in Pavements of Funchal
E 1, Photos - 21
F 1, Photos - 1
G 1, Photos - 5
H 1, Photos - 21
I 1, Photos - 8
J 1, Photos - 1
K 1, Photos - 1
L 1, Photos - 85
with Label Problems
M 1, Photos - 9
N 1, Photos - 12
O 1, Photos - 5
P 1, Photos - 54
Q 1, Photos -
R 1, 2, 3,
Photos - 229
S 1, Photos - 111
T 1, Photos - 13
U 1, Photos - 5
V 1, Photos - 4
W 1, Photos - 100
with Work Done by Chris Garnons-Williams
X 1 Photos -
Y 1, Photos -
Z 1 Photos -
Articles/Items in Ivydene Gardens - 88
Flower Colour, Num of Petals, Shape and
Plant Use of:-
Rock Garden
within linked page


 

 

Topic -
Fragrant Plants as a Plant Selection Process for your sense of smell:-

Sense of Fragrance from Roy Genders

Fragrant Plants:-
Trees and Shrubs with Scented Flowers
1
, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Shrubs bearing Scented Flowers for an Acid Soil
1
, 2, 3, 4
Shrubs bearing Scented Flowers for a
Chalky or Limestone Soil
1
, 2, 3, 4
Shrubs bearing Scented leaves for a
Sandy Soil
1
, 2, 3
Herbaceous Plants with Scented Flowers
1
, 2, 3
Annual and Biennial Plants with Scented Flowers or Leaves
1
, 2
Bulbs and Corms with Scented Flowers
1
, 2, 3, 4, 5
Scented Plants of Climbing and Trailing Habit
1
, 2, 3
Winter-flowering Plants with Scented Flowers
1
, 2
Night-scented Flowering Plants
1
, 2
 


Topic -
Website User Guidelines


My Gas Service Engineer found Flow and Return pipes incorrectly positioned on gas boilers and customers had refused to have positioning corrected in 2020.
 

ALLIUM AND ANEMONE BULB GALLERY PAGES
Site Map of pages with content (o)

Introduction

 

FLOWER COLOUR
(o)Bicolour
(o)Blue
(o)Green
Orange
(o)Pink
(o)Purple
(o)Red
(o)Unusual Colours
(o)White
(o)Yellow

FOLIAGE COLOUR
(o)Green
(o)Other Colour

 

FORM
(o)Mat-forming
Prostrate/Trailing
(o)Mound-forming
(o)Spreading
(o)Clump-forming
(o)Stemless
(o)Upright

SEED COLOUR
Seed Colour

BED PICTURES
Garden

 


Bulb Use pages from
P Infill2 Index Gallery


Uses of Bulbs:-
...for Bedding
...in Windowboxes
...in Border
...naturalized in Grass
...in Bulb Frame
...in Woodland Garden
...in Rock Garden
...in Bowls
...in Alpine House
...Bulbs in Green-house or Stove:-
...Achimenes
...Alocasias
...Amorpho-phalluses
...Arisaemas
...Arums
...Begonias
...Bomareas
...Caladiums

...Clivias
...Colocasias
...Crinums
...Cyclamens
...Cyrtanthuses
...Eucharises
...Urceocharis
...Eurycles

...Freesias
...Gloxinias
...Haemanthus
...Hippeastrums

...Lachenalias
...Nerines
...Lycorises
...Pencratiums
...Hymenocallises
...Richardias
...Sprekelias
...Tuberoses
...Vallotas
...Watsonias
...Zephyranthes

...Plant Bedding in
......Spring

......Summer
...Bulb houseplants flowering during:-
......January
......February
......March
......April
......May
......June
......July
......August
......September
......October
......November
......December
...Bulbs and other types of plant flowering during:-
......Dec-Jan
......Feb-Mar
......Apr-May
......Jun-Aug
......Sep-Oct
......Nov-Dec
...Selection of the smaller and choicer plants for the Smallest of Gardens with plant flowering during the same 6 periods as in the previous selection

 


The process below provides a uniform method for
comparing every plant detailed in the following galleries with
the ones already compared in the relevant plant gallery
from the last list of plant galleries in this cell:-

  • These are the galleries that will provide the plants to be added to their own Extra Index Pages
  • Bee plants for hay-fever sufferers - Bee-Pollinated Index is in the column on the left
  • Plants that grow in Chalk - A,
  • Rock Garden and Alpine Flowers - A,
  • Bulbs from the Infill Galleries see Hardy Bulbs, Half-hardy Bulbs, etc in the second row of Topic Table, usually positioned as the first table on the left.
  • The complete Camera Photo is displayed on the screen
  • Climber in 3 Sector Vertical Plant System
  • Plants with Sense of Fragrance

 

 

The following Extra Index of Bulbs is created in the
Bulb Plant Gallery, to which the Bulb found in the above list will have that row copied to.
The Header Row for the Extra Indices pages is the same as used in the 1000 Ground Cover A of Plants Topic:-

A 1, 2, 3, B, C 1, 2, D, E,
F, G, H, I, J,
K, L 1, 2, M, N, O,
P, Q, R, S, T,
U, V, W, XYZ

 

 

Having transferred the Extra Index row entry to the relevant Extra Index row for the same type of plant in a gallery below; then
its flower or foliage thumbnail will be compared per month in that relevant gallery:-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7 Flower Colours per Month in Colour Wheel below in BULB, CORM, RHIZOME and TUBER GALLERY.

Click on Black or White box in Colour of Month.

colormonthbulb9a1a1a

Besides the above Bulb Flower Colour Comparison Pages, you also have the following Comparison Pages:-
...Bulb Flower Shape -
7 pages of Number of Petals ...... 5 petals,
23 pages of Flower Shape ......... Stars and
7 pages of Natural Arrangements Drumstick

...Bulb Form
-
7 pages of Bulb Form ...Clump-forming
...Bulb Use
-
33 pages of Bulb Use ...Mass Planting,
Groundcover,
Grow in Patio Pot and
Use in Coastal Conditions
...Bulb Preferred Soil

5 pages of Soil preferred by Bulb ...Chalk

 

Bulb, Corm, Rhizome or Tuber Name

Flower Colour with
Flower Thumbnail

Flowering
Months
with Link to Flower Colour Comparison Page in that month

Form Thumbnail
and

Mat,
Cushion,
Spreading,
Clump,
Stemless,
Upright
as its form

Height x Width in inches (cms) -
1 inch = 2.5 cms,
12 inches = 1 foot,
36 inches = 3 feet = 1 yard,
40 inches = 100 cms

Soil

Sun Aspect

Soil Moisture

Foliage Colour with Foliage Thumbnail

Bulb Use

Comments

Alliums
All Alliums have the distinctive onion smell, both in the foliage and bulb. This smell can be used to reduce aphid infestations on flowers by planting 1 each side of the infected plant with a short length of bamboo to indicate that its foliage comes from an ornamental onion rather than a blade of grass.
See Gardenia with their pages on plant combinations of Alliums with other plants.

For best effect plant Medium Allium species with smaller heads en masse and use the larger headed species as accents (speciman plants).
As a general rule the foliage will emerge first and then die down as the flower stems emerge. It is often best to plant them with other plants that will mask the unsightly foliage as it dies back.

"Alliums last well and are decorative for flower arrangements as they make a very distinctive shape in a mixed group" from A Dictionary of Cut Flowers (Flower arrangements and sketches by the author. Photography by Kenneth Welfare) by Mary Bailey. Published by Arthur Barker Limited in 1969. SBN 213 76185 8


Bulb Use pages from
Bulb Shape Gallery

BULB FLOWER SHAPE GALLERY PAGES

lessershapemeadowrue2a1a1a

alliumcflohaireasytogrowbulbs1

berberisdarwiniiflower10h3a14c2a

irisflotpseudacorus1

aethionemacfloarmenumfoord1

anemonecflo1hybridafoord1

anemonecflo1blandafoord1

Number of Flower Petals

Petal-less

1

2

3

4

5

Above 5

anthericumcfloliliagofoord1a

alliumcflo1roseumrvroger1

geraniumflocineremuballerina1a1a1a1a

paeoniamlokosewitschiiflot1a

paeoniaveitchiiwoodwardiiflot1

acantholinumcflop99glumaceumfoord

stachysflotmacrantha1a

Flower Shape - Simple

Stars with Single Flowers

Bowls

Cups and Saucers

Globes

Goblets and Chalices

Trumpets

Funnels

 

digitalismertonensiscflorvroger1

fuchsiaflotcalicehoffman1a

ericacarneacflosspringwoodwhitedeeproot1a1

phloxflotsubulatatemiskaming1a

 

 

 

Flower Shape - Simple

Bells

Thimbles

Urns

Salverform

 

 

 

 

prunellaflotgrandiflora1

aquilegiacfloformosafoord1

acanthusspinosuscflocoblands1

lathyrusflotvernus1

anemonecflo1coronariastbrigidgeetee1

echinaceacflo1purpurealustrehybridsgarnonswilliams1

centaureacfloatropurpureakavanagh1

Flower Shape - Elabor-ated

Tubes, Lips and Straps

Slippers, Spurs and Lockets

Hats, Hoods and Helmets

Stan-dards, Wings and Keels

Discs and Florets

Pin-Cushions

Tufts and Petal-less Cluster

 

androsacecforyargongensiskevock1

androsacecflorigidakevock1

argyranthemumflotcmadeiracrestedyellow1

armeriacflomaritimakevock1

anemonecflonemerosaalbaplenarvroger1a

 

 

Flower Shape - Elabor-ated

Cushion

Umbel

Buttons with Double Flowers

Pompoms

Stars with Semi-Double Flowers

 

 

 

bergeniamorningredcforcoblands1a

ajugacfloreptansatropurpurea1

lamiumflotorvala2a

astilbepurplelancecflokevock1a

berberisdarwiniiflower10h3a1433a1a1a

berberisdarwiniiflower10h3a1434a1a1a

androsacecfor1albanakevock1

Natural Arrange-ments

Bunches, Posies and Sprays (Group)

Columns, Spikes and Spires

Whorls, Tiers and Cande-labra

Plumes and Tails

Chains and Tassels

Clouds, Garlands and Cascades

Sphere, Dome (Clusters), Drumstick and Plate

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BULB
FORM, BULB USE AND BULB IN SOIL GALLERY PAGES


Bulbs in Cultivation
including vital bulb soil preparation from

Bulbs for Small Garden by E.C.M. Haes. Published by Pan Books in 1967:-

Bulbs in the Small Garden with Garden Plan and its different bulb sections

A choice of Outdoor Bulbs

False Bulbs

Bulbs Indoors

Bulb Calendar

Planting Times and Depth

Composts

Bulb Form

Mat-Forming

Prostrate or Trailing

Cushion or Mound-forming

Spreading or Creeping

Clump-forming

Stemless. Sword-shaped Leaves

Erect or Upright

Bulb Use

Other than Only Green Foliage

Bedding or Mass Planting

Ground-Cover

Cut-Flower
1
, 2

Tolerant of Shade

In Woodland Areas

Under-plant

Tolerant of Poor Soil

Covering Banks

In Water

Beside Stream or Water Garden

Coastal Conditions

Edging Borders

Back of Border or Back-ground Plant

Fragrant Flowers

Not Fragrant Flowers

Indoor House-plant

Grow in a Patio Pot
1
, 2

Grow in an Alpine Trough

Grow in an Alpine House

Grow in Rock Garden

Speciman Plant

Into Native Plant Garden

Naturalize in Grass

Grow in Hanging Basket

Grow in Window-box

Grow in Green-house

Grow in Scree

 

 

Natural-ized Plant Area

Grow in Cottage Garden

Attracts Butter-flies

Attracts Bees

Resistant to Wildlife

Bulb in Soil

Chalk 1, 2

Clay

Sand 1, 2

Lime-Free (Acid)

Peat

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bulb Height from Text Border

Brown= 0-12 inches (0-30 cms)

Blue = 12-24 inches (30-60 cms)

Green= 24-36 inches (60-90 cms)

Red = 36+ inches (90+ cms)

Bulb Soil Moisture from Text Background

Wet Soil

Moist Soil

Dry Soil

Flowering months range abreviates month to its first 3 letters (Apr-Jun is April, May and June).

Click on thumbnail to change this comparison page to the Plant Description Page of the Bulb named in the Text box below that photo.
The Comments Row of that Plant Description Page links to where you personally can purchase that bulb via mail-order.

Allium aflatunense
'Purple Sensation'

(Flowering Onion)

Rosy-Purple

alliumcfloaflatunensepurplesensationkevock1

May, June

Clump

36 x 18
(90 x 45)

Chalk, Sand

Full Sun
Dry

Grey-Green 4 inch wide leaves.

It is deer resistant, attracts butterflies, bee friendly, squirrel resistant, fragrant, use for cut flowers and dried flowers

Probably one of the best known of the drumstick alliums.
Associates very well with silver under-planting.

Allium altissimum
'Goliath'

(Giant Onion)

Lilac-Purple

alliumcfloaltissimumgoliathrvroger1

June

72 x 36
(180 x 90)

Chalk, Sand
Full Sun, Part Shade
Moist to Dry

Fragrant sword-like leaves
 

It is an excellent cutflower and thrives in inner city environments. Attracts butterflies.

It will live for about 5 years.

Interplant with late-season bloomers to hide dying foliage.

Allium ampelo-prasum (Elephant Garlic)

Purple to Whitish

alliumcfloampeloprasumrvroger1a

May, June

36-72 x 6 (90-180 x 15)

Chalk, Sand
Full Sun
Moist

Dark Green leaves emerge first and then die down as the flower stems emerge.

The juice of the plant is used as a moth repellant.

 

Allium amphibolum

Rose-Lilac

June, July

12-16 x 4 (30-40 x 10)
Chalk, Sand
Full Sun
Moist

Narrow 8 inch long Dark Green

Fragrant Flowers. Attracts bees.
Cut flowers for drying.

It is a good idea to disguise the dying allium foliage in between with herbaceous perennials.

Allium amplectens (Narrowleaf Onion, Paper Onion)

White to Pinkish

alliumcfloamplectansrvroger1a

March, April, May, June

8-20 x 2
(20-50 x 5)

Clay
Full Sun
Dry

2-4 narrow dark green leaves

An unusual variety for the rock garden.
In woodland.

 

Allium angulosum (Mouse Garlic)

Lilac-Purple or White

alliumcfloangulosumrvroger1

June, July, August
Clump. Upright Form
Cup-shaped fragrant umbels

8-18 x 12 (20-45 x 30)
Chalk, Sand. Damp meadows near rivers.
Full Sun and part shade from light woodland. Moist

12 inch long narrow deeply keeled dark green leaves

Plant with Echinops ritro, Lavandula angustifolia 'Munstead', Myrtus communis and Allium tuberosum.

Native from Europe to Siberia and whole plant is edible. Pollinated by bees. Not affected by deer. Haven for butterflies. Cut flower. Suitable for container and edging

Allium azureum (Blue of the Heavens)

Deep Blue

alliumcfloazureumgeetee1

May, June, July

Clump

24 x 8
(60 x 20)

Chalk, Sand
Full Sun, Part Shade
Moist

Very narrow dark green leaves 10-18 inches long, which die back before flowering commences

Site near front of borders and in containers with silver foliage plants to show off the blue flowers. Attracts butterflies.

Suitable for a slope, is hot dry site tolerant, good for cut flowers and ok for containers. Rodent and deer resistant. Adored by bees.

Allium 'Beau Regard'
(Beau Regard Ornamental Onion)

Silver-Mauve

alliumcflobeauregardrvroger1

June, July, August

Upright Form

36 x 9-12
(90 x 23-30)

Well-drained Sand
Full Sun
Moist

12 inch long strappy dark green leaves

Flowers last for 3 weeks. Cutflower. Use in rock garden Plant among roses to deter aphids

Flowers in 8 inch diameter umbel in June-August. Mix with Siberian Iris, roses and meadow sage.

Allium caesium (Light Blue Garlic)

Sky-Blue

alliumcflocaesiumrvroger1

June, July, August

20-24 x 4 (50-60 x 10)

Chalk, Sand
Full Sun
Moist

Very narrow cylindrical dark green leaves

Good for group planting and as a cut flower.
Adored by bees, butterflies. Mass plant.

Native plants on saline soil in semi-desert. Tolerant of poor soil.

Allium carinatum
pulchellum 'Album'

(White-flowered keeled garlic)

White

alliumcflopulchellumalbumrvroger1

July, August,
September

Clump

Bell-shaped flowers

14 x 12
(
35 x 30)

Any well-drained soil
Full Sun, Part Shade
Moist

Very narrow medium green leaves

It is an excellent cut flower.

Mass plant.
Deer and rabbit resistant. Tolerates poor soil.

Looks good growing through Artemesia schmidtiana 'Nana'. Plant in containers or in drifts in the rock garden or border with Heuchera 'Dale's Strain', Sedum 'Oktoberfest' and Talinum calycinum.

Allium callimischon callimischon - autumn

White with Red stripes

alliumcflocallimischoncallimischonrvroger1

September, October,
November

Umbel

6-12 x 12 (15-30 x 30)

Sand, Chalk
Full Sun
Moist and stop watering when the foliage dies down

Green cylindrical and hollow leaves

These unusual autumn flowering species are ideal on a scree or rockery in full sun. They are hardy and also make nice pot specimens in a cold greenhouse.

Native of the Pelo-ponnese. Plant at soil level and 4 inches (10 cms) apart. All Alliums have the distinctive onion smell, both in the foliage and bulb. This smell can be used to reduce aphid infestations on flowers by planting 1 each side of the infected plant.

Allium cepa var viviparum (Egyptian Tree Onion)

Purple

alliumcflocepavivaparumrvroger1

June

Drumstick

18-24 x 6-9 (45-60 x 15-23)

Acidic Sand
Full Sun
Moist

Very narrow medium green leaves

Suits the border, a herb garden or in vegetable garden.

Egyptian Tree Onion. Drumstick flowers are produced in June, and these are replaced by small bulbils that can be used as a mild salad onion.

Allium cernuum (Nodding Onion, Lady's Leek)

Light Pink

alliumcflocernuumfoord1

June, July, August

Clump

Bell-shaped flower in cluster of Umbels

8-18 x 2
(20-45 x 5)

Chalk, Sand
Full Sun
Moist and can tolerate drought

Several linear and flat; 6-10 inches long; Dark Green leaves

alliumfolcernuumplant

Grows in dry lightly shaded woods, rock outcroppings and prairies.

It naturalises easily making attractive drifts without becoming a nuisance. Attracts butterflies.
Cut Flower.
Grows in Scree. Use in rock garden, edgings and cottage gardens.

Allium christophii
(Star of Persia)

Purple-Metallic Blue

alliumcflochristophiigeetee1

June, July

Erect

Star-shaped flower in umbels

24 x 8
(60 x 20)

Chalk, Sand.
Morning Full Sun, Afternoon Shade.
Moist

3-7, strap-shaped, 1 inch wide, Grey-Green leaves 20 inches long

The faded flowerheads hold up well in the border and are useful for dried flower arrangements.

Dot amongst ornamental grasses. Use on bank, in containers. It attracts butterflies. It is Deer and Rabbit resistant.

Allium cowanii

White

alliumcflocowaniigeetee1

April, May, June

Clump.
Umbels in Sprays

24 x 4
(60 x 10)

Chalk, Sand.
Morning Full Sun, Afternoon Shade.
Moist

1 inch wide, pale green

It lasts for 3 weeks as a cut-flower. Grow in densely planted borders and rock gardens, forced pots and as edging.

Rabbit, rodent and deer resistant.
Use flowers as edible parts of a salad.

Allium crenulatum
(Olympic Onion, Scalloped Onion)

Rose-Purple

alliumcflocrenulatumrvroger1

May, June, July

Umbel of star-shaped flowers

3 x 4
(8 x 10)
Talus, Sand.
Full Sun
Moist

2 Grey-Green sickle shaped leaves

Grow in scree garden, rock garden, alpine trough

Plant at 2 inch (5 cms) depth with an inch (2.5cms) of fine grit under them for drainage and 4 inches (10 cms) apart.
Talus (broken rock at the base of a high place) slopes and clay soil, including serpentine (rock composed of serpentine minerals).


Fragrant Plants as a Plant Selection Process for your sense of smell from
P Garden Style Index Gallery:-

Bulbs and Corms with Scented Flowers
1
, 2, 3, 4, 5

 

Allium cupanii Grows well with most plants, especially roses, carrots, beet and chamomile, but it inhibits the growth of legumes.
 

Pink or nearly White

alliumcflocupaniirvroger1

May, June, July, August, September, October

Spheres

5-10 x 4
(13-25 x 10)

Sand, Chalk, Scree which is well-drained.
Full Sun, since cannot grow in shade.
Moist (Bulb has summer dormancy, so no water in late summer)

Thread-like mid green 4 inch long leaves

Its habitat is Pinus nigra forest, amongst Quercus pargana, alpine and grey steppe rocky places on limestone, serpentine and schist, to 2200 metres in Turkey.

Edible plant with medicinal use to reduce cholerestol levels. Pollinated by bees. Repels moles. Use in pots, alpine house or greenhouse.

This plant is a bad companion for alfalfa, each species negatively affecting the other.

Allium cyaneum

(Dark Blue Garlic)

Violet-Blue

alliumcfloscyanumrvroger1

August, September,
October

Clump.
Bell-shaped flowers in Sprays

6-12 x 4
(15-30 x 10)

Sand, Chalk which is well-drained and humus-rich or woodland type. Peat.
Full Sun.
Moist

Sparse grass-like mid-Green leaves appear before and during the flowers.

Attracts bees, butterflies and birds.
Grow in rock garden as edging.
Deer proof.

Plant at 4 inches (10 cms) depth with an inch (2.5cms) of fine grit under them for drainage and 4 inches (10 cms) apart. Never plant at perfectly measured distances apart as this looks artificial - plant in clumps of 5, 7 or 9 in a staggered group so that they look more natural when they flower.

Index of Bulbs from
P Infill2 Plants Index Gallery

Further details on bulbs from the Infill Galleries:-
Hardy Bulbs
...Aconitum
...Allium
...Alstroemeria
...Anemone

...Amaryllis
...Anthericum
...Antholyzas
...Apios
...Arisaema
...Arum
...Asphodeline

...Asphodelus
...Belamcanda
...Bloomeria
...Brodiaea
...Bulbocodium

...Calochorti
...Cyclobothrias
...Camassia
...Colchicum
...Convallaria 
...Forcing Lily of the Valley
...Corydalis
...Crinum
...Crosmia
...Montbretia
...Crocus

...Cyclamen
...Dicentra
...Dierama
...Eranthis
...Eremurus
...Erythrnium
...Eucomis

...Fritillaria
...Funkia
...Galanthus
...Galtonia
...Gladiolus
...Hemerocallis

...Hyacinth
...Hyacinths in Pots
...Scilla
...Puschkinia
...Chionodoxa
...Chionoscilla
...Muscari

...Iris
...Kniphofia
...Lapeyrousia
...Leucojum

...Lilium
...Lilium in Pots
...Malvastrum
...Merendera
...Milla
...Narcissus
...Narcissi in Pots

...Ornithogalum
...Oxalis
...Paeonia
...Ranunculus
...Romulea
...Sanguinaria
...Sternbergia
...Schizostylis
...Tecophilaea
...Trillium

...Tulip
...Zephyranthus

Half-Hardy Bulbs
...Acidanthera
...Albuca
...Alstroemeri
...Andro-stephium
...Bassers
...Boussing-aultias
...Bravoas
...Cypellas
...Dahlias
...Galaxis,
...Geissorhizas
...Hesperanthas

...Gladioli
...Ixias
...Sparaxises
...Babianas
...Morphixias
...Tritonias

...Ixiolirions
...Moraeas
...Ornithogalums
...Oxalises
...Phaedra-nassas
...Pancratiums
...Tigridias
...Zephyranthes
...Cooperias

Allium cyatho-phorum
var farreri
(Flowering Onion)

Red-Purple

alliumcflofarrerirvroger1a

May, June, July

Clump.
Umbels of Bell-shaped flowers in Clusters

12-15 x 9-12 (30-43 x 23-30)

Acidic Sand, Chalk, which is well-drained.
Full Sun and tolerates Part Shade.
Moist in summer

Grassy dark green 8 inch long leaves

Use on a scree, rock garden, containers, alpine trough or edging.
Cut flower. Attracts bees.
Plant combination with
Artemisia ludoviciana 'Valerie Finnis',
Artemisia 'Powis Castle' or
Hyssopus officinalis 'Roseus'.

Grows on grassy slopes at high elevations in China.

Toxic to cats and dogs.
The plant goes well with
Convolvulus cneorum,
Pelargonum capitatum and
Cirsium rivulare 'Atropurpureum' .

Allium
falcifolium

(Scytheleaf Onion,
Coast Flatstem Onion,
Falcate Onion,
Sickle-leaved Onion
Sickle-headed garlic)

Pinkish, Red-Purple, or White-streaked Purple

alliumcflofalcifoliumrvroger1

May, June

Clump.
6 tepals instead of petals in Umbel of bell-shaped tepals.

2-3 x 6
(5-8 x 15)

Sand, Chalk, Scree.
Full Sun.
Moist - stop watering pot once leaves begin to turn brown

2 grey-green scythe-shaped leaves

It is often found on slopes with excellent drainage.
Use in pot in the alpine house or patio, or outside in scree. Edging. Attracts bees, butterflies and moths.

It is also never found too far away from oak trees, relying on the organic matter from decaying oak leaves. Use in cottage gardens, in coastal conditions, cut flower or rock garden

Allium flavum
(Small yellow Onion, Yellow-flowered allium)

Yellow

alliumcfloflavumkevock1

June, July, August

Clump. Umbels of fragrant Bell-shaped flowers in Plumes

14 x 2
(35 x 5)
Chalk, Sand.
Full Sun
Dry.
 

Narrow blue-green

alliumcfolflavumrvroger

Pollinated by Bees. Rock Garden. Use flower-heads for drying. Rodent and deer proof. Naturalizes easily. Grow as edging, in scree gardens, in cottage gardens.

Best planted in clusters or allowed to self-seed, it does of its best in an open, sunny position in well-drained soil. Attracts butterflies.

Allium flavum nanum
(Yellow-flowered Garlic)

Lemon-peel Yellow

alliumcfloflavumnanumrvroger1

June, July, August

Clump. Fragrant Umbels of Bell-shaped flowers

4-6 x 2
(10-15 x 5)

Chalk, Sand
Full Sun
Moist

Mid green cylindrical leaves

It is a good rock garden plant. Pollinated by bees. Dry flower-heads for flower arranging. Pot plant or in trough. Use as edging in Scree and Cottage Gardens

The 40 flowers on the densely clustered flower head open in succession to give a long-lasting display. Thrives in dry soil. Naturalizes. Attracts butterflies.

Allium geyeri
(Geyer Onion, Geyer's Onion, Bulbil Onion)

Pink

alliumcflogeyerirvroger1

April, May

Bell to Urn shaped flowers.

3-12 x 2
(8-30 x 5)

Chalk or Sand
Full Sun
Moist

Narrow dark green cylindrical leaves

Pollinated by bees. Grows by streams. Repels moles and deer. Grows well with Roses, beet and chaomile, but it inhibits the growth of legumes.

Easy to grow species from the meadows of the western USA, producing small bright pink flowers.

Allium giganteum
(Giant Onion)

Violet-Mauve

alliumcflogiganteumrvroger1

June, July

Clump. Fragrant Spike of an Umbel

60 x 6
(150 x 15)

Chalk or Sand
Full Sun
Dry

Pale Green 2 inch wide and 30 inches long leaves.

Try it dotted in small groups among ornamental grasses. Pollinated by bees. Attracts butterflies. Squirrel resistant.

A huge tall spike some 1.5m (5ft) tall bearing a very dense umbel of bright purple flower to be dried and used in dry arrangements. Border background plant.

Allium 'Gladiator'
(Flowering Onion, Gladiator Ornamental Onion)

Rose-Purple

alliumcflogladiatorrvroger1

May, June


Fragrant Globe-shaped Umbel.

68 x 12
(170 x 30)

Chalk or Sand (prefers acidic sand or sandy clay)
Full Sun
Moist

2 inch wide, Dark Green.

Use on a slope or bank.
Attracts Butterflies.
Good for Cut Flowers and as dried flowers.
Ok in Containers.
Rabbit resistant.
Speciman plant. Rock Garden

Great with Bearded or Siberian Iris.
The foliage dies off as the flowers open, so companion plant with Geranium sanguineum 'Album' to conceal the dying foliage and flower at the same time.

Allium 'Globemaster'

Metallic-Violet

alliumcfloglobemasterrvroger1

May, June, July

Clump. Globular Umbel of star-shaped florets

28-36 x 8 (70-90 x 20)

Chalk or prefers neutral pH Sand
Full Sun
Moist

2 inch wide, strap-shaped gray-green

It is deer and rodent resistant. Excellent cut flower - fresh or dried. Speciman plant. Attracts bees.

Well-matched with Camassia, Dutch Iris, Eremurus, Peonies (Festiva maxima, Eden's Perfume or Riches and Fame) and Ornithogalum magnum.

Allium 'Globus'
(Drumstick Onion)

Pale Mauve

alliumcfloglobusrvroger1

June

Star-shaped flowers in pompom on a Drumstick

24 x 9-12
(60 x 23-30)

Chalk or Sand
Full Sun
Moist

Large 2-inch wide, dark green

A good cut flower.

Pale mauve spheres on 20 inch stems in June.

Allium hirtifolium
'Album'

White

alliumcflohirtifoliumalbumrvroger1

May, June

Star-shaped flowers in Pompom on a Drumstick

48 x 12
(120 x 30)

Chalk or Sand
Full Sun
Moist

Large 2-inch wide, dark green

Speciman plant.

One of the taller species, so great for adding height to the border.

Allium 'His Excellency'

Bluish-Purple

alliumcflohisexcellencyrvroger1

May, June

Star-shaped flowers in Umbel on a Drumstick

36 x 12
(90 x 30)

Chalk or Sand
Full Sun
Moist

Large 2-inch wide, dark green

Long-lasting cut flower. Mass plant in drifts with ornamental grasses and other alliums

Foliage is glossy and persists until well after flowering. Attracts bees and Butterflies. Edging for beds

Allium x hollandicum (Allium aflatunense, Persian Onion)

Purple-Lilac

alliumcflohollandicumrvroger1

May, June, July

Star-shaped flowers in Umbel on a Drumstick

30-36 x 12 (75-90 x 30)

Prefers alkaline Sand or Chalk
Full Sun
Moist

Light Green 4 inch wide, strap-like leaves, 20-24 inches in length.

Excellent cut flower - dried and fresh. Mass plant. Repels moles. Mix with Chaerophyllum hirsutum 'Roseum'.

Pale greens of Alchemilla, purples of hardy geraniums or blues in the late Camassia compliment their purple colours very well.

Allium jesdianum
'Akbulak'

Reddish-Purple

alliumcflojesdianumakbulakrvroger1

June, July

Star-shaped flowers in loose Umbel on a Drumstick

31 x 12
(78 x 30)
Chalk or Sand
Full Sun
Moist - Drought tolerant once established

Green

An excellent cut flower. Bee friendly. Grow it between a group of the deciduous Ceratostigma willmottiana.

Grows in the dry mountainous meadows of Central Asia.

Index of Bulbs from
Plants Extra Gallery

Bulb
Photos - Bulb

Allium jesdianum ssp
angustitepalum

(Allium ecomutum, Ornamental Onion )

Dark Purple

alliumcflojesdianumangustitepalumrvroger1

May, June, July

Umbel on Drumstick

24 x 6-9
(60 x 15-23)

Chalk or Sand
Full Sun
Moist

Linear, lanceolate, up to 2 inches wide and 20 inches long Green foliage

Neither deer nor rabbits eat them.

It dries up and retreats into dormancy immediately after flowering.


BULB, CORM, RHIZOME AND TUBER INDEX - There are over 700 bulbs in the bulb galleries.
The respective flower thumbnail, months of flowering, height and width,
foliage thumbnail,
form thumbnail
use and
comments are in the relevant index page below:-

(o): A 1, 2, 3
(o): B
(o): C 1, 2
(o): D
(o): E
(o): F
(o): G, Gladiolus
(o): H
(o): I
....: J
....: K
(o): L 1, 2
(o): M
(o): N
(o): O
(o): P
....: Q
....: R
(o): S
(o): T
....: U
(o): V
....: W
(o): XYZ
Type of Form (Mat, Cushion, Spreading, Clump, Stemless, Upright),
Soil Type,
Sun Aspect,
Soil Moisture,
Foliage Colour,
Uses
added, starting in March 2020 with Bulb Allium Anemone Gallery

Allium jesdianum
'Michael Hoog
'
(Drumstick Onion)

Bright Violet

alliumcflojesdianummichaelhoogrvroger1

May, June

Star-shaped flowers in a loose Umbel on a Drumstick

48 x 12
(120 x 30)

Any well drained Soil
Full Sun
Moist

Linear, lanceolate, up to 2 inches wide and 20 inches long Green foliage

Good cut flower and ideal for mass planting.

The new foliage is attractive in that the leaves all have red tips when they first emerge.

Allium jesdianum
'Purple King
'
(Drumstick Onion)

Deep Purple

alliumcflojesdianumpurplekingrvroger1

May, June, July

Umbel on Drumstick

28 x 12
(70 x 30)

Well-drained Chalk, Sand
Full Sun
Moist

Mid-Green strap-shaped leaves. Foliage dies off soon after bloom.

Good cut flower. It will not grow if planted after December. Plant amongst summer flowering perennials and grasses. Will naturalize.

Requires plenty of moisture when growing; tolerates growing in very wet soil. Grow with roses to repel aphids.

Allium jesdianum
'Shing'

Dark Purple

alliumcflojesdianumshingrvroger1

April, May

Clump-forming. Star-shaped flowers in Umbel on Drumstick

29 x 12
(73 x 30)

Any well-drained soil
Full Sun
Moist

5-6 Grey-Green strap-like leaves that persist during flowering.

Edging.

Flowers on 28 inch stems. Plant bulb at 6 inch depth with an inch (2.5cms) of fine grit under them for drainage and 8 inches (20 cms) apart.

Allium karataviense
(Ornamental Garlic, Kara Tau garlic)

White with a
hint of Rose

alliumcforkarataviensekevock1

May, June

Clump.
Star-shaped mild fragrant florets in Umbel on Drumstick

10 x 32
(25 x 80)

Any Soil
Full Sun and Part Shade
Moist
Plant with Heuchera 'Caramel'.

Glaucous Blue, 4-6 inch wide leaves.

alliumcfolkaratavienservroger

A very useful allium, its large glaucous foliage makes for excellent, well behaved groundcover. Cut fresh and dried flowers. Naturalize.

Silvery-white flower spikes grow up some 20cm. (8"). Deserves to be used more often. Use in window boxes, bedding and patio planters.

Allium karataviense
'Ivory Queen
'
(Kara Tau garlic 'Ivory Queen')

White

alliumcflokaratavienseivoryqueenkevock1

May, June

Clump.
Star-shaped flowers in Umbel on Drumstick

10 x 8
(25 x 20)

Any Soil
Full Sun
Moist

Use as edging

Blue-Green, 4-6 inch wide leaves.

alliumcfolkaratavienseivoryqueenkevock

Makes ideal ground-cover and looks great in tubs. Looks wonderful in low glazed pots alongside pots of hostas and heucheras.

Attracts butterflies. Pollinated by Bees. Deer ignore it. Use in beds, gravel and rock gardens or cottage gardens. Mass plant.

Allium lenkoranicum
(Ornamental Onion)

Buff to Rose

alliumcflolenkoranicumrvroger1

June, July, August

Bell-shaped flowers in Umbel on Drumstick

14-20 x 2 (35-50 x 5)

Any well-drained Soil
Full Sun
Moist

4-5 thread-thin long Green leaves

The allium lankoranicum is best planted en masse. Cut flowers - fresh or dried

Plant bulb at 3 inch depth with an inch (2.5cms) of fine grit under them for drainage and 1 inch apart.

Allium
'Lucy Ball
'
(Ornamental Onion)

Violet-Purple

alliumcflolucyballrvroger1

May, June, July

Erect.
Star-shaped scented florets in Umbel on Drumstick

40 x 12
(100 x 30)

Any well-drained Soil
Full Sun
Moist

Strap-shaped Grey-Green leaves

Great cut flower - either fresh or dried - and ideal for pots. Use in middle of border or rock garden. Deer, rabbit, squirrel resistant.

Mass plant with 10-15 per group. Plant bulb at 5 inch depth with an inch (2.5cms) of fine grit under them for drainage and 4-5 inch apart in October.

Allium macleanii
(Allium elatum, Ornamental Onion)

Pinkish-Purple

alliumpflomacleaniirvroger1

May, June, July

Erect.
Star-shaped florets in Umbel on Drumstick

36-40 x 6 (90-100 x 15)

Sandy well-drained Soil
Full Sun on gentle slopes
Moist - Dislikes dry soils.

Broad, shiny, deep Green leaves

Great cut flower and ideal for pots.

Grows well with roses, carrots, beet and chamomile, but inhibits the growth of legumes.

Allium macranthum

Mauve-Purple

alliumcflo1macranthumrvroger1

July, August

Clump.
Bell-shaped flowers in loose umbel on Drumstick

6 x 4
(15 x 10)

Sandy Soil
Full Sun
Moist - dislikes dry soils - do not put near pond edge

Narrow, flattened, Grayish-Green channeled leaves. Almost evergreen.

Interplant with ferns both to fill the space when its below ground. Grow in rock garden. Deer resistant.

Grows in high mountain meadows and stream banks in moist soil. Its root is fleshy and almost rhizomatous.

 

Allium 'Mars'
(Ornamental Onion)

Lilac-Purple

alliumcflomarsgeetee1

May, June

Erect.
Umbel on Drumstick

48 x 4
(120 x 10)
Chalk or sand
Full Sun and Part Shade. Flowers last longer in partial shade.
Moist

Strap-shaped 2 inch wide Grey-Green

Excellent long-lasting cut-flower. Plant in Pots or drifts with ornamental grasses, as edging or in middle of bed.

Flower umbel on 36 inch stem in May-June. Seedheads look great covered in frost during the winter. Attracts bees and Butterflies

 

Website Structure Explanation and User Guidelines

Allium maximowiczii
(Maximovich chive, Oriental Chive)

Rose-Pink and
Dark Pink

alliumcflomaximowicziirvroger1

May, June, July

Umbel on Drumstick.

6 x 4
(15 x 10)

Sand or Chalk
Full Sun
Moist

1 or 2 narrow green leaves

Grows in damp meadows, along riversides, forest margins, and wetlands.

The 10.3Mb PDF of the Phanerogram Flora of Mt. Yupari, Prov. Ishikari, Hokkaido, Japan provides further details of its native habitat.

Allium moly
(Golden Garlic, Sunshine Allium, Yellow Moly, Gold Allium, Lily Leek, Yellow Onion)

Bright Yellow

alliumpflosmolygeetee1

June, July

Erect.
Star-shaped florets in umbel on Cluster

8 x 4
(20 x 10)
Any Soil (Well-drained soil required). Best in rich, sandy loam.
Full Sun and Part Shade.
Moist

Strap-shaped 2 inch wide metallic Blue-Green

Excellent long-lasting cut-flower. Excellent for under planting roses. Rock garden, edging, cottage garden. Attracts butterflies

Increasing very rapidly and suitable for naturalising in open sunny places or light woodland.

 

Allium moly 'Jeannine'
(Golden Onion, Golden Garlic, Yellow Allium)

Golden-Yellow

alliumpflosmolyjeaninervroger1

May, June

Erect and Clump-forming.
Star-shaped florets

12 x 12
(30 x 30)
Any well-drained Soil
Morning Sun and Afternoon Shade
Dry

Strap-shaped 2 inch wide metallic Blue-Green

Rock garden or middle of bed and suitable for naturalising in rough ground. Attracts bees and butterflies.

Easy to establish in grass or under deciduous shrubs. Use as edging or in pot and as a groundcover.

Allium 'Mont Blanc'

Creamy-White

alliumcflomontblancrvroger1

May, June, July

Fragrant Star-shaped flowers in Umbel on Dome

52 x 4
(130 x 10)

Well-drained Chalk or Sand
Full Sun, Part Shade
Moist

Strap-shaped 2 inch wide metallic Blue-Green

Excellent cut-flower. Speciman Plant. Houseplant. Deer, rabbit, squirrel resistant.

Mass plant. Naturalizes in well-drained soil. Rock Garden. Attracts butterflies. Combines well with perennials.

Allium multi-bulbosum
(Black Garlic, Broadleaf Garlic)

White with
Reddish veins

alliumpflosmultibulbosumgeetee1

May, June, July,
August
Faintly fragrant star-shaped florets in Umbel on Dome

12-24 x 6 (30-60 x 15)

Well-drained Chalk but prefers Sand
Full Sun and Part Shade
Moist

Strap-like 2 inch wide Mid-Green leaves emerge in April

Excellent for naturalising and as cut flower. Deer and Rabbit resistant. Bee friendly. Grow in pots.

Goes with Allium atropurpureum, Astrantia major, Campanula Prichard's Variety, Peony Sarah Berhardt, Erysimum Bowles Mauve and Hosta El Nino

Allium neapolitanum
(Naples Garlic, Daffodil Garlic, False Garlic, Flowering Onion, Naples Onion, Guernsey Star-of-Bethlehem, Neapolitan Garlic, Star, White Garlic, Wood Garlic)

White

alliumpfloneapolitanumrvroger1

March, April, May

Erect.
Sweetly-scented
Star-shaped flowers in loose umbel on Drumstick

12 x 4
(
30 x 10)

Any well-drained Soil
Full Sun
Moist

Strap-shaped Grey-Green leaves

An excellent variety to naturalise on the rock garden.
Deer resistant. Cut flowers. Attracts butterflies. Use Cottage gardens and as groundcover. Pot plant in greenhouse.

This edible, erect-habit, bulb is native to Northern Italy and frequently found growing in grassy areas.
It is classed as an invasive species in parts of the U.S.A. Combines with pink Geraniums or purple Irises.

Allium nevskianum

Reddish

alliumcflonevskianumrvroger1

May, June

Star-shaped flowers in globe

12 x 15
(
30 x 38)

Any well-drained Soil
Full Sun
Dry

2 attractive blue-grey wide leaves are held at ground level and last through flowering.

Suitable under glass in an Alpine House in a pot. Bees love it. Rodents and deer resistant. Groundcover. Coastal conditions.

Partners are Allium Purple Sensation, Allium sphaerocephalon, Allium gladiator, Allium Silver Spring and Allium Mount Everest.

Allium nigrum
(Black Garlic, Broad-leaved Onion)

White with
Green midribs

alliumcflonigrumrvroger1

April, May, June
Upright and Clump.
6 petalled Star-shape flowers in umbel

20-40 x 16 (50-100 x 40)

Any well-drained Soil
Full Sun
Dry

Strap-shaped Grey-Green leaves which start to die back when the flowers emerge.

Allium companions are Allium 'Forelock', Allium ascherso-nianum and Allium aflatunense 'Purple Sensation'.

Good Cut flower.

There is a pink form of Allium nigrum (Syn. Allium auctum).

Allium nutans
(Nodding Onion, Siberian Garlic Chive, Mangyr, Blue Chives)

Mid-Pink

alliumcflonutansrvroger1

June, July

Upright Star-shaped flowers in umbel on drumstick

18-36 x 9-12 (45-90 x 23-30)

Any well-drained Soil
Full Sun
Moist

Extra wide flat mid-green

The whole plant is said to repel insects and moles. Liked by Bees and Butterflies. Grow in Pot.

Native habitat of stony slopes and meadows on the steppes of central asia. Meadows and damp places in Tibet.

Allium obliquum
(Twistedleaf Garlic, Lopsided Onion)

Pale Yellowish-Green

alliumcfloobliquumrvroger1

March, April,
May, June, July
Clump. Star-shaped flowers in pompom on Drumstick

18-36 x 12 (45-90 x 30)
Acidic Sandy well-drained Soil and can grow in heavy Clay soil.
Full Sun
Moist

The flower stem is sheathed with 6-10 long, channelled green leaves

The whole plant is said to repel insects and moles. Cut flower - dried and fresh. Naturalise. Pair with a dark background.

All parts are edible - the bulb is used as a garlic substitute in Siberia. Grows in meadows and on wooded slopes.

Alium paradoxum
ssp normale

(Allium paradoxum,
Scilla paradoxa)

White

alliumcfloparadoxumnormalervroger1

March, April

Bell-shaped flowers in umbel

14 x 12
(35 x 30)

Clay
Part Shade
Moist

Shiny wide green foliage

Plant in pot. Grows in deciduous woodland and can smother native bluebells and snowdrops.

Self-sows in mild-winter climates and an INVASIVE, species in Europe. Destroy after use and put in rubbish, but not compost bin.

Allium plummerae
(Tanners Canyon Onion, Plummer's Onion)

Icing Pink or White

alliumcfloplummeraervroger1

June, July,
August, September

12 x 12
(30 x 30)

Any fertile soil
Full Sun
Moist

Upright tufts of strongly keeled grayish-green 10-20 inch long leaves

Grows in marshes, alongside streams and rocky slopes.

Noxious weed in only 46 states of USA; one of the Federal and State Noxious weeds.

Allium oreophilum
(Alpine Rosy Bells, Pink Lily Leek, Allium ostrow-skianum,
Allium platystemon)

Carmine-Pink

alliumcflooreophilumgeetee1

May, June

Upright, Clump. Sweetly-scented Star-shaped flowers in umbel on drumstick

4-6 x 8
(10-15 x 20)

Chalk or Sand
Full Sun (At least all afternoon, but best if full sun in the morning as well)
Moist

Strap-like 2 inch wide Mid-Green leaves.

alliumcfoloreophilumgeetee

Use in borders, edgings, rock gardens and in ground covers. Use in patio pots. Deer resistant. Cut flower - dried or fresh.

Aggressive - spreads rapidly to form clumps.
Since Oreophilum is a shorter variety, it blends well with other perennials and makes an excellent addition to the border.

Allium pulchellum
(Keeled Garlic)

Reddish-Carmine

alliumcflopulchellumfoord1

July, August

Upright, Clump.
Bell-shaped flowers in loose Umbel on drumstick

24 x 4
(60 x 10)

Chalk or Sand
Full Sun
Moist

Very narrow dark green leaves

It is an excellent cut flower. Attracts bees and butterflies. Suitable for container. Use for edging and middle of border.

Native to the Mediterranean region. Forms a good clump quickly but is not invasive. Being self-sowing, let it colonise paving cracks and foot of dry walling.

Allium ramosum
(Chinese Chives, Branchy chive (onion), Fragrant-flowered Garlic, Flowering Leek)

White

alliumcfloramosumrvroger1

June, July

Upright, Clump.
Star-shaped flower in shuttlecock-shaped umbel on 36 inch stem of drumstick

10-20 x 6-12 (25-50 x 15-30)

Sand
Full Sun
Moist

3-7 Hot-tasting, hollow dark green leaves grow to 12 inches. They clasp the base of the flowering stem.

Attracts bees and butterflies. Suitable for containers. Grow in rock garden and edging.

'Chinese Chives'. The flower petals and foliage can be used as a garnish on salads.

Allium rosen-bachianum
(Rosenbach Onion, Showy Persian Onion)

Dark Violet

alliumcflorosenbachianumrvroger1

May

Star-shaped flowers in Umbel on drumstick

36 x 4
(90 x 10)

Sand, Chalk
Full Sun
Moist

Linear, lanceolate Blue-Green leaves 2 inches wide and 20 inches long

Excellent for both cut and dried bouquets. Attracts butterflies. Deer resistant.

Plant with white Mount Everest Alliums for lovely contrasting blooms. Mix with roses and perennials

Allium roseum
(Rosy Garlic)

Bright Pink

alliumcfloroseumrvroger1

April, May, June, July

Clump. Star-shaped flowers in cluster on long stem.

6-22 x 20 (15-55 x 50)

Sand, Chalk
Full Sun
Moist - Avoid excessive moisture from late summer when they become dormant.

Strap-shaped Green leaves

Alliums prefer to be dry during their dormancy after July.

Squirrel and browsing deer resistant. Pollinated by bees. Use in rock garden, hedgerows, pots, mass plantings, middle of borders and as cut flowers.

Habitat is grassland and gravelly places near the sea. Cannot grow in shade. Companion plants to tulips. Use in Coastal conditions.

Allium 'Round
and Purple
'
(Giant Allium, Drumstick Allium)

Lilac-Mauve

alliumcfloroundandpurplervroger1

April, May, June, July

Star-shaped flowers in Umbel on drumstick

36-48 x 10 (90-120 x 25)

Sand, Chalk
Full Sun and Part Shade
Moist

Green

Attracts bees and butterflies.

Good in containers and excellent cut flower. Back of border, cut flower - fresh and dried, edging and middle of border

Allium 'Giganteum, Allium 'Globemaster' and Eremus (foxtail lilies) together produce a magnificient flower display.

Allium saxatile (Stone Leek, Rock Onion)

Mid-Pink through
to White

alliumCflosaxatilervroger1

July, August,
September

Clump.
Umbel
 

4-14 x 2 (10-35 x 5)

Sand, Chalk, Scree
Full Sun
Dry

Very narrow channeled Green leaves as shown in Specimen from Caucasus.

Ideal for Alpine Gardens and in a Trough. Use in Rock garden and Scree garden.

Native habitat is rocks and stony slopes, 225-460 m.

Allium schoeno-prasum
(Chives)

Lilac or Pale Purple

alliumcfloschoenoprasumrvroger1a

May, June, July, August

Clump.
Star-shaped flowers in umbel as cluster

4-18 x 12
(10-45 x 30)

Prefers acidic well-drained Sand
Full Sun
Moist

Blue-Green, 4-6 inch wide leaves spreading over ground. Foliage smell repels aphids.

Woodland garden, sunny edgings, hedgerows, rock garden. Pollinated by bees for its high production of nectar. Mass plant. Use in pot and windowbox.

In cold regions, chives die back to the underground bulbs in winter, with the new edible leaves appearing in early spring in cottage garden. Grows on the rocks (scree).

Allium schoeno-prasum
albiflorum

(White Chives)

White

alliumpflosschoenoprasumalbiflorumrvroger1

May, June, July, August

Clump.
Umbel

10 x 10
(25 x 25)
Any well-drained soil - prefers acidic.
Full Sun
Moist

Hollow and tubular, up to 24 inches long and 0.1 inches in diameter, Dark Green

Cut Flower, edging, cottage and vegetable gardens and patio pots. Adored by bees and butterflies.
Mix with roses and deciduous shrubs.

The best way to harvest and maintain a fresh supply of chive leaves is to cut them to about 1 inch (2.5 cms) above the ground 4 times a year.

Allium schoen-oprasum
'Forescate'

(Forescate Chives)

Purplish-Pink

alliumcfloschoenoprasumforscatervroger1

May, June, July

Clump.
Umbel

12 x 4
(30 x 10)

Any well-drained soil - prefers acidic.
Full Sun
Dry

Hollow and tubular, up to 24 inches long and 0.1 inches in diameter, Dark Green

Cut flower - fresh or dried. Grow in mixed containers and herb garden. Attreacts butterflies. Mass plant. Use as edging. Deer Resistant.

Chives are grown for their edible leaves in Woodland garden sunny edges, hedgerows and use these 3 chives mixed in an edging to a bed.

Allium schubertii
(Sparkler alliums)

Pink and Silver

alliumcfloschubertiirvroger1a1a1a

April, May, June, July

Fragrant Star-shaped flowers in loose Umbel on Drumstick

12-24 x 8 (30-60 x 20)

Chalk or Acidic Sand
Full Sun
Moist

Pale Green 2 inch wide and 30 inches long leaves.

This is perfect for front of borders or large pots and containers. Pollinated by bees, attracts butterflies. Cut flower - dried and fresh.

This bears the largest flowers of all of the allium family. Dot between grasses. Deer and squirrel resistant

Allium scoro-doprasum
(Sand Leek, Rocambole)

Lilac to Purplish

alliumcfloscorodoprasumrvroger1

May, June, July, August

6 sepal flowers in a globular cluster on a drumstick with onion-like aroma

16-36 x 4
(40-90 x 10)

Well-drained Chalk or Sand . Native habitat of grassland and scrub on dry soils.
Full Sun
Dry

Mid Green

Coastal conditions. Sandy river banks and in open damp broad-leaved woodland, forest margin, shores, hillside meadows and hedgerows.

A bulbous, perennial herb spreading mainly by bulbils in rough grassland and waste ground, on road verges and track sides and by railways.

Allium
sphaero-cephalum

(Allium sphaero-cephalon, Ball-Headed Onion, The Drumstick Allium, Drumsticks, Round-headed Leek)

Purple-Crimson

alliumcflosphaerocephalonkavanagh1

May, June, July, August

Clump. Unfragrant, deep green changing to rose purple flowers on 2 inch diameter umbel on 36 inch high stems

24 x 8
(60 x 20)

Well-drained Sand, Chalk
Full Sun and Part Shade
Moist (appreciates summer moisture)

Cyclindrical, hollow, 24 inches long Mid-Green leaves form a foliage clump in spring.

Very effective when massed in tight clumps in a sunny border. Suitable for a gravel garden and is deerproof. Attracts butterflies. Rock garden, Cottage Garden, open woodland area and meadows.

Looks superb growing through Artemisia 'Powys Castle' or other silver foliage. Since it self-seeds, it will naturalize an area. Grows in containers including windowboxes. Cut flower - fresh or dried. Grow with yellow daylilies and contrasts well with red penstemons.

Allium
stipitatum

(Persian Onion, Persian Shallot)

Lilac-Purple

alliumcflostipitatumrvroger1

May, June

Star-shape flowers of 6 tepals in an umbel on a drumstick -

These flowers can be left on the plant for many months.

48 x 10
(120 x 25)

Well-drained Chalk, Sand
Full Sun and Part Shade
Moist

Strap-like 2 inch wide Mid-Green leaves.

Excellent cut-flower (cut flowers last as long as 3 weeks). Good as a dried flower. Plants grow on rocky slopes and in fields, so grow in gravel garden and pots including Alpine Trough.

Plant with Anthriscus sylvestris 'Ravenswing', Aquilegia vulgaris var. stellata 'Black Barlow', Artemesia ludoviviciana 'Valerie Finnis' and Deschampsia cespitosa.

Allium
stipitatum
'Album'
(Ornamental Onion)

White

alliumcflostipitatumalbumrvroger1

May, June

Clump.
Star-shape flowers of 6 tepals in an umbel on a drumstick - These flowers can be left on the plant for many months.

36 x 12
(90 x 30)

Well-drained Sand
Full Sun and Part Shade
Moist

Strap-like 2 inch wide Mid-Green leaves.

Can be grown in pots. Excellent cut-flower. Grow in gravel garden, pots and Alpine Trough. Use for height in middle of border and as a speciman there.

Plant with blue-flowering geraniums and Alchemilla mollis.

The bulbs are eaten as shallots in Iran.

Allium
stipitatum
'Mount Everest
'
(Persian Onion)

White

alliumpflo1stipitatummounteverestgeetee1

June

Clump.
Star-shape flowers of 6 tepals in an umbel on a These flowers can be left on the plant for many months.

48 x 4
(120 x 10)

Well-drained soil Chalk, Sand
Full Sun
Moist

Strap-like 2 inch wide Mid-Green leaves.

Excellent cut-flower (cut flowers last as long as 3 weeks), use fresh or dried. Naturalizes easily. Attracts butterflies. Deer repellant.
Use in cottage gardens.
 

Drought tolerant. Spectacular in large sweeping drifts - plant in groups of at least 10-15 bulbs. Use in gravel garden to bridge the gap between the tulip season and early summer bloom of peonies and poppies.

Allium triquetrum
(Three Cornered Garlic, Stinking Onions, White flowered onion, in New Zealand it is known as onion weed)

White with
Green midvein

alliumcflotriquetrumgeetee1

April, May, June

Drooping one-sided umbel.

Never plant this without knowing how invasive it is.

18 x 8
(45 x 20)

Well-drained Chalk, Sand
Full Sun and Part Shade
Moist

Basal, linear, 10-15 inches long and 1.5 inches wide Dark Green leaves.

alliumcfoltriquetrumgeetee

Excellent as ground cover in poor well-drained soil in sun or shade where it will keep weeds under check, but keep it away from mixed borders. Can be used along the bottom of hedgebanks.

Do not use in USA
Thrives well in shade - full shade of deep woodland and part shade of light woodland. All parts of the plant are edible.

Best to use in a pot in the UK because it will invade.

Allium unifolium
(One-leaf Allium, One leaf Onion, American Onion, Naples Garlic, Daffodil Garlic, Flowering Onion.)

Pink

alliumcflounifoliumkevock1

April, May, June

Clump.
Bell-shaped flowers in 2 inch hemisphere on 6 inch stem

8-24 x 12 (20-60 x 30)

Well-drained Chalk, Sand, but prefers Clay
Full Sun
Moist

Grey-Green leaves emerge first and then die down before the flowers open.

It's the perfect choice for growing in alpine beds or at the front of a sunny border.
Attracts bees and butterflies with its nectar/pollen rich flowers.

Grows in moist grasslands along forested and chaparral areas along the coastal ranges.
It also works well in pots.
Toxic to cats, dogs and horses.

Allium ursinum (Wild Garlic, Bear Garlic, ramsons, buckrams, wild garlic, broad-leaved garlic, wood garlic, bear leek, or bear's garlic)

White

alliumcfloursinumrvroger1

May, June

Strong garlic odour in 6 tepal, star-shaped flowers in umbel on drumstick

12 x 12
(30 x 30)
Well-drained Chalk, Sand
Full Sun and Part Shade (Thrives well in shade of woodland)
Moist - likes summer moisture

Basal, linear, 10-15 inches long and 1.5 inches wide Dark Green leaves emerge in the Spring before the flowers.

Grows in deciduous woodlands with, in the UK, bluebells. Groundcover only in woodland. Add sand to clay soils as needed to improve drainage.

Foliage dies down in June.
Naturalizes well even in quite dense shade. Grow with roses, carrots, beet and chamomile, but it inhibits the growth of legumes. Edible leaves.

Allium vineale 'Hair'

Green hair-like petals

alliumcflohairgeetee1

June, July, August
Long Green hair-like petals and Purple in the middle of the flower umbel

30 x 4
(75 x 10)
Well-drained acidic soil, Clay, Sand
Full Sun and Part Shade
Moist

It produces its slender grass by October, and persists until after the late spring bloom before dying back for a while in summer.

Use as upper storey in a flower arrangement. It lasts for 2 weeks as a cut-flower.

Plant with more sedate alliums, lilies or irises.

Rabbit, rodent and deer resistant.

Naturalizes easily - this one grows hair-like new bulbil plants from the flowerhead (every bulbil that drops will turn into a new plant)
 

Allium wallichii
(Jimbu, Dzimbu)

Rose-Purple with
Green middle

alliumcflowallichiirvroger1

July, August,
September

Clump.
Star-shaped flowers in loose umbel

6-30 x 4
(15-75 x 10)

Well-drained Chalk, Sand
Full Sun
Moist - since it is fully open to the monsoon rains the flower stem is strongly built!

0.25-0.8 inches wide and 8-20 inches long, keeled, dark Green

Provides a welcome splash of colour in the autumn border and cut flowers. Use for edging and middle of border.

These plants can be allowed to self-seed to make impressive clumps. Edible flowers and cooked leaves. It's native habitat is forest margins, scrub, moist meadows and stream banks

Allium zebdanense

White

alliumcflozebdanenservroger1

April, May, June

Clump.
Umbel on Drumstick

8-24 x 12
(20-60 x 30)

Well-drained Chalk, Sand
Full Sun, Part Shade
Dry (Needs very dry soil in summer when plant is dormant)

Grows slowly into dense carex-like dark Green clumps. After flowering foliage becomes dormant.

Unparalled for the dry shady garden, although it will grow in Sun too. Suitable for Seaside gardens and gravel gardens.

Thrives in hot dry conditions where not much else will grow.

 

"Anemone coronaria or St Brigid are excellent for flower arrangements as they are colourful, long-lasting and cheap." from A Dictionary of Cut Flowers (Flower arrangements and sketches by the author. Photography by Kenneth Welfare) by Mary Bailey. Published by Arthur Barker Limited in 1969. SBN 213 76185 8.

Companion plants :-
Alyssum, Arabis, Aster alpinus, Centaurea dealbata, Coreopsis, Digitalis, Gypsophila paniculata, Hemerocallis (yellow cultivars), Iris (rhizomatous white and yellow cultivars), Kniphofia (yellow cultivars), Peonies (white and yellow cultivars), Verbascum, Rhododendron species (deciduous and evergreen), Cotoneaster, Berberis, Acer palmatum, Deutzia gracilis and Weigela.

Suitable Anemones for the Rock garden:-

  • Anemone alpina
  • Anemone apennina
  • Anemone blanda
  • Anemone coronaria
  • Anemone fulgens
  • Anemone hepatica
  • Anemone hortensis
  • Anemone narcissiflora
  • Anemone nemerosa
  • Anemone pratensis
  • Anemone pulsatilla
  • Anemone sulphurea
  • Anemone sylvestris

Anemone baldensis
(Monte Baldo windrose - Monte Baldo is an absolute haven for the Alpine Flora)

Creamy-White

anemonecflobaldensiskevock1

May

Erect.
Many petalled Star-shape flower on stem

6 x 6
(15 x 15)

Chalk, Sand
Part Shade or Full Sun
Moist
 

Deeply divided Light Green

Sand and peat in part shade in Rock garden. Can be grown with green carpet rupturewort to provide a light green background for the flowers.

Should be grown in light shade where summers are hot; in full sun in cooler climates. Bold drifts.

Anemone
blanda

(Grecian Windflower, Fair Windflower, Greek Windflower)

Deep Blue

anemonecflo9blanda1

April, May

thumbIMG1861anemoneblandabluefloweredplantsupportsgarnonswilliams
Clump. Many petalled Star-shape flower on stem

6 x 6
(15 x 15)
Chalk, Sand with Leaf-Mould
Part Shade,
Full Sun
Moist

Dark Green
anemoneblandafolt9

Woodlands, Mass plant. Deer, rabbit resistant. Cold greenhouse. Ground cover. Rock garden. Carpet under small deciduous shrubs

Companion plants from Department of Horticultural Science of NC State University for Anemone blanda and its cultivars

Anemone
blanda 'Blue Shades
'
(Winter windflower 'Blue Shades')

Mid to Dark Blue

anemonecfloblandablueshadesrvroger1

April, May

anemonecforblandablueshadeskevock1

Cushion Mound.

6 x 6
(15 x 15)

Well-drained Chalk or Sand
Full Sun, Part Shade
Moist

Mid Green lobed leaves.
They open their many petalled star shape bloom on stem in the morning and shut them at night.

Ground cover. Cut flower. Mass plant. Naturalizes in turf on alkaline sandy soil. Woodland.

Use to create a blue carpet in your border between your deciduous shrubs and interplant with Narcissus 'Ice King' and Galanthus nivalis.

Anemone
blanda
'Charmer'

(Windflower)

Deep Pink

anemonecfloblandacharmerrvroger1

April, May

Clump.
Many-petalled star shape bloom on stem

6 x 6
(
15 x 15)

Well-drained Chalk, Sand
Full Sun and Part Shade (Full Sun preferred)
Moist

Dark Green fern-like leaves

anemonecfolblandacharmerrvroger

Grow in pots and are ideal cut flowers. They are deer, rabbit and squirrel resistant. Naturalize in turf

They are ideal layered under white or soft yellow daffodils or peachy/pink cup of daffodil 'By George'.

Anemone
blanda
'Pink Star
'
(Winter Windflower)

Phlox Purple

anemonecfloblandapinkstargeetee1

March, April

Cushion.

5 x 6
(13 x 15)

Well-drained Chalk, Sand
Full Sun and Part Shade
Moist

Dark Green fern-like leaves

Grow in pots provided they are not given any heat. Use to underplant roses and deciduous shrubs/trees. Excellent cut flower. Naturalize in turf.

The richer in humus the soil is, the more flowers each corm will produce over a 4- 6 week period. Anemone blanda varieties open their blooms in the morning and shut them at night.

Anemone
blanda
'Radar'
(Winter Windflower 'Radar', Radar Grecian Windflower, Greek thimbleweed)

Deep Magenta with White centre

anemonecfloblandaradarrvroger1a

April, May

Clump.
Many petalled star shape bloom on stem

4 x 4
(10 x 10)

Well drained Chalk, Sand
Full Sun
Moist (Needs dry dormancy after flowering)

Dark Green leaves composed of 3 deeply lobed segments

Grow in pots, Woodland, Alpine House, Greenhouse, Rock Garden. Naturalize in turf on alkaline sand.

Plant in bold drifts. Between June and July, lift and divide tubers after foliage has died down. Anemones grow well on the chalk soils of the South coast of England.

Anemone
blanda rosea

(Pink Windflower)

Light and Mid-Pink

anemonecfloblandaroseakevock1

April, May

anemonecforblandaroseakevock

Mat-Forming.
Many petalled star shape bloom on stem

6 x 4-20
(15 x 10-50)

Well-drained Chalk, Sand
Full Sun, Part Shade
Moist

Bronze-tinged Dark Green leaves composed of 3 deeply lobed segments

anemonecfolblandaroseakevock

Alpine House, Greenhouse, rock garden.
Naturalize in turf on alkaline sand.

Plant in bold drifts. Grow in pots provided they are not given any heat. Use to underplant roses and deciduous shrubs/trees.

Anemone
blanda
'Violet Star
'
(Winter Windflower)

Rich Violet with
White centre

anemonecfloblandavioletstarrvroger1

March, April, May

Cushion or
Mound-forming habit Many petalled star shape bloom on stem

6 x 4
(15 x 10)

Well drained Chalk, Sand
Full Sun and Part Shade
Moist

Dark Green fern-like leaves

Grow in pots provided they are not given any heat.
Alpine House, Greenhouse, Rock Garden. Naturalize in turf on alkaline sand.

Use to underplant roses and deciduous shrubs/trees.

Anemone
blanda
'White Splendour
'
(Winter Windflower)

White

anemonecfloblandawhitesplendourrvroger1

March, April, May

Excellent ground cover as large clumps are quickly formed. Many petalled star shape bloom on stem.

6 x 10
(15 x 25)

Well-drained Chalk, Sand
Full Sun, Part Shade
Moist

Dark Green palmate basal and stem leaves

anemonecfolblandawhitesplendourkevock

Grow in pots provided they are not given any heat. Lasts well for up to 2 weeks in water as a cut flower.
Alpine House, Greenhouse, Rock Garden

Anemone blanda 'Ingramii', 'Radar' or 'White Splendour' will naturalise in turf on light alkaline soil (chalk or alkaline sand). Use to underplant roses and deciduous shrubs/trees.

Anemone coronaria
'de Caen
'
(Anemone bucharica, Florist Anemones, Poppy Anemone)

Red, Blue or White

anemonecfloscoronariadecaengeetee1

March, April,
May, June

Spreading.
Floret

12 x 6
(30 x 15)

Well-drained Chalk, Sand
Full Sun
Moist

Dark Green
Does not grow well in gardens in cooler climates, prefers warmth. Ok outside in South of England and Holland

Alpine House, Rock Garden.

Must be given protection of frames or greenhouses in colder areas.

Plant tubers 3 inches deep and spaced about 3 inches apart in bold drifts in Sep-Oct for spring-flowering; Mar/Apr for Jun-Jul flowering; May-Jun for Sep flowering.

Anemone coronaria
'St Brigid
'
(Anemone bucharica, The Ostrich Feather Anemone)

Red, Blue,
Orange, Pink,
Purple or White

anemonecflocoronariastbrigidgeetee1a

February, March,
April, May, June,
July, August,
September, October
Spreading.
Disc

14-16 x 6
(35-40 x 15)

Well-drained Chalk, Sand
Full Sun and Part Shade
Moist

Rounded to oval bright Green leaves. Does not grow well in gardens in cooler climates, prefers warmth.

Must be given protection of frames or greenhouses in colder areas.
Alpine House, Rock Garden, Woodland.

Ok to grow outside in South of England and Holland. Mulch with fallen autumn leaves to provide frost protection and moisture retension in the summer.

Anemone demissa

White, Blue, Red
or Purple

anemonecflo1demissakevock1

May, June, July

6 petalled star shape bloom in a plate

6 x 6
(15 x 15)

Chalk, Sand
Part Shade or Full Sun
Moist

Dark Green

Woodland, Streamsides,
Naturalize in grass

Native to forests, sparse forests, scrub, grassy slopes and streamsides from 3000-5000 metres in North India.

Anemone hupehensis
(Japanese Anemone, Hupeh Anemone, Japanese Thimbleweed,
Chinese Common Name is da po wan hua hua)

White, Pink or Purple

anemonepflo1hupehensiskevock1

August, September

Clump and
Spreader.
5 petalled star shape bloom

36-48 x 18 (90-120 x 45)

Well-drained Acidic Sand is preferred - will tolerate fertile chalky soil.
Part Shade
Moist or Wet

2-8 inch long, 2-6 inch wide basal Green leaves with lower surface pale Green

In China is native and naturalized on scrub, grassy slopes and streamsides in hill regions.

Good Companions - Japanese anemones mix well with many vibrant autumn flowers, including Aster 'Little Carlow' and Aster laevis 'Calliope'.

Anemone x
lipsiensis
'Pallida'

(Windflower)

Pale Yellow

anemonepforlipsiensispallidakevock1
These can last for 2-3 weeks if weather conditions are cool.

March, April, May

5 petalled star shape bloom on stem

6 x 18
(15 x 45)

Well-drained Sand or Chalky, humus-rich soil.
Part Shade
Moist

Rounded, 2-3 inches long, three-palmate and have deep lobes, Dark Green leaf in March-June. Plant is dormant in the summer, autumn and early winter.

These plants are ideal for a woodland or rock garden, where they spread very slowly due to the fine network of roots that they create between the deciduous trees/shrubs.

Makes a pretty colour combination with red or plumy forms of Helleborus x hybridus.

Overall flowering period is around eight weeks long.

Anemone narcissiflora
(Anemone narcissifolia, Narcissus-flowered Anemone, Narcissus Wind-flower. In Italy - Anemone narcissino. In USA - Narcissus anemone)

White and White tinted Blue or Yellow

anemonecflonarcissiflorakevock1

May, June, July

Clump.
5 petalled star shape bloom in umbel on stems

3-24 x 20
(8-60 x 50)

Well-drained Chalk, Sand
Full Sun and Part Shade (part shade of light woodland)
Moist

Light Green.
Flowering stems emerge from the foliage in late spring, each stem being topped by a 2-8 flowered umbel of 1-1.5 inch diameter flowers.

Maritime gardens.
It is immune to predations by rabbits.
Grows in alpine grasslands and grassy meadows as well as open woods.

Edible leaves and roots.
They are greedy plants, inhibiting the growth of nearby plants, especially legumes.

Anemone nemorosa
(Windflower, Wood Anemone is in the Buttercup Wildflower Family)

White

anemonenemerosacflot1a

April, May

anemonepfornemerosageetee

Spreading.
6 tepalled star shape bloom

4 x 12
(9 x 30)

Chalk enriched by leaf mould from established woodlands
Part Shade
Moist

Dark Green feathery foliage
anemonenemerosafolt9

Found growing as a carpet in woodlands where the wood has been coppiced, thereby admitting extra light. A good bee and bumblebee plant.

Anemone nemorosa is native to Europe including Britain. Clumps are best transplanted soon after flowering before the foliage has completely died down.

Anemone nemorosa
'Alba Plena
'
(Windflower, Wood Anemone)

White

anemonecflonemerosaalbaplenarvroger1

April, May, June

6 sepals on semi-double stellate of tiny petals on a stem

6 x 10
(15 x 25)
Chalk enriched by leaf mould from established woodlands, Peat
Part Shade
Moist

Dark Green

Alpine House, Greenhouse, Rock Garden. Naturalize in grass. Wood-land. Ground cover. A good bee and bumblebee plant.

In the dry oak wood of lower levels, the sub-dominants are holly, anemone and bluebell, with the foxglove well distributed.

Anemone nemorosa
'Allenii'

(Wood Anemone 'Allenii')

Lavender Blue

anemonecflonemerosaalleniirvroger1

April, May

Clump.
6 Petal star shape bloom on stem.

8 x 20
(20 x 50)

Chalk, Peat Sand enriched by leaf mould from established woodlands
Part Shade
Moist

Deeply cut, Mid Green.

Alpine House, Greenhouse, Rock Garden. Naturalize in grass. Woodland.
A good bee and bumblebee plant.
 

Combines beautifully with spring-flowering bulbs and wildflowers, particularly yellow narcissus. Divide large clumps in early fall.

Anemone nemorosa
'Bracteata Pleniflora
'
(Wood Anemone)

White and Green

anemonecflonemerosabracteatarvroger1a1

April, May, June

6 tepal star shape bloom on stem

6 x 6
(15 x 15)

Chalk, Peat, Acidic Sand enriched by leaf mould from established woodlands
Part Shade
Moist

2 to 5 inch long, 3-palmately compound stem and basal leaves. Dark Green leaflets are narrow, toothed, and divided even further. Foliage dies back shortly after blooming.

Alpine House, Greenhouse, Rock Garden. Naturalize in grass. Woodland.

In the dry oak wood of lower levels, the sub-dominants are holly, anemone and bluebell, with the foxglove well distributed.

White woodland anemone which is unusual in that it has three different styles of flowers growing on the same plant- some are single, some double, and some double with a green ruffle.

A good bee and bumblebee plant.

Anemone nemorosa
'Lychette'

(Wood
Anemone, Anemone 'Lychette')

White

anemonecflonemerosalychettervroger1

April, May, June

Clump.
6 tepal star shape bloom on stem

6 x 6
(15 x 15)
Chalk, Peat Sand enriched by leaf mould from established woodlands
Part Shade
Moist

Dark Green

Alpine House, Greenhouse, rock garden. Naturalize in grass.
Groundcover in deciduous woodland

Good partner with rhododendrons.

Large open flat white flowers on maroon-tinted stems.

Anemone nemorosa
'Robin-soniana'

(Wood Anemone)

Wisteria Blue

anemonecflo1nemerosarobinsonianakevock1

April, May

Clump..
6 tepal star shape bloom on stem

5-6 x 20
(13-15 x 50)
Chalk, Peat Sand enriched by leaf mould from established woodlands
Part Shade
Moist

Deep Green tinged with Purple. The foliage tends to die down in the summer, ready to re-emerge the next spring.

Alpine House, Greenhouse, Rock Garden. Naturalize in grass.

A good bee and bumblebee plant.

In the dry oak wood of lower levels, the sub-dominants are holly, anemone and bluebell, with the foxglove well distributed.

Anemone nemorosa
'Vestal'

(Wood Anemone)

White with
White Button

anemonecflo1nemerosavestalkevock1

March, April

anemonepflosnemerosavestalrvroger

Mat.
6 tepal star shape bloom as a button on stem

5-6 x 6
(13-15 x 15)

Chalk, Peat Sand enriched by leaf mould from established woodlands
Part Shade
Moist

Deeply divided Green foliage.

Overall flowering period is around 8 weeks long.

Ideal ground cover in shady areas or wood-land gardens.
Alpine House, Greenhouse, Rock Garden. Naturalize in grass. A good bee and bumblebee plant.

White flower with tightly packed button in the middle of the flower, developing from the previously yellow centre. These flowers can last for 2-3 weeks if the weather is cool.

Anemone ranunculoides
(Anemonoides ranunculoides, Buttercup Anemone, Yellow Anemone, Yellow Wood Anemone, Wood Ginger)

Golden-Yellow

anemonepflosranunculoidesrvroger1

February, March,
April, May

Spreading.
5-6 tepal star shape bloom

12 x 20
(30 x 50)
Acidic Sand enriched by leaf mould in the soil before planting and then mulch with fallen pine needles during the autumn to keep the moisture and acidity during the short spring and summer growing season.
Part Shade
Moist

The green foliage dies back to its rhizomes by July. The rhizomes spread just below the earth surface and multiply quickly, contributing to its rapid spread in woodland conditions.

Rock Garden, Alpine House, Ground cover, Pine Woodland

It is good to know that "if planted in optimal conditions, it can flourish for years past its gardener."

Caring for an Anemone Ranunculoides article provides the growing instructions to grow a healthy plant.

Anemone ranunculoides
'Pleniflora'

(Double-Flowered Yellow Wood Anemone, Buttercup Anemone)

Bright Yellow

anemonecflot9ranunculoidespleniflorarvroger1

March-May

Spreading.
Semi-double flower with many tepals

6 x 18
(15 x 45)
Same Acidic Sand soil as above.
Part Shade
Moist

Bronzy-dark-green foliage. The rhizomes spread just below the soil and multiply quickly, thus its rapid spread in woodland conditions.

Buttercup Anemone grows in forests and in rock and alpine gardens. Grow in woodland or shaded part of border.

The foliage dies back to its rhizomes by July, so grow under Tricyrtis for example.

Anemone rupicola
(Anemone batangensis, Anemone rupestris)

White, Yellowish
or Purplish

anemonecflorupicolakevock1

June, July,
August

5 tepal star shape bloom

4-10 x 6
(10-25 x 15)

Sandy loam with leaf soil and grit
Full Sun
Moist

Pale Green much divided 3-lobed leaves

Suitable in rock garden.

Its native habitat is woods, streamsides, stone cliffs and gravelly slopes from 2400-4200 metres.

Anemone trullifolia
(In China -
chi ye yin lian hua)

White fading to Blue.
Can be White,
Yellow, Pinkish,
Purplish or Blue in
China

anemonecflot9trullifoliakevock1

April,
May,
June,
July,
August

Clump.
5 tepal star-shape bloom on a stem

6 x 12-15
(15 x 30-38)
Sand and Peaty in cool moist spot
Part Shade
Moist. Avoid soil becoming completely dry during the summer and suspend watering in the winter.

Velvet/fuzzy textured Mid Green

Its native habitat is streamsides in forests and alpine meadows.

There are also 7 varieties of Anemone trullifolia.

St Andrews Botanic Garden May 2011 collaborated with colleagues in China.

 

Ivydene Horticultural Services logo with I design, construct and maintain private gardens. I also advise and teach you in your own garden. 01634 389677

 

Site design and content copyright ©December 2011.
Page structure amended November 2012. Above links in this table updated June 2015. Thumbnails with Height/ Width added and Feet changed to inches (cms) October 2015. Foliage Thumbnails, Bulb Use and Comments added March 2016. Colour Wheel per Month and Index to other Bulbs in other Bulb Galleries added May 2017. Bulb description Pages updated April, May 2018.

Chris Garnons-Williams.

DISCLAIMER: Links to external sites are provided as a courtesy to visitors. Ivydene Horticultural Services are not responsible for the content and/or quality of external web sites linked from this site.  

Alliums
The popularity of these ornamental onions shows no sign of waning - and with good reason, for they are a dramatic addition to any hot sunny border. As a general rule the foliage will emerge first and then die down as the flower stems emerge. It is often best to plant them with other plants that will mask the unsightly foliage as it dies back. After flowering R.V. Roger's staff find it important to dead head them by removing the flower head but leaving the flower stalk. This will allow the plant to put enough energy back into the bulb to ensure a good show the following year. If you want to preserve the seed heads on the plant to provide winter interest wait until the bulb is old enough to produce several flower heads and then remove half after flowering, providing you and the bulb with a good compromise.

 

In The Garden with Bill Cary:-
"Gardeners who really pay attention to the bloom sequence in their spring beds have probably noticed there’s a long lull, usually in mid- to late May, between the colorful riot of spring bulbs and the launch of the first summer bloomers.

  • The crocuses, tulips and daffodils have faded and the rest of your garden is greening up for summer, but bright colors seem to be missing. Why not try alliums to fill in this quiet time in the garden?
  • With their oversized flower heads — some are as big as your head — and dramatic height and architecture, alliums add a wonderful exclamation point to any bed or border. These showstoppers also bloom later than the other spring bulbs.
  • Alliums are related to other plants in the onion family, like chives, garlic and leeks. They want full sun and fairly fertile, well-drained soil — the softball-sized bulbs will rot if they sit in water in the winter.
  • Like all spring-blooming bulbs, alliums need to be planted in the autumn, well before the ground freezes for winter. October is perfect.
  • Don’t just plant one or two or three. Bulbs have the most bang when planted in large clusters.
  • Follow the planting instructions that come with the bulbs for spacing and depth. In general, dig a hole that’s three times deeper than the width of the bulb. Big alliums like ‘Globemaster’ should be planted about 6 inches (15 cms) apart.
  • Good companion plantings for ‘Globemaster’ include day lilies, nepeta, lavender, lamb’s ear, iris and hardy geraniums.
  • The vibrant ‘Globemaster’ flowers should last three to four weeks in the garden — or bring them indoors for a fun, whimsical arrangement in a vase.
  • Alliums are totally critter proof — no deer, no rabbits, no squirrels (though some people in our suburbs seem to have Viking-like squirrels that will go after anything).

I guess it never hurts to cover your bulb-heavy beds with chicken wire or some other screening to keep them safe until you begin to see green tips emerging in spring."

Functional combinations in the border from the International Flower Bulb Centre in Holland:-

"Here is a list of the perennials shown by research to be the best plants to accompany various flower bulbs. The flower bulbs were tested over a period of years in several perennial borders that had been established for at least three years.

In combination with hyacinths:

In combination with tulips:

In combination with narcissi:

For narcissi, the choice was difficult to make. The list contains only some of the perennials that are very suitable for combining with narcissi. In other words, narcissi can easily compete with perennials.

In combination with specialty bulbs:

 

There are other pages on Plants which bloom in each month of the year in this website:-

 

 

 

 

UKButterflies Larval Foodplants website page lists the larval foodplants used by British butterflies. The name of each foodplant links to a Google search. An indication of whether the foodplant is a primary or secondary food source is also given.

Please note that the Butterfly you see for only a short time has grown up on plants as an egg, caterpillar and chrysalis for up to 11 months, before becoming a butterfly. If the plants that they live on during that time are removed, or sprayed with herbicide, then you will not see the butterfly.
 

Plants used by the Butterflies follow the Plants used by the Egg, Caterpillar and Chrysalis as stated in
A Butterfly Book for the Pocket by Edmund Sandars.
Published by Oxford University Press London: Humphrey Milford in 1939.
 

Plant Name

Butterfly Name

Egg/ Caterpillar/ Chrysalis/ Butterfly

Plant Usage

Plant Usage Months

Alder Buckthorn

Brimstone

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

1 egg under leaf.

Eats leaves.
---

10 days in May-June
28 days.
12 days.

Aspen

Large Tortoiseshell

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

Eggs laid in batches encircling the branch of the food plant.
Feeds on leaves.
Hangs suspended from stem.

Hatches after 18-22 days in April.
30 days in May
9 days in June.

Black Medic

Common Blue

Egg,

Caterpillar


Chrysalis

Groups of eggs on upper side of leaf.
Eats buds and flowers.


Base of food plant.

-
-
Spend winter at the base of the food plant. They resume feeding in March.
2 weeks

Common Birdsfoot Trefoil

Chalk-Hill Blue

Egg,
Caterpillar
Chrysalis

1 egg at base of plant.
Eats leaves.
---

Late August-April
April-June
1 Month

Common Birdsfoot Trefoil

Common Blue

Egg,

Caterpillar


Chrysalis

Groups of eggs on upper side of leaf.
Eats buds and flowers.


Base of food plant.

-
-
Spend winter at the base of the food plant. They resume feeding in March.
2 weeks

Common Birdsfoot Trefoil

Wood White

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

1 egg laid on underside of leaflets or bracts.
Eats leaves.
---

7 days in June.

32 days in June-July.
July-May.

Bitter Vetch

Wood White

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

1 egg laid on underside of leaflets or bracts.
Eats leaves.
---

7 days in June.

32 days in June-July.
July-May.

Borage

Queen of Spain Fritillary

Egg,

Caterpillar


Chrysalis

1 egg laid under the leaf or on top of the flower.
Eats leaves, then before pupating it eats the bloom and leaves of the pansies.
---

7 days in August.

23 days in August-September.

3 weeks in September

Bramble

Holly Blue

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

 

1 egg on underside of a flower bud on its stalk.
Eats flower bud.
---

 

7 days.

28-42 days.
18 days. Early September to Late April for second generation.

Buckthorn

Holly Blue

Egg,


Caterpillar
Chrysalis

 

1 egg on underside of a flower bud on its stalk.
Eats flower bud.
---


 

7 days.


28-42 days.
18 days. Early September to Late April for second generation.

Buckthorn -
Alder Buckthorn and Common Buckthorn

Brimstone

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

1 egg under leaf.

Eats leaves.
---

10 days in May-June.

28 days.
12 days.

Burdocks

Painted Lady

Egg,
Caterpillar
Chrysalis

1 egg on leaf.
Eats leaves.
---

2 weeks
7-11days
7-11 days

Cabbages - Large White eats all cruciferous plants, such as cabbages, mustard, turnips, radishes, cresses, nasturtiums, wild mignonette and dyer's weed

Large White
 

Egg,


Caterpillar
Chrysalis

40-100 eggs on both surfaces of leaf.

Eats leaves.
---
 

May-June and August-Early September. 4.5-17 days.
30-32 days
14 days for May-June eggs, or overwinter till April

Cabbages

Small White

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

1 egg on underside of leaf.

Eats leaves.
---
 

May-June and August. 7 days.
28 days
21 days for May-June eggs, or overwinter till March

Cabbages:-
Charlock,
Cuckoo Flower (Lady's Smock),
Hedge-Mustard,
Garlic-Mustard,
Yellow Rocket (Common Winter-Cress),
Watercress

Green-veined White

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis


 

1 egg on underside of leaf.

Eats leaves.
---


 

July or August; hatches in 3 days.
16 days.
14 days in July or for caterpillars of August, they overwinter till May.

Cabbages:-
Charlock,
Creeping Yellow-cress,
Cuckoo Flower (Lady's Smock),
Dame's Violet,
Hedge-Mustard,
Horseradish,
Garlic-Mustard,
Lady's Smock,
Large Bittercress,
Rock-cress (Common Winter-Cress),
Yellow Rocket (Common Winter-Cress),
Watercress,
Wild Turnip

Orange Tip

Egg,

Caterpillar

Chrysalis

1 egg laid in the tight buds and flowers.
Eats leaves, buds, flowers and especially the seed pods.
---

May-June 7 days.

June-July 24 days.

August-May

Cherry with
Wild Cherry,
Morello Cherry and
Bird Cherry

Large Tortoiseshell

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

Eggs laid in batches encircling the branch of the food plant.
Feeds on leaves.
Hangs suspended from stem.

Hatches after 18-22 days in April.
30 days in May.
9 days in June.

Clovers 1, 2, 3

Common Blue

Egg,

Caterpillar


Chrysalis

Groups of eggs on upper side of leaf.
Eats buds and flowers.


Base of food plant.

-
-
Spend winter at the base of the food plant. They resume feeding in March.
2 weeks.

Clovers 1, 2, 3

Pale Clouded Yellow

Egg,
Caterpillar
Chrysalis

1 egg on leaf.
Eats leaves.

 

10 days in May-June.
July-August.
17 days in August-September.

Clovers 1, 2, 3

Clouded Yellow

Egg,
Caterpillar
Chrysalis

1 egg on leaf.
Eats leaves.
 

6 days in May-June.
30 days.
18 days in July-August.

Cocksfoot is a grass

Large Skipper

Egg,
Caterpillar
Chrysalis

1 egg under leaf.
Eats leaves.
---


11 Months
3 weeks from May

Cow-wheat

(Common CowWheat, Field CowWheat)

Heath Fritillary

Egg,

Caterpillar



Chrysalis

Eggs laid in batches on the under side of the leaves.
Feeds on leaves until end of August. Hibernates on dead leaves until March. Eats young leaves until June.
---

Hatches after 16 days in June.
June-April



25 days in June.

Currants
(Red Currant,
Black Currant and Gooseberry)

Comma

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

Groups of eggs on upper side of leaf.
Eats leaves.
---

 

Devilsbit Scabious

Marsh Fritillary

Egg,

Caterpillar



Chrysalis

Eggs laid in batches on the under side of the leaves.
Feeds on leaves until late August. Hibernates on dead leaves until March. Eats leaves until May.
---

Hatches after 20 days in July.
July-May.



15 days in May.

Dog Violet with
Common Dog Violet,
Heath Dog Violet and
Wood Dog Violet

Silver-washed Fritillary

Egg,
Caterpillar



Chrysalis

1 egg on oak or pine tree trunk
Hibernates in a crevice in the bark of the tree trunk.
Moves out of tree to eat Dog Violet leaves.
On rock or twig.

15 days in July.
August-March.

March-May.

Late June-July

Dog Violet with
Common Dog Violet,
Heath Dog Violet and
Wood Dog Violet

Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Egg,

Caterpillar



Chrysalis

1 egg on leaf or stem.

Feeds on leaves until July. Hibernates on dead leaves until March. Eats young leaves until May.
---

Hatches after 15 days in May-June.
July-May.



9 days in June.

Dog Violet with
Common Dog Violet,
Heath Dog Violet and
Wood Dog Violet

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Egg,

Caterpillar



Chrysalis

1 egg on leaf or stem.

Feeds on leaves until July. Hibernates in dead leaves until March. Eats young leaves until April.
---

Hatches after 10 days in May-June.
June-April



April-June.

Dogwood

Holly Blue

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

 

1 egg on underside of a flower bud on its stalk.
Eats flower bud.
---

 

7 days.

28-42 days.
18 days. Early September to Late April for second generation.

Elm and Wych Elm

Large Tortoiseshell

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

Eggs laid in batches encircling the branch of the food plant.
Feeds on leaves.
Hangs suspended from stem.

Hatches after 18-22 days in April.
30 days in May.
9 days in June.

False Brome is a grass (Wood Brome, Wood False-brome and Slender False-brome)

Large Skipper

Egg,
Caterpillar
Chrysalis

1 egg under leaf.
Eats leaves.
---

...
11 Months
3 weeks from May

Foxglove

Marsh Fritillary

Egg,

Caterpillar



Chrysalis

Eggs laid in batches on the under side of the leaves.
Feeds on leaves until late August. Hibernates on dead leaves until March. Eats leaves until May.
---

Hatches after 20 days in July.
July-May



15 days in May.

Fyfield Pea

Wood White

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

1 egg laid on underside of leaflets or bracts.
Eats leaves.
---

7 days in June.

32 days in June-July.
July-May.

Garden Pansy

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Egg,

Caterpillar


Chrysalis

1 egg on leaf or stem.
Feeds on leaves until July. Hibernates in dead leaves until March. Eats young leaves until April.
---

Hatches after 10 days in May-June.
June-April


April-June.

Gorse

Holly Blue

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

 

1 egg on underside of a flower bud on its stalk.
Eats flower bud.
---

 

7 days.

28-42 days.
18 days. Early September to Late April for second generation.

Heartsease

Queen of Spain Fritillary

Egg,

Caterpillar


Chrysalis

1 egg laid under the leaf or on top of the flower.
Eats leaves, then before pupating it eats the bloom and leaves of the pansies.
---

7 days in August.

23 days in August-September.

3 weeks in September

Hogs's Fennel

Swallowtail

Egg,


Caterpillar


Chrysalis

1 egg on leaf. 5 or 6 eggs may be deposited by separate females on one leaf.
Eats leaves, and moves to stems of sedges or other fen plants before pupating.
---

14 days in July-August.


August-September.


September-May.

Holly

Holly Blue

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

 

1 egg on underside of a flower bud on its stalk.
Eats flower bud.
---

 

7 days.

28-42 days.
18 days. Early September to Late April for second generation.

Honesty
(Lunaria biennis)

Orange Tip

Egg,

Caterpillar

Chrysalis

1 egg laid in the tight buds and flowers.
Eats leaves, buds, flowers and especially the seed pods.
---

May-June 7 days.

June-July 24 days.

August-May

Honeysuckle

Marsh Fritillary

Egg,

Caterpillar



Chrysalis

Eggs laid in batches on the under side of the leaves.
Feeds on leaves until late August. Hibernates on dead leaves until March. Eats leaves until May.
---

Hatches after 20 days in July.
July-May.



15 days in May.

Hop

Comma

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

Groups of eggs on upper side of leaf.
Eats leaves.
---

 

Horseshoe vetch

Adonis Blue




Chalk-Hill Blue


Berger's Clouded Yellow

Egg,
Caterpillar

Chrysalis

Egg,
Caterpillar
Chrysalis

Egg,


Caterpillar

Chrysalis

1 egg under leaf.
Eats leaves.

---

1 egg at base of plant.
Eats leaves.
---

1 egg on leaf.


Eats leaves.

---

1 then
June-March or September to July
3 weeks.

Late August-April.
April-June
1 Month

8-10 days in Late May-June or Middle August-September
June-July or September to October
8-15 days

Ivy

Holly Blue

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

 

1 egg on underside of a flower bud on its stalk.
Eats flower bud.
---

 

7 days.

28-42 days.
18 days. Early September to Late April for second generation.

Kidney Vetch

Chalk-Hill Blue

Egg,
Caterpillar
Chrysalis
Butterfly

1 egg at base of plant.
Eats leaves.
---
Eats nectar.

Late August-April.
April-June
1 Month
20 days

Lucerne

Pale Clouded Yellow



Clouded Yellow

Egg,
Caterpillar
Chrysalis


Egg,
Caterpillar
Chrysalis

1 egg on leaf.
Eats leaves.



1 egg on leaf.
Eats leaves.
---

10 days in May-June.
July-August.
17 days in August-September.

6 days in May-June.
30 days.
18 days in July-August.

Mallows

Painted Lady

Egg,
Caterpillar
Chrysalis

1 egg on leaf.
Eats leaves.
---

2 weeks
7-11days
7-11 days

Melilot

Clouded Yellow

Egg,
Caterpillar
Chrysalis

1 egg on leaf.
Eats leaves.
 

6 days in May-June.
30 days.
18 days in July-August.

Mignonettes

Small White

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

1 egg on underside of leaf.

Eats leaves.
---
 

May-June and August. 7 days.
28 days
21 days for May-June eggs, or overwinter till March

Milk Parsley

Swallowtail

Egg,


Caterpillar


Chrysalis

1 egg on leaf. 5 or 6 eggs may be deposited by separate females on one leaf.
Eats leaves, and moves to stems of sedges or other fen plants before pupating.
---

14 days in July-August.


August-September


September-May

Narrow-leaved Plantain (Ribwort Plantain)

Heath Fritillary

Egg,

Caterpillar



Chrysalis

Eggs laid in batches on the under side of the leaves.
Feeds on leaves until end of August. Hibernates on dead leaves until March. Eats young leaves until June.
---

Hatches after 16 days in June.
June-April.



25 days in June.

Narrow-leaved Plantain (Ribwort Plantain)

Glanville Fritillary

Egg,

Caterpillar



Chrysalis

Eggs laid in batches on the under side of the leaves.
Feeds on leaves until middle of August. Hibernates on dead leaves until March. Eats leaves until April-May.
---

Hatches after 16 days in June.
June-April.



25 days in April-May.

Nasturtium from Gardens

Small White

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

1 egg on underside of leaf.

Eats leaves.
---
 

May-June and August. 7 days.
28 days.
21 days for May-June eggs, or overwinter till March

Oak Tree

Silver-washed Fritillary

Egg,
Caterpillar



Chrysalis

1 egg on tree trunk
Hibernates in a crevice in the bark of the tree trunk.
Moves out of tree to eat Dog Violet leaves.
On rock or twig.

15 days in July.
August-March.

March-May.

Late June-July

Mountain pansy,
Seaside Pansy,
Field Pansy and Cultivated Pansy.
 

Queen of Spain Fritillary

Egg,

Caterpillar

 

Chrysalis

1 egg laid under the leaf or on top of the flower.
Eats leaves of borage, sainfoin and heartsease, then before pupating it eats the bloom and leaves of the pansies.
---

7 days in August.

23 days in August-September
 

3 weeks in September

Pine Tree

Silver-washed Fritillary

Egg,
Caterpillar



Chrysalis

1 egg on tree trunk.
Hibernates in a crevice in the bark of the tree trunk.
Moves out of tree to eat Dog Violet leaves.
On rock or twig.

15 days in July.
August-March.

March-May.

Late June-July

Plantains

Marsh Fritillary

Egg,

Caterpillar



Chrysalis

Eggs laid in batches on the under side of the leaves.
Feeds on leaves until late August. Hibernates on dead leaves until March. Eats leaves until May.
---

Hatches after 20 days in July.
July-May



15 days in May.

Poplar

Large Tortoiseshell

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

Eggs laid in batches encircling the branch of the food plant.
Feeds on leaves.
Hangs suspended from stem.

Hatches after 18-22 days in April.
30 days in May.
9 days in June.

Restharrow

Common Blue

Egg,

Caterpillar


Chrysalis

Groups of eggs on upper side of leaf.
Eats buds and flowers.


Base of food plant.

-
-
Spend winter at the base of the food plant. They resume feeding in March.
2 weeks

Rock-rose

Brown Argus

Egg,
Caterpillar

1 egg under leaf.
Eats leaves.

 

Sainfoin

Queen of Spain Fritillary

Egg,

Caterpillar


Chrysalis

1 egg laid under the leaf or on top of the flower.
Eats leaves, then before pupating it eats the bloom and leaves of the pansies.
---

7 days in August.

23 days in August-September

3 weeks in September

Common Sallow (Willows, Osiers)

Large Tortoiseshell

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

Eggs laid in batches encircling the branch of the food plant.
Feeds on leaves.
Hangs suspended from stem

Hatches after 18-22 days in April.
30 days in May.
9 days in June.

Sea Plantain

Glanville Fritillary

Egg,

Caterpillar



Chrysalis

Eggs laid in batches on the under side of the leaves.
Feeds on leaves until middle of August. Hibernates on dead leaves until March. Eats leaves until April-May.
---

Hatches after 16 days in June.
June-April



25 days in April-May.

Snowberry

Holly Blue

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

 

1 egg on underside of a flower bud on its stalk.
Eats flower bud.
---
 

7 days.

28-42 days.
18 days. Early September to Late April for second generation.

Spindle-tree

Holly Blue

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

 

1 egg on underside of a flower bud on its stalk.
Eats flower bud.
---

 

7 days.

28-42 days.
18 days. Early September to Late April for second generation.

Stinging Nettle

Comma




Painted Lady



Peacock

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

Egg
Caterpillar
Chrysalis

Egg,


Caterpillar

Chrysalis

Groups of eggs on upper side of leaf.
Eats leaves.
---

1 egg on leaf.
Eats leaves.
---

Dense mass of 450-500 eggs on the under side of leaves over a 2 hour period.
Eats leaves, and moves to another plant before pupating.
---






2 weeks in June.
7-11 days.
7-11 days.

14 days in April-May.


28 days.

13days.

Storksbill

Brown Argus

Egg,
Caterpillar

1 egg under leaf.
Eats leaves.

 

Thistles

Painted Lady

Egg,
Caterpillar
Chrysalis

1 egg on leaf.
Eats leaves.
---

2 weeks
7-11days
7-11 days

Trefoils 1, 2, 3

Clouded Yellow

Egg,
Caterpillar
Chrysalis

1 egg on leaf.
Eats leaves.
 

6 days in May-June.
30 days.
18 days in July-August.

Vetches

Common Blue

Egg,

Caterpillar


Chrysalis

Groups of eggs on upper side of leaf.
Eats buds and flowers.


Base of food plant.

-
-
Spend winter at the base of the food plant. They resume feeding in March.
2 weeks

Vetches

Wood White

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

1 egg laid on underside of leaflets or bracts.
Eats leaves.
---

7 days in June.

32 days in June-July.
July-May.

Violets:-
Common Dog Violet,
Hairy Violet,
Heath Dog-violet

Pale Dog violet
Sweet Violet

Dark Green Fritillary

Egg,

Caterpillar


Chrysalis

1 egg on underside of leaf or on stalk.
Hibernates where it hatches.
Eats leaves.

Base of food plant.

July-August for 17 days.

Spends winter on plant until end of March. Eats leaves until end of May.
4 weeks.

Violets:-
Common Dog Violet,
Hairy Violet,
Heath Dog-violet

Pale Dog violet
Sweet Violet

High Brown Fritillary

Egg,

Caterpillar

Chrysalis

1 egg on stem or stalk near plant base.
Feed on young leaves, stalks and stems
---

July to hatch in 8 months in March.
9 weeks ending in May.

4 weeks

Vipers Bugloss

Painted Lady

Egg,
Caterpillar
Chrysalis

1 egg on leaf.
Eats leaves.
---

2 weeks.
7-11days.
7-11 days

Whitebeam
(White Beam)

Large Tortoiseshell

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

Eggs laid in batches encircling the branch of the food plant.
Feeds on leaves.
Hangs suspended from stem.

Hatches after 18-22 days in April.
30 days in May.
9 days in June.

Wild Angelica

Swallowtail

Egg,


Caterpillar


Chrysalis

1 egg on leaf. 5 or 6 eggs may be deposited by separate females on one leaf.
Eats leaves, and moves to stems of sedges or other fen plants before pupating.
---

14 days in July-August.


August-September.


September-May

Willow
(Bay Willow)

Large Tortoiseshell

Egg,

Caterpillar
Chrysalis

Eggs laid in batches encircling the branch of the food plant.
Feeds on leaves.
Hangs suspended from stem.

Hatches after 18-22 days in April.
30 days in May.
9 days in June.

Wood-Sage

Marsh Fritillary

Egg,

Caterpillar



Chrysalis

Eggs laid in batches on the under side of the leaves.
Feeds on leaves until late August. Hibernates on dead leaves until March. Eats leaves until May.
---

Hatches after 20 days in July.
July-May.



15 days in May.

 

Plants used by the Butterflies

Plant Name

Butterfly Name

Egg/ Caterpillar/ Chrysalis/ Butterfly

Plant Usage

Plant Usage Months

Asters
in gardens

Comma

Butterfly

Eats nectar.

 

Runner and Broad Beans in fields and gardens

Large White


Small White

Butterfly

Eats nectar

April-June or July-September.

March-May or June-September

Aubretia in gardens

Clouded Yellow

Butterfly

Eats nectar

May-June or August till killed by frost and damp in September-November

Birch

Holly Blue

Butterfly

Eats sap exuding from trunk.

April-Mid June and Mid July-Early September for second generation.

Common Birdsfoot Trefoil

Chalk-Hill Blue

Wood White

Marsh Fritillary

Butterfly

Eats nectar.

20 days.


May-June.

30 days in May-June.

Bitter Vetch

Wood White

Butterfly

Eats nectar

May-June

Bluebell

Holly Blue




Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Butterfly

Eats nectar

April-Mid June and Mid July-Early September for second generation.


June.



June-August.

Bramble

Comma

Silver-washed Fritillary

High Brown Fritillary

Butterfly

Eats nectar.

July-October.

7 weeks in July-August.



June-August

Buddleias
in gardens

Comma

Peacock

Butterfly

Eats nectar.

July-October.

July-May

Bugle

Wood White

Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Heath Fritillary

Butterfly

Eats nectar

May-June.

June.



June-August.



June-July.

Cabbage and cabbages in fields

Large White


Small White


Green-veined White

Orange Tip

Butterfly

Eats nectar

April-June or July-September.

March-May or June-September.

A Month during May-June or second flight in late July-August.

May-June for 18 days.

Charlock

Painted Lady

Butterfly

Eats nectar

July-October

Clovers 1, 2, 3

Adonis Blue



Chalk-Hill Blue

Painted Lady

Peacock

Large White


Small White

Butterfly

Eats nectar.

1 Month during Mid-May to Mid-June or during August-September

20 days in August.


July-October.

July-May.

April-June or July-September.

March-May or June-September

Clovers 1, 2, 3

Pale Clouded Yellow


Clouded Yellow


Berger's Clouded Yellow


Queen of Spain Fritillary

Butterfly

Eats nectar

May-June or August till killed by frost and damp in September-November

May-June or August till killed by frost and damp in September-November.

1 Month in May-June or August till killed by frost and damp in September-November.

May-September.

Cow-wheat
(Common CowWheat, Field CowWheat)

Heath Fritillary

Butterfly

Eats nectar

June-July

Cuckoo Flower (Lady's Smock)

Wood White

Butterfly

Eats nectar

May-June

Dandelion

Holly Blue



Marsh Fritillary

Butterfly

Eats nectar

April-Mid June and Mid July-Early September for second generation.

30 days in May-June.

Fleabanes

Common Blue

Butterfly

Eats nectar.

3 weeks between May and September

Germander Speedwell (Veronica chamaedrys - Birdseye Speedwell)

Heath Fritillary

Butterfly

Eats nectar

June-July

Greater Knapweed

Comma

Peacock

Clouded Yellow


Brimstone

Butterfly

Eats nectar.

July-October.

July-May.

May-June or August till killed by frost and damp in September-November.

12 months

Hawkbit

Marsh Fritillary

Butterfly

Eats nectar

30 days in May-June.

Heartsease

Queen of Spain Fritillary

Butterfly

Eats nectar

May-September

Hedge Parsley

Orange Tip

Butterfly

Eats nectar.

May-June for 18 days.

Hemp agrimony

Comma

Butterfly

Eats nectar.

July-October

Horseshoe vetch

Adonis Blue

Chalk-Hill Blue

Butterfly

Eats nectar.

1 Month.

20 days

Ivy

Painted Lady

Brimstone

Butterfly

Eats nectar.

Hibernates during winter months in its foliage.

July-October.

October-July

Lucerne

Painted Lady

Large White


Small White


Pale Clouded Yellow


Clouded Yellow


Berger's Clouded Yellow

Butterfly

Eats nectar

July-October.

April-June or July-September.

March-May or June-September

May-June or August till killed by frost and damp in September-November.

May-June or August till killed by frost and damp in September-November.

1 Month in May-June or August till killed by frost and damp in September-November

Marigolds in gardens

Clouded Yellow

Butterfly

Eats nectar

May-June or August till killed by frost and damp in September-November

Marjoram

Adonis Blue



Chalk-Hill Blue

Common Blue

Clouded Yellow

Butterfly

Eats nectar.

1 Month during Mid-May to Mid-June or during August-September.

20 days in August.


3 weeks in May-September.

May-June or August till killed by frost and damp in September-November

Michaelmas Daisies
in gardens

Comma

Butterfly

Eats nectar.

July-October

Mignonettes

Large White


Small White

Butterfly

Eats nectar

April-June or July-September.

March-May or June-September

Narrow-leaved Plantain (Ribwort Plantain)

Heath Fritillary

Butterfly

Eats nectar

June-July

Nasturtiums in gardens

Large White


Small White

Butterfly

Eats nectar

April-June or July-September

March-May or June-September

Oak Tree

Holly Blue

Butterfly

Eats sap exuding from trunk.

April-Mid June and Mid July-Early September for second generation.

Primroses

Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Butterfly

Eats nectar

June.



June-August.

Ragged Robin

Wood White

Heath Fritillary

Butterfly

Eats nectar

May-June.

June-July.

Scabious

Painted Lady

Peacock

Butterfly

Eats nectar

July-October.

July-May

Sedum

Peacock

Butterfly

Eats nectar

July-May

Teasels

Silver-washed Fritillary

Butterfly

Eats nectar

7 weeks in July-August.

Thistles -
Creeping Thistle, Dwarf Thistle, Marsh Thistle, Meadow Thistle, Melancholy Thistle, Milk Thistle,
Musk Thistle, Seaside Thistle, Scotch Thistle, Spear Thistle, Tuberous Thistle, Welted Thistle, Woolly Thistle

Comma

Painted Lady

Peacock

Swallowtail

Clouded Yellow


Brimstone

Silver-washed Fritillary

High Brown Fritillary

Dark Green Fritillary

Queen of Spain Fritillary

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Butterfly

Eats nectar.

July-October.

July-October.

July-May.

May-July.

May-June or August till killed by frost and damp in September-November.

12 months.

7 weeks in July-August



June-August.


July-August for 6 weeks.


May-September.



June-August.

Thymes

Common Blue

Butterfly

Eats nectar.

3 weeks between May and September

Trefoils 1, 2, 3

Adonis Blue



Chalk-Hill Blue

Glanville Fritillary

Butterfly

 

Eats nectar.
 

1 Month during Mid-May to Mid-June or during August-September

20 days in August.


June-July

Vetches

Chalk-Hill Blue

Glanville Fritillary

Butterfly

Eats nectar.

20 days in August.


June-July.

Violets

Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Butterfly

Eats nectar

June.



June-August.

Wood-Sage

Heath Fritillary

Butterfly

Eats nectar

June-July

Apple/Pear/Cherry/Plum Fruit Tree Blossom in Spring

Peacock

Butterfly

Eats Nectar

April-May

Rotten Fruit

Peacock

Butterfly

Drinks juice

July-September

Tree sap and damaged ripe fruit, which are high in sugar

Large Tortoiseshell

Butterfly

Hibernates inside hollow trees or outhouses until March. Eats sap or fruit juice until April.

10 months in June-April

Wild Flowers

Large Skipper

Brimstone

Silver-washed Fritillary.

Queen of Spain Fritillary

Butterfly

Eats Nectar

June-August


12 months.

7 weeks in July-August.



May-September

Links to the other Butterflies:-

Black Hairstreak
Brown Hairstreak
Camberwell Beauty
Chequered Skipper
Dingy Skipper
Duke of Burgundy
Essex Skipper
Gatekeeper
Grayling
Green Hairstreak
Grizzled Skipper
Hedge Brown
Large Blue
Large Heath
Long-tailed Blue
Lulworth Skipper
Marbled White
Mazarine Blue
Meadow Brown
Monarch
Northern Brown Argus
Purple Emperor
Purple Hairstreak
Red Admiral
Ringlet
Scotch Argus
Short-tailed Blue
Silver-spotted Skipper
Silver-studded Blue
Small Copper
Small Heath
Small Mountain Ringlet
Small Skipper
Small Tortoiseshell
Speckled Wood
Wall Brown
White Admiral
White-letter Hairstreak

Topic - Wildlife on Plant Photo Gallery.

Some UK native butterflies eat material from UK Native Wildflowers and live on them as eggs, caterpillars (Large Skipper eats False Brome grass - Brachypodium sylvaticum - for 11 months from July to May as a Caterpillar before becoming a Chrysalis within 3 weeks in May) chrysalis or butterflies ALL YEAR ROUND.
Please leave a small area in your garden for wildflowers to grow without disturbance throughout the year for the benefit of butterflies, moths and other wildlife who are dependant on them.

Butterfly
Usage of Plants
by Egg, Caterpillar, Chrysalis and Butterfly

Wild Flower Family Page

(the families within "The Pocket Guide to Wild Flowers" by David McClintock & R.S.R. Fitter, Published in 1956

They are not in Common Name alphabetical order and neither are the common names of the plants detailed within each family.
These families within that book will have their details described in alphabetical order for both the family name and its plants.

The information in the above book is back-referenced to the respective page in "Flora of the British Isles" by A.R. Clapham of University of Sheffield,
T.G. Tutin of University College, Leicester and
E.F. Warburg of University of Oxford. Printed by Cambridge at the University Press in 1952 for each plant in all the families)

 

When you look at the life history graphs of each of the 68 butterflies of Britain, you will see that they use plants throughout all 12 months - the information of what plant is used by the egg, caterpillar, chrysalis or butterfly is also given in the above first column.
With this proposed removal of all plants required for butterflies etc to live in and pro-create; at least once a year by the autumn or spring clearing up, the wildlife in public parks is destroyed as is done in every managed park in the world.
Please leave something for the wildlife to live in without disturbance; rather than destroy everything so children can ride their bicycles anywhere they want when the park is open during the day and they are not at school.

 

 

THE LIFE AND DEATH OF A FLAILED CORNISH HEDGE - This details that life and death from July 1972 to 2019, with the following result:-
"Of the original 186 flowering species (including sub-species), the 5 colour forms and the 8 unconfirmed species, (193 flowering species in total) only 55 have persisted throughout the 35 years of flailing since 1972. Of these 55 species:-
3 species are unchanged.
11 species have disastrously increased.
41 species are seriously reduced in number, most by over 90%. Of these, 18 are now increasing under the somewhat lighter flailing regime. 13 are still decreasing, and 35 have only a few specimens (from 1-12 plants) left.
Of the rest of the original species:-
37 species and 3 colour forms have disappeared, then reappeared after varying lengths of time. Of these, 20 have fewer than 6 plants, most of them only 1 or 2, and are liable to disappear again. Only 6 of the recovered species look capable of surviving in the longer term.
23 species have reappeared, then disappeared again due to being flailed before they could set seed or to being overcome by rank weeds.
Only 3 species have reappeared for a second time, and one of these has since disappeared for the third time.
68 species and 2 colour forms disappeared and have never reappeared to date (2008).
Of the 83 flowering species (excluding 11 rampant species) and 3 colour forms now present in the survey mile, around 50 are unlikely to survive there in the long term, certainly not in viable numbers, if flailing continues.
Unless the degradation of habitat, high fertility and spread of ivy and other rampant weeds can be reversed, it appears highly unlikely that more than a dozen or so of the lost floral species can ever safely return or be re-introduced.
The only birds sighted more than once so far this year along the mile have been magpie, rook, crow and buzzard, and a swallow (probably the same one each time) hunting between the hedges now and then at the sheltered eastern end of the mile. One wren heard June 21st, one blackbird seen June 27th (these also at the eastern end) and one greenfinch today July 31st. On this hot sunny high-summer day counted only 7 hedge brown butterflies (6 of them males), one red admiral and one large white. Half a dozen small bumblebees, two carder bees, half a dozen hoverflies of two common Eristalis species, one flesh fly, one scorpion fly and one dragonfly, Cordulegaster boltonii, not hunting, zooming straight down the road and disappearing into the distance.
Only 8 butterfly species so far this year, and only one specimen each of five of them (red admiral, speckled wood, large white, ringlet and large skipper, the latter seen only once since 1976). Only small white, hedge brown and speckled wood have managed to appear every year since the flail arrived.
For some years I have been noticing very small specimens particularly of hedge brown and speckled wood. This year nearly all the hedge browns seen in the mile ('all' being a dozen or so in total) are of this stunted size, some of the males appearing really tiny. I am wondering if this might be a response to general environmental stress, or due to inbreeding as flail-reduced numbers are so low. The hedge brown does not fly far from its hatching place so mating opportunity is now extremely limited. With the few species of insects now seen in the hedges there seems to be a high proportion of males to females, at least five to one.
So far this year only a single moth has come to the house lights. It was a Drinker, and it killed itself against the bulb before it could be saved.
September 21st. Most of the survey mile closely flailed today along both sides of the road.

End note, June 2008. I hear spring vetch has been officially recorded somewhere in West Cornwall and confirmed as a presence in the county, so perhaps I can be permitted to have seen it pre-1972 in the survey mile. I wonder where they found it? It's gone from hedges where it used to be, along with other scarcities and so-called scarcities that used to flourish in so many hedges unrecorded, before the flail arrived. I have given careful thought to including mention of some of the plants and butterflies. So little seems to be known of the species resident in Cornish hedges pre-flail that I realise some references may invite scepticism. I am a sceptic myself, so sympathise with the reaction; but I have concluded that, with a view to re-establishing vulnerable species, it needs to be known that they can with the right management safely and perpetually thrive in ordinary Cornish hedges. In future this knowledge could solve the increasingly difficult question of sufficient and suitable sites for sustainable wild flower and butterfly conservation - as long as it is a future in which the hedge-flail does not figure.
Times and attitudes have changed since the days when the flail first appeared on the scene. The plight of our once-so-diverse wildlife is officially recognised as a priority; agricultural grants may embrace conservation measures, and perhaps economic strictures will tend more to a live-and-let-live policy in future with less of the expensive, pointless and desecrating "tidying-up". We now have an enthusiastic generation keen to help nature recover its diversity, but often unsure as to how this is best achieved. [Please see CHL "Restoring Biodiversity in Cornish Hedges"] 21st September 2007.
There is still widespread ignorance of the effects of such destructive machinery as the flail-mower and other rotary trimmers and strimmers. Few people but the elderly now remember or understand the life that ought to be abundant in the everyday hedges, verges, field margins and waste places. The simple remedy of returning to the clean-cutting finger-bar scythe used in late winter, trimming alternate sides of the hedge in different years, not trimming green herbaceous growth and leaving the cut material (mainly dead stems and twigs) on or near the hedge, is largely unrealised. This wildlife-friendly type of trimmer is still available from some suppliers.
Cornwall County Council has changed from being (in this instance) the chief offender to employing said-to-be environmentally-aware officers concerned with reconciling conservation and development. In recent years the council has issued instructional leaflets about hedges and their wildlife, including one entitled Cornish Roadside Hedge Management (since altered, perhaps not entirely for the better). This leaflet largely embodied the principles that our petition of 1985 asked for. Ironically, it is no longer the council's employees who are carrying out the work. Although this advice is now available, it does not necessarily reach the farmers and contractors out on the job. The flails are still in destructive action at any time from June onwards, though on the whole the work does seem to be being done later rather than sooner. Some farmers are now correctly leaving it until January and early February, a good time to allot to road work while other farm jobs may have to wait for drier weather. Most farmers, despite the bad publicity they tend to suffer, truly wish to do the best they can for their wildlife. Sadly for all, the flail is still the universally-available tool.
Those ignorant of the flail's real effects may imagine that 'sensitive' use of it is all right, as some common plant and insect species return temporarily and a few others increase when the work is switched to the less damaging time of year and done lightly. In the longer term, this is delusive; even in winter an unacceptable number of individuals are killed at every flailing and the habitat still inexorably degrades. No matter how or when or how seldom the flail is used, species continue to die out.
Until naturalists and environmentalists understand the catastrophic and cumulative effects of the flail they will continue to say they don't know why, despite all well-intentioned efforts, the numbers and diversity of wild flowers, songbirds, bats, butterflies, moths and bumblebees are still falling.
Nature lovers have to stop thinking mainly in terms of schemes to benefit a handful of charismatic species at special sites, and start looking at what the flail and other rotary mowers have done to thousands upon thousands of acres of the British countryside and billions upon billions of its most essential, ordinary inhabitants. It has struck at the major heart of the core existence of our native species, slaughtering them wholesale in that very sanctuary of the hedges and verges. These species had already mostly gone from the rest of the local area; the hedges where they had all taken refuge were their last resort. The remnants of species and their precarious survivors are still being wiped out, smashed to death every time the flail is used. It is the utterly wrong tool for the job and it has to be scrapped.
A brand-new flail-mower operating in February 2008. Right time of year for trimming, wrong kind of trimmer. As long as it is manufactured and turned out into the roads and fields the flail will decimate wild flowers, massacre the small creatures remaining in the hedges and verges, destroy their habitat and ruin the ancient structure of Cornwall's hedges.
Since the last yellowhammer flew across the road in 1980, I have never seen another while walking the survey mile. Since the last grasshopper in July 1981, I have never seen or heard another in these hedges. Since all the other species this diary recorded absent disappeared, they have not been seen again except in the few instances stated in the text. Most of the remaining species are declining. Fewer than half of them are likely to survive in the longer term if present trends continue. The long-vanished flowering species are likely never to return, as repeated flailing before seeding has exhausted their dormant seed stocks. The survey mile is typically representative of a majority of Cornish roadside hedges.
The photographs - in the pdf in their website - illustrating many of the flowering species lost were not taken in the survey hedge,for the obvious reason that they were no longer there. Most were taken in the house's wild garden adjoining, while those that did not grow there were obtained only with extreme difficulty, by searching all over West Penwith in a roughly thirty-mile radius for un-flailed pockets of survival. Along the roadside hedges, in this whole distance I found just one or two plants or patches of only a few of the species sought - common toadflax, field scabious, tufted vetch, scentless mayweed, red clover, self-heal - species that before the flail were so commonly seen along the whole length of hundreds of hedges in West Cornwall, now growing only where for some unusual reason of situation the flail had missed.
Some of the photographs of invertebrate species killed out by the flail in the survey mile were taken in the garden adjoining, where, despite nurturing since pre-flail days, the majority have now disappeared due to over-predation. In the survey mile this year, for the first time since 1992, the hedges remained un-flailed throughout the summer, giving a few common invertebrates the chance to reappear. No adult moth is illustrated because only half a dozen individuals were seen during the whole summer season of 2007, unfortunately at moments when the camera was not in my hand or they were fluttering out of reach. The drinker caterpillar alone was found posing beautifully and goes down to posterity as the only visible surviving moth larva noted in the survey mile this year, illustrating the millions of his kind killed by the flail.
Along this one typical mile of Cornish lane alone my records show that the flail has been the outright death or caused the persisting non-appearance of

  • 90 flowering herbaceous species,
  • 5 shrub species,
  • 20 grass species,
  • 60 moss species,
  • 40 bird species,
  • 23 butterfly species,
  • 250 larger moth species,
  • many scores of other invertebrate species, and untold thousands of individuals.
  • It has condemned the hedge itself to a long-term, silent, living death, wrecked its antique stone construction and destroyed its great beauty. Along the whole of the estimated 30,000 miles of Cornish hedges the deaths of individual plants and creatures from flail-battering and the loss of their generations represent truly astronomical figures. The degradation of habitat resulting from flailing prevents revival in most species even where a few individuals manage to escape the physical impact of the flails. Although the effect in Cornwall with its solid hedge-banks and their more complex ecology may be worse than with the English hedgerow, the flail-induced wildlife crisis is nation-wide - and still almost universally unrecognised or unacknowledged.
  • There is no hope of recovery for our countryside wildlife until the flail type of machine is consigned to the black museum of history. To achieve this it will probably have to be banned by law.
  • The finger-bar scythe has to be reinstated and any trimming (except where needed for road-junction or access visibility) must be carried out in winter, the later the better between November 1st and February 28th. Trimming must take away the woody scrub growth on the sides of the hedge, leaving the herbaceous growth on the sides and the bushes on the top untouched. Only then can the flail-ruined hedges and verges begin to see a real return to some kind of healthy and abundant life."

CHECK-LIST OF TYPES OF CORNISH HEDGE FLORA by Sarah Carter of Cornish Hedges Library:-
"This check-list is a simple guide to the herbaceous plants typically indicating different habitat types found in the Cornish hedge. The short lists are of typical plants, not complete species lists for the habitat. Many of the plants in the Typical Hedge list also appear in the other types of hedge. Areas of intermediate population where location or physical conditions begin to change and habitats overlap are not included.
Hedge Type:-

  • Typical Cornish Hedge (woodland-edge/ heathland mixture)
  • Coastal Hedge
  • Moorland/ Heathland Hedges
  • Woodland Hedge
  • Wet Hedge (marsh or ditch)
  • Stone Hedge (Earth capping but with stone core)
  • Typical garden escapes in Cornish Hedges
  • Typical species rampant in flail-damaged hedges

Titles of papers available on www.cornishhedges.co.uk:-

  • Advice for Working on Roadside Hedges
  • Building Hedges in Cornwall
  • Building Turf Hedges
  • Building and Repairing Cornish Stone Stiles
  • Butterflies, Moths and Other Insects in Cornish Hedges
  • Check-list for Inspecting New or Restored Hedges in Cornwall
  • Check-list of Types of Cornish Hedge Flora
  • Code of Good Practice for Cornish Hedges
  • Comments on the © Defra Hedgerow Survey Handbook (1st Edition)
  • Comments on the © Defra Hedgerow Survey Handbook (2nd Edition)
  • Cornish Hedges in Gardens
  • Cornish Hedges on Development and Housing Sites
  • Gates and Gateways in Cornish hedges
  • Geology and Hedges in Cornwall
  • Glossary of some Cornish Words used in the Countryside
  • Hedges in the Cornish Landscape
  • How to Look After a Cornish Hedge
  • How Old is That Cornish Hedge?
  • Literature Sources
  • Mediaeval Hedges in Cornwall (450AD - 1550)
  • Modern Hedges in Cornwall (1840 - present day)
  • Mosses, Lichens, Fungi and Ferns in Cornish Hedges
  • Pipe-laying and Other Cross-country Works Involving Hedges
  • Post-Mediaeval Hedges in Cornwall (1550 - 1840)
  • Prehistoric Hedges in Cornwall (5,000BC - 450AD)
  • Repairing Cornish Hedges and Stone Hedges
  • Repairing Turf Hedges
  • Risk Assessment Guidance for working on Cornish Hedges
  • Roadside Hedges and Verges in Cornwall
  • The Curse of Rabbits in Cornish Hedges
  • The Life and Death of a Flailed Cornish Hedge
  • Trees on Hedges in Cornwall
  • Unusual Old Features in Cornish Hedges
  • Who Owns that Cornish Hedge?
  • Wildlife and the Cornish Hedge

THE GUILD OF CORNISH HEDGERS is the non-profit-making organisation founded in 2002 to support the concern among traditional hedgers about poor standards of workmanship in Cornish hedging today. The Guild has raised public awareness of Cornwall's unique heritage of hedges and promoted free access to the Cornish Hedges Library, the only existing source of full and reliable written knowledge on Cornish hedges."
 

 

 

Recommended Plants for Wildlife in different situations

The following Container Gardening for Wildlife is from Appendix 1 of The Wildlife Garden Month-by-Month by Jackie Bennett. Published by David & Charles in 1993. ISBN
0 7153 0033 4 :-

 

"It is quite possible to entice wildlife into even the most unpromising paved areas by utilising containers. Several mini-habitats can be created by growing a carefully selected range of trees, shrubs and flowers in pots, tubs, window boxes and hanging baskets.
If the space is enclosed by walls or high fences, it is important to let the passing wildlife know that this area is a source of food and shelter. Aim to add height and greenery with a small native tree grown in a good-sized wooden barrel and add 1 or 2 berry-bearing shrubs. Clothe the walls in climbers for nesting birds and introduce nectar-rich flowers for the insects. Finally, put up a nesting box amongst the climbers and find a place for a feeding table in winter and a bird bath in the summer. Despite the lack of grass and full-size trees, a surprising range of creatures will begin to inhabit this new garden.

DON'T FORGET HERBS

Herbs are amongst the most useful wildlife plants, including borage, mint, chives and rosemary, and are ideally suited to container growing. Do allow them to flower though, even at the expense of a continuous supply of leaves for cooking.

 

FOUR-SEASON WINDOW BOX

Try planting a window box with the following selection of evergreens, perennials, bulbs and bedding plants, for an all-the-year-round display.

WINTER
Ivy, hellebores, snowdrops

SPRING
Ivy, yellow crocus and grape hyacinths

SUMMER
Ivy, white alyssum and dwarf lavender

AUTUMN
Ivy, meadow saffron.

 

 

 

 

APPENDIX 2 has a Traditional Wildlife Garden Plan and a Garden Plan for Urban Wildlife.

STEP-BY-STEP CONTAINER PLANTING

Make sure the container has adequate drainage holes and that they are free of obstruction.

Put a layer of broken clay pots or crockery over the base of the container.

Half-fill with a multi-purpose potting compost.

Place the plants in position and fill around the root ball with more compost. Press down firmly.

Water well and add more compost if necessary, to bring the level up to 1 inch (2.5 cm) below the rim of the container.
 

Use the self-watering containers and potting mix detailed in the Vegetable Gallery Site Map Page rather the the pots or multi-purpose potting compost detailed above. Provide an outside water tap and watering can, so that you can irrigate the pots without traipsing the can through the house.

 

NOTE
To boost the wildlife habitat in a concrete yard, make a pile of logs in one corner. As the wood begins to break down, it will house beetles, spiders and slugs - great food for birds. The cool, damp habitat may be secluded enough to offer daytime cover to a toad, or possibly frogs and newts from a nearby pond.

RECOMMENDED PLANTS

TREES
Rowan (Sorbus aucuparia 'Fastigiata') Dwarf form (120 inches (300 cms)). Flowers for insects and berries for birds.

Willow (Salix caprea 'Pendula') Weeping form (120 inches (300 cms)). Catkins for insects, young leaves for caterpillars.

SHRUBS
Buddleia davidii (120 inches (300 cms)) Nectar from flowers for butterflies.

Cotoneaster 'Hybridus Pendulus' (120 inches (300 cms)) Berries and flowers.

Hawthorn (Craaegus monogyna) (180 inches (500 cms)) can be pruned hard to keep it within bounds. Secure nesting sites for birds. Berries and flowers.

Holly (Ilex aquifolium) (to 180 inches (500 cms)) a male and female bush are needed to be sure of berries. Nesting cover for birds.

Lavender (Lavendula angustifolia) Scented and attracts bees, flowers.

--->


 

CLIMBERS
Honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum) Summer wall and fence cover. Has nectar and flowers.

Ivy (Hedera helix) All-year-round wall and fence cover. Has nectar and flowers.

FLOWERS FOR NECTAR
Alyssum
Candytuft (Iberis)
Nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus).
Nicotiana
Night-scented stock (Matthiola bicornis).
Pot marigold (Calendula officinalis).

 

PLAN OF A SMALL ENCLOSED PATIO WITH CONTAINERS
Exit doorway on left with window on its left and window box outside window. Group of pots between door and window. Another group of pots in corner after window with one of the pots containing a tree. A wall basket between that corner and the corner on the right where a barrel with ivy is growing up the wall. A bench is half-way down to the bottom right corner with its pot group and a pile of logs. A bird table is half-way across to the bottom left corner with its large pot." - Use a 4 inch (10 cm) plastic pipe through the wall to allow non-flying creatures access from the public area outside to your garden area.

The following Growing Marsh Plants in Containers is from The Wildlife Garden Month-by-Month by Jackie Bennett. Published by David & Charles in 1993. ISBN
0 7153 0033 4 :-

Where space is limited, or simply as an alternative to conventional patio plants, it is possible to grow moisture-loving species in pots and tubs. The container needs to retain water - a terracotta pot which has a porouus structure would not be suitable, but a glazed ceramic pot would work well. Plastic pots can also be used - like the self-watering containers detailed in the Vegetable Gallery Site Map Page. Choose a pot at least 12 (30) deep and 16 (40) across. The best way to ensure the compost stays wet is to stand the whole pot in a substantial tray of water, so that the marsh can draw up moisture as it is needed (there is a water reservoir in the self-watering pots detailed above). Ordinary plant saucers will not hold enough water, and something deeper like a large kitchen roasting tin, which may not look so elegant, will do the job more effectively.
Spring is an ideal time to plant moisture-loving plants. Fill the container with a loam-based potting compost, insert the plants and water until soaked. Choose plants that won't outgrow the limited space too quickly. Include a selection of tall-growing species like purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria), sweet flag (Acorus calamus) and ragged robin (Lychnis flos-cuculi) alongside smaller plants like bogbean (Menyanthes trifoliata) and x-lips (Primula elatior). Avoid lady's smock (Cardamine pratensis) and water mint (Mentha aquatica) which can spread too quickly.
Keep the water in the base tray topped up, using rainwater collected in a water butt where possible. Keeping the tray full of water is particularly important in long, hot, dry spells, although in spring and autumn the naturall rainfall will probably be adequate. Cut back the foliage in the autumn to prevent the pots becoming choked with decaying material. Repot the plants every 2 or 3 years when they start to outgrow their containers. In the second year after planting, the plants may have used up the nutrients in the compost and will need an extra boost from a slow-release fertiliser.

MOISTURE-LOVING NATIVE PLANTS
Plant / Use of Plant

 

Height


 

 

Flower Colour

 

Flowering Time
 

Bog Bean (Menyanthes trifoliata) /
Moths

10 (25)

White

Mid-Summer

Globe Flower
(Trollius europaeus /

24 (60)

Yellow

Early Summer

Oxlip
(Primula elatior) /
Bee plant,
Butterfly nectar plant

6 (15)

Pale Yellow

Late spring

Primrose
(Primula vulgaris) /
Butterfly nectar plant

4 (10)

Pale Yellow

Mid-spring

Purple Loosestrife
(Lythrum salicaria) /
Bee plant,
Butterfly nectar plant

36 (90)

Pink-purple

Summer

Ragged Robin
(Lychnis flos-cuculi) /
Butterfly nectar plant

24 (60)

Pink

Summer

Sweet Flag
(Acorus calamus) /
 

24 (60)

Green

Mid-summer

Bog Arum
(Calla palustris) /

Naturalised in places in Britain

6 (15)

Yellow-green

Summer

Hemp Agrimony
(Eupatorium cannabinum) /
Bee plant,
Butterfly nectar plant

48 (120)

Reddish-pink

Late summer

Lady's Smock
(Cardamine pratensis) /
Attractive to Hoverflies,
Caterpillar food plant,
Butterfly nectar plant

9 (23)

Pale pink

Spring

Marsh Betony
(Stachys palustris) /
Bee plant

12 (30)

Purple

Summer

Marsh Cinquefoil
(Potentilla palustris) /
 

9 (23)

Dark red

Summer

Marsh St John's Wort
(Hypericum elodes) /

6 (15)

Pale yellow

Summer

Meadowsweet
(Filipendula ulmaria) /

36 (90)

Creamy-white

Summer

The following Planning a Herb Bed or Garden is from The Wildlife Garden Month-by-Month by Jackie Bennett. Published by David & Charles in 1993. ISBN
0 7153 0033 4 :-

TOP HERBS FOR WILDLIFE
Although there are a huge number of culinary and medicinal herbs which can be grown, not all are relevant to wildlife. The herbs in the fourth column describe the best herbs for attracting garden wildlife.

PREPARING THE SITE
The best location for a herb bed is one which gets a lot of sun and where the soil is already well drained. Most herbs dislike getting waterlogged roots and can tolerate almost drought conditions - in fact, those like rosemary and marjoram with Mediterranean ancestry, improve in taste, scent and flower growth in a sunny location.

If the soil is not ideal (heavy clay for instance), it is possible to add some coarse grit to aid drainage. However, it might be smpler and more productive to grow the herbs in pots - like the self-watering containers detailed in the Vegetable Gallery Site Map Page, putting in a good layer of gravel before adding the compost.

The ground should be dug thoroughly, removing any weeds --->

and large stones. Lay brick paths, edging tiles or wooden dividers before planting the herbs.

HERBS FOR LESS-THAN-IDEAL CONDITIONS
Although most herbs prefer a sunny position in a well-drained soil, there are some which will tolerate shade and a heavier soil. The resulting plants may not do as well but there is no need to give up the idea of growing herbs altogether and the wildlife will still find them useful.

Mint (Mentha) can tolerate shade although it does tend to grow towards the light and become crooked and leggy.

Tansy (Tanecetum vulgare) is an excellent native plant for butterflies and it is not too fussy about growing conditions.

Lovage (Levisticum officinale), a relative of the fennel, is also worth growing for its young leaves which add a celery flavour to soups and stews. It will grow quite adequately in a dark, damp spot and the flowers produced, although not as abundant as they should be, will provide nectar for hoverflies, wasps and bees.

Comfrey (Symphytum x uplandicum) should be included purely for its leaves which are a reliable food source for moth and butterfly caterpillars.

Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) is another strong grower in less than ideal conditions. Its white or pale yellow flowers rely on bees for their pollination.

--->

Garden chervil (Anthriscus cerefolium) is an annual herb, greatly prized for the flavour of its parsley-like leaves. It will tolerate some shade, but prefers a well-drained soil.

Great burnet (Sanguisorba officinalis) is a tall native herb that prefers a damp habitat and a heavy clay soil. The tiny crimson flowers appear from mid-summer to early autumn.

Angelica (Angelica archangelica), originally from central Europe, is widely naturalised in Britain. It will do well in a shady spot in damp soil and has huge seedheads in early autumn.

PLANTING AND MAINTENANCE CALENDAR
Late Summer - prepare site

Autumn - Plant shrubs and pot-grown perennials

Spring - Sow seeds of annuals

Late Spring - Sow seeds of biennials

Summer - Keep beds free of weeds; water container plants. Adas Colour Atlas of Weed Seedlings by J.B Williams and J.R. Morrison provides photos to the 40 most common weeds afflicting gardens and arable farm land. ISBN 0-7234-0929-3

Instead of snipping off the flowers as they appear, leave a few plants of parsley, mint, marjoram and lemon balm to flower naturally. Many more insects will visit the plants and consequently the herb garden will be a richer feeding ground for birds.

TOP HERBS FOR WILDLIFE
Herb - Angelica (Angelica archangelica)
Type - Biennial
wildflower value - Flowers - hoverflies, bees.
Leaves - butterflies, caterpillars.
Seedheads - greenfinches, bluetits

Borage (borago officinalis)
Annual
Flowers - bees

Chives (Allium schoenoprasum)
Perennial
Flowers - bees, butterflies

Comfrey (Symphytum uplandicum)
Perennial
Leaves - moths, butterflies

Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare0
Perennial
Flowers - bees, wasps, hoverflies
Leaves - caterpillars

Hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis)
Perennial
Flowers - lacewings, bees

Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)
Shrub
Flowers - bees, butterflies

Marjoram (Origanum vulgare)
Perennial
Flowers - bees, butterflies

Mint (Mentha - all types)
Perennial
Flowers - bees, butterflies, moths

Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)
Shrub
Flowers - bees, butterflies, hoverflies

Thyme (Thymus - all types)
Perennial / shrub
Flowers - bees, butterflies

The following Recommended Bulbs is from The Wildlife Garden Month-by-Month by Jackie Bennett. Published by David & Charles in 1993. ISBN
0 7153 0033 4 :-

RECOMMENDED BULBS
Name - Bluebell (Scilla non-scripta)
Use of plant - Bee plant, Butterfly nectar plant
Site - Hedgerows, woodland
Depth of soil above the bulb - 2 (5)

Crocus (Purple) (Crocus tomasinianus)
Butterfly nectar plant
Lawns, borders, under deciduous trees. 3 (8)

Crocus (Yellow) (Crocus chrysanthus)
Butterfly nectar plant
Lawns, borders, under deciduous trees. 3(8)

Grape Hyacinth (Muscari neglectum)
Bee plant, Butterfly nectar plant.
Lawns, borders.
3 (8)

Ramsons Garlic (Allium ursinum)
Butterfly nectar plant. 3 (8)

Snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis)
Under deciduous trees, shady borders. 2 (5)

Wild Daffodil (Narcissus pseudonarcissus)
Bee plant.
Lawns, banks. 3 (8)

Winter Aconite (Eranthis hyemalis)
Under deciduous trees, shady borders. 2 (5)

The following Incorporating Wildfflowers into an existing lawn is from The Wildlife Garden Month-by-Month by Jackie Bennett. Published by David & Charles in 1993. ISBN
0 7153 0033 4 :-

INCORPORATING WILDFLOWERS INTO AN EXISTING LAWN
There are basically 2 ways of doing this, both of which can be implemented in early autumn. The first involves sowing seed, the second planting pot-grown plants. Whichever method is chosen, the best results will be obtained with a lawn that is already patchy and weak in growth. The lush green grass of a well-fed lawn is likely to swamp any wildflowers that are introduced.

SOWING WILDFLOWER SEED INTO AN EXISTING LAWN
Begin by giving the lawn a thorough raking with a metal rake to remove moss, dead grass and leaves. Water thoroughly and sow the seed at the manufacturer's recommended rate.

ADDING POT-GROWN WILDFLOWERS TO AN EXISTING LAWN
After the last cut of the season is a good time to put in pot-grown wildflowers. More and more nurseries are stocking wildflowers in pots, but remember to choose species which will suit your intended regime of meadow maintenance. Place the plants in groups, with individual plants 8-16 (20-40) apart. Remove a plug of earth the same size as the pot, using a bulb planter or trowel. Knock the plants from their pots and place them in the holes, firming down the soil and watering well afterwards.

TYPICAL MEADOW MIXTURE
20% Flowering native perennials (as below)
40% Crested dog-tail (native grass)
30% Fescue (non-native grass)
10% Bent (lawn grass)

SPRING-FLOWERING MEADOW PERENNIALS
Bladder campion (Silene vulgaris)
Cowslip (Primula veris)
Lady's bedstraw (Galium verum)
Meadow buttercup (Ranunculus acris)

SUMMER-FLOWERING MEADOW PERENNIALS
Betony (stachys officinalis)
Bird's foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus)
Field scabious (Knautia arvensis)
Greater Knapweed
(Centaurea scabiosa)
Meadow cranesbill (Geranium pratense)
Musk mallow (Malva moschata)
Ox-eye daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare)
Rough hawkbit (Leontodon hispidus)
Selfheal (Prunella vulgaris)

 

Lindum Turf sell wildflower Mats for your new wildflower lawn instead of part of your old lawn

as
well as
Lindum's Wildflower Mat on Lindum's extensive green roof substrate for use as a Wildflower Green Roof

or
could be used to create a wildflower lawn on a back garden, whose ground is currently covered in concrete, tarmac, brick or stone.

The following Establishing a 'No Go' Area is from The Wildlife Garden Month-by-Month by Jackie Bennett. Published by David & Charles in 1993. ISBN
0 7153 0033 4 :-

It is important to nominate a part of the garden as a 'no-go' area for humans, which can be left deliberately untidy. Usually this is some spot well away from the house and preferably shielded by shrubs or trees, but it might equally be behind a garden shed or garage.

 

THE WOODPILE
Old untreated timber or unwanted logs can be piled up to provide shelter for a range of creatures. Choose a shady spot to prevent the wood from drying out in the sun. If possible, use a mixture of native woods such as elm, oak or ash which will guarantee a wider range of insect species. Logs 6-9 (15-23) in diameter make a good pile.

The first wildlife to inhabit the pile will probably be fungi in the early autumn, but in time it will become home to spiders, beetles, wood wasps, solitary bees, slugs and snails. These will then attract bird predators, particularly wrens and blackbirds, who will pick over the pile in search of a meal. The insects will also provide food for wood mice, voles and hedgehogs.

First-year newts, after leaving the pond, may well spend large amounts of time in the damp shelter of a log pile.

---->

GROWING NETTLES FOR BUTTERFLIES
Stinging nettles are the caterpillar food plants for commas, peacocks, red admirals, and small tortoiseshells who all rely on nettle leaves and shoots for their survival. If there is an existing nettle patch, this may need to be contained with a fence, wall or path. Better still, clumps of nettles can be transferred to large tubs or barrels sunk into the ground to prevent the roots from encroaching into the garden proper.

As the emerging caterpillars prefer fresh, new leaves to feed on, it is a good idea to cut back half the patch in early or mid-summer to encourage new growth. This is particularly important for commas and small tortoiseshells who regularly have 2 broods a year - the first in the spring, the second in mid-summer. The adults will seek out the new shoots to lay their eggs.

Nettles can be introduced into the garden if they are not growing naturally. In late winter, dig up some roots about 4 (10) long which are bearing yound shoots. Bury the roots in pots of garden soil and keep cutting back the shoots to 3 (7.5). By late spring the new plants can be put out into the untidy area.

The life-cycle of many butterflies extends over much of the year, so if you can put the plants that are used in its 4 stages in that untidy area, then it is more likely that you will see the butterfly, since YOU WILL NEVER BE TIDYING UP THAT NO-GO AREA. ---->

LEAF PILES AND HEDGEHOG HABITATS
if hedgehogs are to take up residence in the garden, they need a dry, secure place for hibernation from late autumn to early spring. A pile of dead leaves or garden prunings heaped into a corner will often be acceptable, but it is also possible to contruct a hibernation 'box'.

Use an upturned wooden box (untreated wood) and cut an entrance out of one of the side panels, 4-5 (10-12) square. This is large enough to allow the hedgehog to enter but small enough to prevent dogs or foxes getting in.

A covered entrance tunnel can also be constructed using 2 rows of house bricks stood on their sides and a plank of wood. This helps to keep the interior of the box dry, but is not essential.

Cover the box with a sheet of polythene to keep out the rain, and a mound of dry leaves or brushwood to disguise the exterior. Add a handful of straw or dry leaves as bedding.

HABITAT BOOSTERS
Asheet of corrugated iron does not look very attractive, but if you happen to have one lying around, it is worth keeping. As the sun warms the metal, the 'tunnels' beneath become inviting resting quarters for slow worms and grass snakes. Equally, an old paving slab laid over a hollow in the ground and in a shady spot makes a damp hiding place for frogs and toads.

The following Planting in Gravel and Paving is from The Wildlife Garden Month-by-Month by Jackie Bennett. Published by David & Charles in 1993. ISBN
0 7153 0033 4 :-

Many plants enjoy the dry growing conditions and refected warmth of gravel, stone chippings or paving. It is relatively easy to incorporate native species into existing paving schemes or to lay areas of gravel.

MAKING A GRAVEL BED
The underlying soil should be well-drained and gritty. If it is too heavy, mix it with equal parts of rock chippings or gravel. If the ground area is concrete/ tarmac/ stone/ paver or brick, cover the area with a layer of equal parts of top dressing and stone chippings to a 2 (5cm) depth, before continuing as below.

Cover the area with a layer of sand 1 (2.5) deep.

Finish the bed with a 1 (2.5) layer of gravel or 0.25 (0.5) stone chippings.

Water plants well before removing them from their pots. Use a narrow trowel to make holes the same size as the root ball and firm them in gently.

Water new plants thoroughly and sprinkle more gravel over the surface if necessary

PLANTING IN PAVING
If new paths or patios are to be laid, it is worth considering leaving some gaps between the paving stones as planting pockets. If the stones are already laid, it is still possible to incorporate a wide range of species.

The simplest way is to take up some of the stones, perhaps create a chequeboard effect. This is better done in a random pattern, rather than taking out every other stone. The earth beneath the stones shuld be workable and weed-free. Dig out the earth to a depth of 6-9 (15-23) and mix with an equal quantity of gravel or stone chippings. Replace the soil mixture and plant in the normal way.

Brick paths or patios can be planted in the same way. Take out any bricks that are already damaged or crumbling and fill the gaps as above.

PLANTS FOR PAVING AND GRAVEL
The following plants will thrive in a shallow, well-drained soil in full sun and will self-seed easily:

Broom
(Cytisus scoparius)
Native or naturalised species, Bee plant

Common Toadflax
Native or naturalised species, Bee plant

Globe Thistle
(Echinops sphaerocephalus)
Bee plant, Butterfly nectar plant

Great Mullein
(Verbascum phlomoides)
Native or naturalised species, Large number of associated insects

Hawkweed
(Hieracium murorum)
Native or naturalised species

Lady's Bedstraw
(Galium verum)
Native or naturalised species

Maiden Pink
(Dianthus deltoides)
Native or naturalised species

Thyme
(Thymus species) Especially the native Thymus praecox
Bee plant

Trailing St John's Wort
(Hypericum humifusum)
Native or naturalised species

White Campion
(Silene latifolia)
Native or naturalised species

Yarrow
(Achillea millefolium)
Native or naturalised species

The following Constructing a Rock Bank is from The Wildlife Garden Month-by-Month by Jackie Bennett. Published by David & Charles in 1993. ISBN
0 7153 0033 4 :-

If the garden has no manmade rock garden or natural outcrops of rock for planting, it is possible to make a rock bank to provide a useful wildlife habitat. This is a simple construction and far less costly than a full-scale rock garden.

Stack the stones randomly to form a double-sided wall to the desired height and length.

Between each layer of stones, add a mixture of stone chippings or gravel and loam potting compost (this makes a good growing medium for rock plants, but if not available any poor, stony garden soil can be substituted). There are better soil mixtures detailed for many rock garden plants in Colour Wheel Rock Gallery.

Leave some gaps between the stones without any soil, to allow access to the interior for small mammals and creatures.

Lay more stones or rocks across the top of the structure to form a 'lid'. The planting pockets can be planted with any of the rock or wall plants listed in the next column and the column below it.

RECOMMENDED PLANTS FOR ROCK BANKS AND GARDENS
Plant - Cheddar Pink
(Dianthus gratiano-poliatanus)
Flower - Early Summer
Height - 8 (20)
Wildlife value - Moths, butterflies

Common Pink
(Dianthus plumarius)
Summer 8 (20)
Bees

Hairy Thyme
(Thymus praecox)
Summe 3-4 (8-10)
Bees

Harebell
(Campanula rotundifolia)
Late summer
12 (30)
Bees

Hebe 'Autumn Glory'
Autumn
24-36 x 24-36
(60-90 x 60-90)
Butterflies

Hebe 'Carl Teschner'
Summer
12 x 24-36
(30 x 60-90)
Hoverflies, bees

Herb Robert
(Geranium robertianum)
Summer 12 (30)
Bees

Ling (Heather)
(Calluna vulgaris)
Late summer
12-24 x (30-60 x )
Ground cover for birds, grass snakes and slow worms

Purple Saxifrage
(Saxifraga oppositifolia)
Summer 3 (8)
Butterflies, bees

Rock Rose
Bees, insects

Spring Gentian
Butterflies, bees

The following Planting a Native Hedge is from The Wildlife Garden Month-by-Month by Jackie Bennett. Published by David & Charles in 1993. ISBN
0 7153 0033 4 :-

Different types of hedges were planted for different purposes: a double hedge would mark an important boundary whilst a hedge designed to contain livestock would be particularly impenetrable at the base. Almost incidentally they became shelters and pathways for wildlife, harbouring birds, mammals and insects. In the garden, a hedge of native species can serve both as a wildlife provider and as an effective division between neighbouring plots.

CHOOSING THE SPECIES
The use of only 1 species in a hedge as a wildlife corridor is limited. A mixed hedge provides a much wider resource and a greater number of animal and flower species will soon become associated with it. A balanced hedge might include a large proportion of one of the mainstay species such as hawthorn, which forms a dense, thorny structure, as well as blossoms and berries. This may be interspersed with 4 or 5 other species which flower and fruit at different times, and should include at least 1 evergreen to provide shelter in winter.

TREES/SHRUBS SUITABLE FOR HEDGING

Alder Buckthorn
(Frangula alnus)
Deciduous, fruit

Beech
(Fagus sylvatica)
Slow-growing, deciduous, autumn colour

Blackthorn
(Prunus spinosa)
Deciduous, blossom, fruit

Crab Apple
(Malus sylvestris)
Deciduous, blossom, fruit

Dog Rose
(Rosa canina)
Deciduous, blossom, hips

Elm
(Ulmus procera)
Deciduous

Field Maple
(Acer campestre)
Deciduous, autumn colour

Hawthorn
(Crataegus monogyna)
Deciduous, blossom, berries

Hazel
(Corylus avellana)
Deciduous, catkins, nuts

Holly
(Ilex aquifolium)
Slow-growing, evergreen, berries

Wild Privet
(Ligustrum ovalifolium)
Quick-growing, evergreen

Yew
(Taxus baccata)
Slow-growing, evergreen

HOW TO PLANT A HEDGE

Choose two-year-old seedlings, which are large enough to handle, but should not need staking.

Mark out the length of the hedge with canes and string. It does not have to be a straight line, a curving hedge works just as well.

Dig a trench in front of the line, 24 (60) wide and 18 (45) deep, running the entire length of the proposed hedge. Remove weed roots and large stones whilst digging.

Add a layer of organic matter (garden compost or well-rotted manure) and mix with the loose soil at the bottom of the trench.

Set the plants, 12-18 (30-45) apart and at the same depth as they were in the nursery (shown by the soil mark on the stem), adding more soil to the bottom of the trench, if necessary, to ensure the plant will sit at the right depth.

Holding the plant upright, fill around the roots with loose soil, until it reaches the soil mark, firming it down well.

IMMEDIATE AFTERCARE

Water the new plants thoroughly, making sure the water soaks down around the roots. Cut back the top and side growths by at least one third - this will encourage side branching and bushy growth.

WILDLIFE USES FOR HEDGING

Caterpillars of brimstone butterflies feed on alder buckthorn.

Blackthorn, hawthorn, hazel and privet provide nectar for many species of butterfly.

Thrushes, dunnocks, garden warblers and finches use the hedgerow for nesting

Hedgehogs, voles and woodmice shelter and feed in the hedge bottom.

Hawthorn, blackthorn and holly provide berries for birds in winter

FLOWERING WALL PLANTS
Small-leaved Cotoneaster
(Cotoneaster microphyllus)
Fruit / berries / nuts for birds / mammals

Hoary Cinquefoil
(Potentilla argentea)
Butterfly nectar plant, Bee plant

Houseleek
(Sempervivum tectorum)
Large number of associated insects

Ivy-leaved Toadflax
(Cymbalaria muralis)
Butterfly nectar plant, Bee plant

London Pride
(Saxifraga x urbinum)
Butterfly nectar plant

Red Valerian
(Centranthus ruber)
Native or naturalised species

Round-leaved Cranesbill
(Geranium rotundifolium)
Native or naturalised species

Stonecrops
Biting stonecrop (sedum acre)
White stonecrop
(Sedum album)
Butterfly nectar plants

Wallflower
(Cheiranthus cheiri)
Butterfly nectar plant

Wall Rocket
(Diplotaxis tenuifolia)
Bee plant

Arabis
(Arabis albida)
Bee plant, Butterfly nectar plant.

Yellow Corydalis
(Corydalis lutea)
 

The following Planting a Native Hedge is from The Wildlife Garden Month-by-Month by Jackie Bennett. Published by David & Charles in 1993. ISBN
0 7153 0033 4 :-

MAINTENANCE

Each spring, whilst the hedge is still forming, prune the top and side shoots by one third. Do not leave the central stem to grow to the desired height of the hedge before cutting back. Regular pruning will ensure that by the time the hedge does reach its final height, it will have developed a strong, dense framework

It is a good idea to apply a mulch of garden compost, leaf mould or chopped bark around the plants each spring (if you have trees growing besides the public road on its verge, then in the autumn when its leaves fall to the ground below, you can use your rotary mower to mow them up and put them as a mulch in the the hedge bottom.). This will discourage weeds (which may strangle the young hedge) and form a good environment for hedgerow plants and microscopic creatures. Adas Colour Atlas of Weed Seedlings by J.B Williams and J.R. Morrison provides photos to the 40 most common weeds afflicting gardens and arable farm land. ISBN 0-7234-0929-3

CLIPPING

The main difference between conventional hedge care and those managed for wildlife is in the clipping. Wildlife hedges should never be clipped before nesting is completely finished; usually it is safe to do so in late summer or early autumn, but in doubt, leave until the winter.

WILDLIFE TO EXPECT

Blackbirds, thrushes, dunnocks, sparrows, greenfinches and bullfinches all prefer the dense, protected growth of a hedge to any other nesting site. They will be joined in the summer, by shy, ground-feeding wrens, who search the leaf litter beneath the hedge for spiders and other insects. Many other garden birds like tits and robins will use the hedge simply as a convenient perch, for picking off caterpillars from the leafy growth. The hedge foliage is a particularly good breeding ground for moths such as the privet hawkmoth, garden spiders who leave their mark in the shape of finely woven webs and the often heard, but rarely seen, bush cricket. At ground level, the wildlife residents are most likely to be hedgehogs, wood mice and bank voles, although toads and frogs often hide in the shelter of a hedge bottom. In time a native hedge will become a busy wildlife corridor offering shelter, food and a convenient route from one part of the garden to another

HEDGEROW FLOWERS

Although the soil at the base of the hedge may be poor, a surprising number of wildflowers seem to thrive here. The orientation of the hedge will determine which flowers may be grown. South-facing hedges receive a good deal of sun whilst north faces may be in almost complete shade. Choose a selection of plants to suit the position of your hedge.
Most of the hedgerow flowers tolerate a dry, poor soil, but 1 or 2 such as primroses and lesser celandines need to be kept moist. Unless the hedge is by a stream or pool, it is unlikely that their needs will be met; they would be happier in a damp ditch or marshy area.
Pot-grown plants can be planted out any time from spring to autumn. In the first 2 years of the hedge's growth, avoid putting in the taller plants, such as sweet cicely, which may compete with the new hedging. It is also advisable to wait until the hedge is well-established (5 years or more) before putting in hedgerow climbers, like traveller's joy (Clematis vitalba). Its scrambling habit is ideal for dense, well-grown hedges, but it can easily strangle younger plants.
It is best to use small, healthy plants for the hedge bottom and not seedlings, whose roots may not be sufficiently developed to cope with the poor soil. Insert the new plants with a trowel and water thoroughly. Water regularly for the first 2 weeks - particularly if there is a hot, dry spell.

RECOMMENDED NATIVE HEDGEROW FLOWERS

Plant - Betony (Stachys officinalis)
Type - Perennial
Position -Sun or shade
Soil - Any
Wildlife value - bees, butterflies

Bluebell
(Scilla non-scripta)
Bulb
Sun or shade
Any
Bees, butterflies

Common Dog Violet
(Viola riviana)
Perennial
Part shade
Any
Caterpillar food plant for fritillary butterflies

Garlic Mustard
(Alliaria petiolata)
Biennial
Part shade
Any
Caterpillar food for orange tips, tortoiseshells and whites butterflies

Greater Stitchwort
(Stellaria holostea)
Perennial
Part shade
Any
Bees, moths, butterflies

Hedge Wounwort
(Stachys sylvatica)
Perennial
Part shade
Any
Bees, butterflies

Hedgerow Cranesbill
(Geranium pyrenaicum)
Perennial
Part shade
Any

Lesser Celandine
(Ranunculus ficaria)
Perennial
Part shade
Damp
Bees, butterflies
 

Primrose
(Primula vulgaris)
Perennial
Sun or shade
Damp
Butterflies (whites)

Red Campion
(Silene Dioca)
Perennial
Sun or shade
Any
Butterflies

Selfheal
(Prunella vulgaris)
Perennial
Sun or shade
Any
Bees, butterflies

Sweet Cicely
(Myrrhis odorata)
Perennial
Sun or shade
Any
Bees

White Deadnettle
(Lamium maculatum album)
Perennial
Sun or shade
Any
Bees

From the Ivydene Gardens Box to Crowberry Wild Flower Families Gallery:
Cornel Family

 

The Bumblebee Pages website is divided into five major areas:

• Bumblebees which deals solely with bumblebees, and was the original part of the site.
• Invertebrates, which deals with all the other invertebrates.
• Homework answers, where you'll find hints and tips to common questions set as biology, ecology, botany, zoology homework, there are also definitions of common terms in biology.
• Window box gardens, this was started when we were exiled to central Paris, and 2 north-facing window boxes were all the garden available, however it was amazing the wildlife those window boxes attracted. You'll find plant lists, hints and tips, etc.
• Torphins, this is the village in north-east Scotland where we are now located. In this part of the site you can find photographs of invertebrates found locally, where to see them and when, also links to pages with more detailed information.

 

FORCED INDOOR BULBS in Window Box Gardens.
Once these have flowered don't throw them out. Cut off the heads (unless you want seed) then put them somewhere that the leaves can get the sun. This will feed the bulb for the next year. Once the leaves have died you can plant the bulbs outside and they will flower at the normal (unforced) time next year. The narcissus Tete-a-tete is particularly good, and provides early colour and a delicate fragrance too.
Below I have listed groups of plants. I have tried to include at least four plants in each list as you may not be able to find all of them, although, unless you have a very large windowbox, I would recommend that you have just three in each box.

 

Theme

Plants

Comments

 

Thyme

Thymus praecox, wild thyme

Thymus pulegioides

Thymus leucotrichus

Thymus citriodorus

Thymes make a very fragrant, easy to care for windowbox, and an excellent choice for windy sites. The flower colour will be pinky/purple, and you can eat the leaves if your air is not too polluted. Try to get one variegated thyme to add a little colour when there are no flowers.

 

Herb

Sage, mint, chives, thyme, rosemary

Get the plants from the herb section of the supermarket, so you can eat the leaves. Do not include basil as it need greater fertility than the others. Pot the rosemary up separately if it grows too large.

 

Mints

Mentha longifolia, horse mint

Mentha spicata, spear mint

Mentha pulgium, pennyroyal

Mentha piperita, peppermint

Mentha suaveolens, apple mint

Mints are fairly fast growers, so you could start this box with seed. They are thugs, though, and will very soon be fighting for space. So you will either have to thin and cut back or else you will end up with one species - the strongest. The very best mint tea I ever had was in Marrakesh. A glass full of fresh mint was placed in front of me, and boiling water was poured into it. Then I was given a cube of sugar to hold between my teeth while I sipped the tea. Plant this box and you can have mint tea for months.

 

Heather

Too many to list

See Heather Shrub gallery

For year-round colour try to plant varieties that flower at different times of year. Heather requires acid soils, so fertilise with an ericaceous fertilser, and plant in ericaceous compost. Cut back after flowering and remove the cuttings. It is best to buy plants as heather is slow growing.

 

Blue

Ajuga reptans, bugle

Endymion non-scriptus, bluebell

Myosotis spp., forget-me-not

Pentaglottis sempervirens, alkanet

This will give you flowers from March till July. The bluebells should be bought as bulbs, as seed will take a few years to flower. The others can be started from seed.

 

Yellow

Anthyllis vulneraria, kidney vetch

Geum urbanum, wood avens

Lathryus pratensis, meadow vetchling

Linaria vulgaris, toadflax

Lotus corniculatus, birdsfoot trefoil

Primula vulgaris, primrose

Ranunculus acris, meadow buttercup

Ranunculus ficaria, lesser celandine

These will give you flowers from May to October, and if you include the primrose, from February. Try to include a vetch as they can climb or trail so occupy the space that other plants can't. All can be grown from seed.

 

White

Trifolium repens, white clover

Bellis perennis, daisy

Digitalis purpurea alba, white foxglove

Alyssum maritimum

Redsea odorata, mignonette

All can be grown from seed. The clover and daisy will have to be cut back as they will take over. The clover roots add nitrogen to the soil. The mignonette flower doesn't look very special, but the fragrance is wonderful, and the alyssum smells of honey.

 

Pink

Lychnis flos-cucli, ragged robin

Scabiosa columbaria, small scabious

Symphytum officinale, comfrey

The comfrey will try to take over. Its leaves make an excellent fertiliser, and are very good on the compost heap, though windowbox gardeners rarely have one.

 

Fragrant

Lonicera spp., honeysuckle

Alyssum maritimum

Redsea odorata, mignonette

Lathyrus odoratus, sweet pea

The sweet pea will need twine or something to climb up, so is suitable if you have sliding windows or window that open inwards. You will be rewarded by a fragrant curtain every time you open your window.

 

Spring bulbs and late wildflowers

Galanthus nivalis, snowdrop

Narcissus pseudonarcissus, narcissius

Crocus purpureus, crocus

Cyclamen spp.

The idea of this box is to maximize your space. The bulbs (cyclamen has a corm) will flower and do their stuff early in the year. After flowering cut the heads off as you don't want them making seed, but leave the leaves as they fatten up the bulbs to store energy for next year. The foliage of the wildflowers will hide the bulb leaves to some extent. Then the wildflowers take over and flower till autumn

 

Aster spp., Michaelmas daisy

Linaria vulgaris, toadflax

Lonicera spp., honeysuckle

Succisa pratensis, devil's bit scabious

Mentha pulgium, pennyroyal

 

Butterfly Garden

 

 

 

Bee Garden in Europe or North America

 

 

 


 

BULB FLOWER SHAPE GALLERY PAGES

lessershapemeadowrue2a1a1a1a1a

alliumcflohaireasytogrowbulbs1a1a1

berberisdarwiniiflower10h3a14c2a1a1a

irisflotpseudacorus1a1a1

aethionemacfloarmenumfoord1a1a1

anemonecflo1hybridafoord1a1a1

anemonecflo1blandafoord1a1a1

Number of Flower Petals

Petal-less

1

2

3

4

5

Above 5

anthericumcfloliliagofoord1a1a1a

alliumcflo1roseumrvroger1a1a1

geraniumflocineremuballerina1a1a1a1a1a1a

paeoniamlokosewitschiiflot1a1a1a

paeoniaveitchiiwoodwardiiflot1a1a1

acantholinumcflop99glumaceumfoord1a1

stachysflotmacrantha1a1a1a

Flower Shape - Simple

Stars with Single Flowers

Bowls

Cups and Saucers

Globes

Goblets and Chalices

Trumpets

Funnels

 

digitalismertonensiscflorvroger1a1a1

fuchsiaflotcalicehoffman1a1a1a

ericacarneacflosspringwoodwhitedeeproot1a1a1a1

phloxflotsubulatatemiskaming1a1a1a

 

 

 

Flower Shape - Simple

Bells

Thimbles

Urns

Salverform

 

 

 

 

prunellaflotgrandiflora1a1a1

aquilegiacfloformosafoord1a1a1

acanthusspinosuscflocoblands1a1a1

lathyrusflotvernus1a1a1

anemonecflo1coronariastbrigidgeetee1a1a1

echinaceacflo1purpurealustrehybridsgarnonswilliams1a1a1

centaureacfloatropurpureakavanagh1a1a1

Flower Shape - Elabor-ated

Tubes, Lips and Straps

Slippers, Spurs and Lockets

Hats, Hoods and Helmets

Stan-dards, Wings and Keels

Discs and Florets

Pin-Cushions

Tufts and Petal-less Cluster

 

androsacecforyargongensiskevock1a1a1

androsacecflorigidakevock1a1a1

argyranthemumflotcmadeiracrestedyellow1a1a1

armeriacflomaritimakevock1a1a1

anemonecflonemerosaalbaplenarvroger1a1a1

 

 

Flower Shape - Elabor-ated

Cushion

Umbel

Buttons with Double Flowers

Pompoms

Stars with Semi-Double Flowers

 

 

 

bergeniamorningredcforcoblands1a1a1a

ajugacfloreptansatropurpurea1a1a1

lamiumflotorvala2a1a1a

astilbepurplelancecflokevock1a1a1a

berberisdarwiniiflower10h3a1433a1a1a1a1a

berberisdarwiniiflower10h3a1434a1a1a1a1a

androsacecfor1albanakevock1a1a1

Natural Arrange-ments

Bunches, Posies and Sprays (Group)

Columns, Spikes and Spires

Whorls, Tiers and Cande-labra

Plumes and Tails

Chains and Tassels

Clouds, Garlands and Cascades

Sphere, Dome (Clusters), Drumstick and Plate

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FURTHER BULB FLOWER SHAPE GALLERY PAGES


Bulbs - a complete handbook of bulbs, corms and tubers by Roy Genders. Published in 1973 by Robert Hale & Company.
Contents

History, Culture and Characteristics

  • Early History
  • Botanical Characteristics of Bulbs, Corms and Tubers
  • Propagation
  • Bulbs in the Woodland Garden
  • Bulbs in Short Grass is detailed in Ivydene Gardens Bulb, Corm, Rhizome and Tuber Gallery Site Map
  • Bulbs in the Shrubbery
  • Spring Bedding
  • Summer Bedding
  • A border of bulbs
  • Bulbs for the alpine garden
  • Bulbs for trough garden and window box-
  • Bulbs for alpine house and frame
  • Bulbs in the home
  • Scent in bulbs
  • Diseases and pests of bulbs and corms

Alphabetical Guide - Pages 154-543 provides an Alphabetical Guide to these bulbs, with each genus having a description with details of culture, propagation and details of each of its species and varieties:-
"Cardiocrinum (Liliaceae)
A genus of three species, native of the Himalayas and eastern Asia, which at one time were included in the genus Lilium. They differ in that their bulbs have few scales, while the seed capsules are toothed. They are plants of dense woodlands of Assam and Yunnan, where the rainfall is the highest in the world and they grow best in shade and in a moist humus-laden soil. The basal leaves are cordate, bright-green and glossy; the flowers trumpet-like with reflexed segments. They are borne in umbels of 10 to 20 on stems 10 to 12 ft (120-144 inches, 300 to 360 centimetres) tall. In their native land they are found growing with magnolias and rhododendrons.
Culture
The bulbs are dark green and as large as a hockey ball. Plant 24 (60) apart early in spring, away from a frost pocket, and with the top part exposed. Three bulbs planted together in a spinney or in a woodland clearing will present a magnificent site when in bloom. They require protection from the heat of summer and a cool root run; they are also gross feeders so the soil should be enriched with decayed manure and should contain a large amount of peat or leaf-mould. The bulbs will begin to grow in the warmth of spring, and by early June the flower stems will have attained a height of 96 (240) or more and will be bright green with a few scattered leaves. The basal leaves will measure 10 (25) wide, like those of the arum. The flowers appear in July and last only a few days to be replaced by attractive large seed pods, while the handsome basal leaves remain green until the autumn. The flower stems are hollow.
Propagation
After flowering and the dying back of the leaves, the bulb also dies. Early in November it should be dug up, when it will be seen that three to 5 small bulbs are clustered around it. These are replanted 24 (60) apart with the nose exposed and into soil that has been deeply worked and enriched with leaf mould and decayed manure. They will take two years to bear bloom, but if several are planted each year there will always be some at the flowering stage. To protect them from frost, the newly planted bulbs should be given a deep mulch either of decayed leaves or peat shortly after planting, while additional protection may be given by placing fronds of bracken or hurdles over the mulch.
Plants may be raised from seed sown in a frame in a sandy compost or in boxes in a greenhouse. If the seed is sown in September when harvested, it will germinare in April. In autumn the seedlings will be ready to transplant into a frame or into boxes, spacing them 3 (7.5) apart. They need moisture while growing but very little during winter when dormant. In June they will be ready to move to their flowering quarters such as a clearing in a woodland where the ground has been cleaned of perennial weeds and fortified with humus and plant food. Plant 24 (60) apart and protect the young plants until established with low boards erected around them. They will bloom in about eight years from sowing time.
Species
Cardiocrinum cathayanum. Native of western and central China, it will grow 36-48 (90-120) tall and halfway up the stem produces a cluster of oblong leaves. The funnel-shaped flowers are borne three to five to each stem and appear in an umbel at the top. They are white or cream, shaded with green and spotted with brown and appear early in July. The plant requires similar conditions to Cardiocrinum giganteum and behaves in like manner.
Cardiocrinum cordatum. Native of Japan, it resembles Cardiocrinum giganteum with its heart-shaped basal leaves, which grow from the scales of the greenish-white bulb and which, like those of the paeony (with which it may be planted), first appear bronzey-red before turning green. The flowers are produced horizontally in sixes or eights at the end of a 72 (180) stem and are ivory-white shaded green on the outside, yellow in the throat and spotted with purple. They are deliciously scented.
Cardiocrinum giganteum. Native of Assam and the eastern Himalayas where it was found by Dr Wallich in 1816 in the rain-saturated forests. It was first raised from seed and distributed by the Botanical Gardens of Dublin, and first flowered in the British Isles at Edinburgh in 1852. Under conditions it enjoys, it will send up its hollow green stems (which continue to grow until autumn) to a height of 120-144 (300-360), each with as many as 10 to 20 or more funnel-shaped blooms 6 (15) long. The flowers are white, shaded green on the outside and reddish-purple in the throat. Their scent is such that when the air is calm the plants may be detected from a distance of 100 yards = 3600 inches = 9000 centimetres. Especially is their fragrance most pronounced at night. The flowers droop downwards and are at their best during July and August. The large basal leaves which surround the base of the stem are heart-shaped and short-stalked."

with these Appendices:-
 

A -
Planting Depths (Out-doors)

B -
Bulbs and their Habitat

C -
Planting and Flowering Times for Out-door Cult-ivation

D -
Flowering Times for Indoor Bulbs

E -
Bulbs with Scented Flowers

F -
Common Names of Bulbous plants

G -
From Sowing time to Bloom

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Bulbs in Cultivation including vital bulb soil preparation from

Bulbs for Small Garden by E.C.M. Haes. Published by Pan Books in 1967:-

Bulbs in the Small Garden with Garden Plan and its different bulb sections

A choice of Outdoor Bulbs

False Bulbs

Bulbs Indoors

Bulb Calendar

Planting Times and Depth

Composts

Bulb Form

Mat-Forming

Prostrate or Trailing

Cushion or Mound-forming

Spreading or Creeping

Clump-forming

Stemless. Sword-shaped Leaves

Erect or Upright

Bulb Use

Other than Only Green Foliage

Bedding or Mass Planting

Ground-Cover

Cut-Flower
1
, 2

Tolerant of Shade

In Woodland Areas

Under-plant

Tolerant of Poor Soil

Covering Banks

In Water

Beside Stream or Water Garden

Coastal Conditions

Edging Borders

Back of Border or Back-ground Plant

Fragrant Flowers

Not Fragrant Flowers

Indoor House-plant

Grow in a Patio Pot
1
, 2

Grow in an Alpine Trough

Grow in an Alpine House

Grow in Rock Garden

Speciman Plant

Into Native Plant Garden

Naturalize in Grass

Grow in Hanging Basket

Grow in Window-box

Grow in Green-house

Grow in Scree

 

 

Natural-ized Plant Area

Grow in Cottage Garden

Attracts Butter-flies

Attracts Bees

Resistant to Wildlife

Bulb in Soil

Chalk 1, 2

Clay

Sand 1, 2

Lime-Free (Acid)

Peat

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bulb Height from Text Border

Brown= 0-12 inches (0-30 cms)

Blue = 12-24 inches (30-60 cms)

Green= 24-36 inches (60-90 cms)

Red = 36+ inches (90+ cms)

Bulb Soil Moisture from Text Background

Wet Soil

Moist Soil

Dry Soil

Flowering months range abreviates month to its first 3 letters (Apr-Jun is April, May and June).

Click on thumbnail to change this comparison page to the Plant Description Page of the Bulb named in the Text box below that photo.
The Comments Row of that Plant Description Page links to where you personally can purchase that bulb via mail-order.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plants for moths (including larval food plants and adult nectar sources) from Gardens for Wildlife - Practical advice on how to attract wildlife to your garden by Martin Walters as an Aura Garden Guide. Published in 2007 - ISBN 978 1905765041:-
Angelica - Angelica archangelica
Barberry - Berberis vulgaris
Birch - Betula species
Blackthorn - Prunus spinosa
Bramble - Rubus species
Centaury - Centaurium species
Common knapweed - Centaurea nigra
Cowslip - Primula veris
Dandelion - Taraxacum offcinale
Dock - Rumex species
Evening primrose - Oenothera species
Foxglove - Digitalis purpurea
Goldenrod - Solidago canadensis and Solidago virgaurea
Harebell - Campanula rotundifolia
Heather - Calluna vulgaris
Hedge woundwort - Stachys sylvatica
Herb Bennet (wood avens) - Geum urbanum
Herb Robert - Geranium robertianum
Honeysuckle - Lonicera periclymenum
Lady' Bedstraw - Galium verum
Lemon balm - Melissa officinalis
Lime - Tilia species
Maiden pink - Dianthus deltoides

 

Marjoram - Origanum officinale
Meadow clary - Salvia pratensis
Meadowsweet - Filipendula ulmaria
Mullein - Verbascum species
Nettle - Urtica dioica and Urtica urens
Oak - Quercus robur and Quercus petraea
Ox-eye daisy - Leucanthemum vulgare
Plantain - Plantago species
Poplar (and aspen) - Populus species
Primrose - Primula vulgaris
Purple loosestrife - Lythrum salicaria
Ragged robin - Lychnis flos-cuculi
Red campion - Silene dioica
Red clover - Trifolium pratense
Red valerian - Centranthus ruber
Rock rose - Helianthemum species
Sea kale - Crambe maritima
Sweet rocket - Hesperis matronalis
Toadflax - Linaria species
Tobacco - Nicotiana species
Traveller's joy - Clematis vitalba
Viper's bugloss - Echium vulgare
White campion - Silene alba
Wild pansy - Viola tricolor
Willow - Salix species
Yarrow - Achillea millefolium
and a chapter on Planning the Wildlife Garden.

 

"On average, 2 gardeners a year die in the UK as a result of poisonous plants. Those discussed in this blog illustrate a range of concerns that should be foremost in the designer’s mind." from
A garden Designer's Guide to Poisonous Plants by
Oxford College of Garden Design.

Pages on poisonous plants in this website:-
...Yellow H-Z Poisonous Parts.
...Poisonous Plants.
is Poisonous.
...Poisonous

 

 

Wildlife-friendly Show Gardens
With around 23 million gardens in the UK,
covering 435,000 hectares (An acre is about 0.405 hectares, 1 hectare is 10000.0 square metres);
gardens have great potential as wildlife habitats.
Pre-planting you may require pre-building work on polluted soil. Then,
if you soil is clay,
consider these 8 problems caused by building house on clay or with house-wall attached to clay,
before actioning -

The eight-point plan for a wildlife-friendly garden:-

  1. Plants, Plants, Plants - The greater the number and variety of plants, the more wildlife you will attract -
    and this shows how roots of plants are in control in the soil.
  2. Don’t Just Plant Anything - British natives attract the greatest variety of wildlife, closely followed by species from temperate regions of Europe, Asia and North America.
    See above for the full list by Botanical name and another by Common Name of all the native plants in the UK in 1965 with their habitats.
  3. Add Water - A pond of any size will boost the variety of creatures in your garden.
  4. Dead Matters - Dead and decaying vegetation is a vital resource for many creatures and for the soil.
    Re-use your garden prunings, mowings, and dug up non-weed plants as recommended in the
    Planting a Native Hedge cell above in "Recommended Plants for Wildlife in different situations" table as a mulch.
    Soil Structure - The interaction between clay domains, organic matter, silt and sand particles diagram shows how these particles are bonded together in larger units called ‘aggregates’ to start the formation of soil.
    Without replacing Soil Nutrients, the soil will break up to only clay, sand or silt.
    Perfect general use soil is composed of 8.3% lime, 16.6% humus, 25% clay and 50% sand, and
    why you are continually losing the SOIL STRUCTURE so your soil - will revert to clay, chalk, sand or silt.
    To prevent this destruction of the soil, there is this Action Plan for YOU to DO with your soil.
  5. Build a Home - Provide bird and bat boxes etc.
  6. Feed the Birds and other creatures too.
  7. Don’t Use Pesticides - All pesticides are designed to kill.
  8. Don’t Put Wildlife in a Ghetto - Make your entire garden wildlife-friendly and a home for wildlife – it will be worth it!

Many of our gardens at Natural Surroundings demonstrate what you can do at home to encourage wildlife in your garden:-

• The Wildlife Garden
• The Rill Garden
• The Orchard
• The Butterfly Garden
• The Bee Garden.
Bees under Bombardment from Bee Happy Plants Ltd.
There are certain times when pollen or nectar are needed:
Early spring is a time of great need for pollen (which triggers egg-laying by the queen);
All season from early spring to late Autumn nectar is needed, though there is a 'crisis period' from the end of June until September (in the South of the UK) when adult bees' numbers are at a peak and their need for nectar is vital. This summer period is one we should concentrate on providing copious amounts of nectar in our gardens.
• The Wildlife Pond
• Reptile Refuge
• Creepy-crawly Garden
 

Ivydene Gardens Water Fern to Yew Wild Flower Families Gallery:
Wildflower 17 Flower Colours per Month

Only Wildflowers detailed in the following Wildflower Colour Pages
are compared in all the relevant month(s) of when that Wildflower flowers -
in the Wildflower Flower Colour
of that row

CREAM WILD FLOWER GALLERY PAGE MENUS


Common Name with Botanical Name, Wild Flower Family, Flower Colour and Form Index of each of all the Wildflowers of the UK in 1965:- AC,AL,AS,BE,
BL,BO,BR,CA,
CL,CO,CO,CO,
CR,DA,DO,EA,
FE,FI,FR,GO,
GR,GU,HA,HO,
IR,KN,LE,LE,
LO,MA,ME,MO,
NA,NO,PE,PO,
PY,RE,RO,SA,
SE,SE,SK,SM,
SO,SP,ST,SW,
TO,TW,WA,WE,
WI,WO,WO,YE

Extra Common Names have been added within a row for a different plant. Each Extra Common Name Plant will link to an Extras Page where it will be detailed in its own row.

EXTRAS 57,58,
59,60,

 

BROWN WILD FLOWER GALLERY PAGE MENUS

Botanical Name with Common Name, Wild Flower Family, Flower Colour and Form Index of each of all the Wildflowers of the UK in 1965:- AC, AG,AL,AL,AN,
AR,AR,AS,BA,
BR,BR,CA,CA,
CA,CA,CA,CA,
CA,CE,CE,CH,
CI,CO,CR,DA,
DE,DR,EP,EP,
ER,EU,FE,FO,
GA,GA,GE,GL,
HE,HI,HI,HY,
IM,JU,KI,LA,
LE,LI,LL,LU,LY, ME,ME,MI,MY,
NA,OE,OR,OR,
PA,PH,PL,PO,
PO,PO,PO,PU,
RA,RH,RO,RO,
RU,SA,SA,SA,
SC,SC,SE,SI,
SI,SO,SP,ST,
TA,TH,TR,TR,
UR,VE,VE,VI

Extra Botanical Names have been added within a row for a different plant. Each Extra Botanical Name Plant will link to an Extras Page where it will be detailed in its own row.

EXTRAS 91,
 

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1
Blue

1

1

1

Blue
Edible Plant Parts.
Flower Legend.
Food for Butterfly/Moth..
Flowering plants of
Chalk and Limestone Page 1, Page 2 .
Flowering plants of Acid Soil Page 1 .
SEED COLOUR
Seed 1 ,
Seed 2 .
Use of Plant with Flowers .
Scented Flower, Foliage, Root .
Story of their Common Names.
Use for Non-Flowering Plants .

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1
Brown

1

1

1

Brown
Botanical Names .

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1
Cream

1

1

1

Cream
Common Names .
Coastal and Dunes .
Sandy Shores and Dunes .

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1
Green

1

1

1

Green
Broad-leaved Woods .

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1
Mauve

1

1

1

Mauve
Grassland - Acid, Neutral, Chalk.

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1
Multi-Col-oured

1
 

1
 

1
 

Multi-Cols
Heaths and Moors .

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1
Orange

1

1

1

Orange
Hedgerows and Verges .

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1
Pink

1

1

1

Pink A-G
Lakes, Canals and Rivers .

Pink H-Z
Marshes, Fens, Bogs .

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1
Purple

1

1

1

Purple
Old Buildings and Walls .

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1
Red

1

1

1

Red
Pinewoods .

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1
White

1

1

1

White A-D
Saltmarshes .
Shingle Beaches, Rocks and
Cliff Tops
.

White E-P
Other .

White Q-Z
Number of Petals .

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1 Yellow

1

1

1

Yellow A-G
Pollinator .

Yellow H-Z
Poisonous Parts .

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1
Shrub/ Tree

1

1

1

Shrub/Tree
River Banks and
other Freshwater Margins
.
 

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1
Fruit or Seed

1

1

1

SEED COLOUR
Seed 1
Seed 2

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1
Non-Flower Plants

1

1

1

Use for
Non-Flowering Plants

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1
Chalk and Lime-stone

1

1

1

Flowering plants of
Chalk and Limestone
Page 1

Page 2

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1
Acid Soil

1

1

1

Flowering plants of
Acid Soil
Page 1

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