Ivydene Gardens Plants: Ground-Cover Plant Name: T
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
• 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 Wildflowers is created in the Borage Wildflower Gallery, to which the Wildflowers found in the above list will have that row entry copied to.
Its wildflower flower thumbnail - or foliage thumbnail if it does not have flowers - will be compared with the others in that gallery per month.
The Header Row for the Extra Indices pages is the same as used in this 1000 Ground Cover A of Plants Topic:-
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, 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:-

• Aquatic
• Bamboo
• Bedding
• Bulb
• Conifer - Conifers have no flowers and are used for their foliage and cones
• Deciduous Shrub
• Deciduous Tree
• Evergreen Perennial
• Evergreen Shrub
• Evergreen Tree
• Fern - Ferns have no flowers and are used for their foliage
• Grass - Grass is used for its grass inflorescence and foliage
• Hedging
• Herbaceous Perennial
• Herb
• Odds and Sods
• Rhododendron, Azalea and Camellia
• Soft Fruit
• Top Fruit
• Vegetable
• Wild Flower

The plants normally selected by most landscapers and designers are by nature low-growing, rampant, spreading, creep-crawly things and yet the concept of ground cover demands no such thing. The ideal description of a groundcover plant includes:-

• a bold dense mass of leaves completely covering the ground most of the year; evergreens gain gold stars.
• They should require little or no maintenance - if you have to give the plant more than its share of attention, you might as well save your money and spend the time weeding.
• use the plant on ground areas that are difficult to maintain, such as steep banks or boggy patches.
• use the plant to cover areas where not much will grow, such as deep shade or sandy soils.

Ground Cover a thousand beautiful plants for difficult places by John Cushnie (ISBN 1 85626 326 6) provides details of plants that fulfill the above requirements.

Using these groundcover plants in your planting scheme (either between your trees/shrubs in the border or for the whole border) will - with mulching your beds to a 4 inch depth and an irrigation system - provide you with a planted garden with far less time required for border maintenance.

Wildflower Flower Shape and Landscape Uses gallery provides Landscaping List by Use pages which include some of these ground-cover plants. Landscaping with Perennials by Emily Brown. 5th printing 1989 by Timber Press. ISBN 0-88192-063-0 provides the planting site pages for perennials, which include most plant types except Annuals and Biennials.

Plants for Dry Gardens by Jane Taylor. Published by Frances Lincoln Limited in 1993. ISBN 0-7112-0772-0. Jane Taylor and her husband grew plants in their garden of 2.5 acres of acidic shale mine waste on ground most of which could not retain water or nutrients and would scarcely sustain even the most tenacious of weeds.
A typical British garden with its flowery borders and green lawns needs the equivalent of 1 (2.5 cms) of rain every 10 days to look its best. By choosing from the plants in the above book, canny gardeners will quickly learn to give their gardens the best chance of looking respectable even through prolonged dry spells.
Start by improving your soil in your garden by studying the diagram showing the interaction between clay, organic matter, silt and sand to make soil and then follow the advice on how to improve your clay, chalk or sandy soil lower down the same page; before reading how you can provide the soil nutrients, including those for clay soil.
Then, choose your plants from:-

• Trees and Shrubs to form the framework,
• Palms and Cycads,
• Conifers,
• Climbers to provide backdrops, shade and cover for vertical surfaces,
• Perennials and Ephemerals for filling the garden with flower and foliage,
• Grasses for vertical outlines as foils and contrasts,
• Bulbs for companion, underplanting and massed display,
• Succulents and Xerophytes; and
• Dry Garden Maintenance - Starting with the Soil, Planting, Windbreaks, Lawns and Lawn Substitutes, and Irrigation Techniques.

Each ground cover plant of this 1000 has further details from her book, if it is in there.

 

Plants for Ground-Cover by Graham Stuart Thomas. Published by J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd in 1970 - reprinted (with further revisions) in 1990. ISBN 0-460-12609-1. This gives details on many more ground cover plants with inclusion (in the Index) of figures denoting the Hardiness Zones for each species in the United States of America.
 

Plant Name

Major source of honey in the UK Yes/No
Used by
HoneyBees - HB,
Short-Tongued Bumblebees - ST,
Long-Tongued Bumblebees - LT,
Solitary Bees - SOL

Type

The key ingredients a bird needs from your garden are
Shelter,
Food and
Water,
as expanded in Ground-cover Plant
Name W Page

Height x Spread in inches (cms)

Spacing distance between plants of same species in inches (cms)

Foliage

Some poisonous ground cover plants are indicated, but there are others in Cultivated Poisonous Plants and
Wildflower Poisonous Plants

Flower Colour in Month(s).

Use Pest Control using Plants to provide a Companion Plant to aid your selected groundcover plant or deter its pests

Comments

United States Department of Agriculture
Plant Hardiness Zone Map -
This map of USA is based on a range of average annual minimum winter temperatures, divided into 13 of 10-degree F zones, that this plant will thrive in USA, Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico.
There are other Hardiness Zone Maps for the rest of the world including the one for Great Britain and Ireland of zones 7a to 10a.
Zone 5-9 indicates that the minimum zone temperature this plant will grow is 5 and top minimum zone temperature is 9 - above this number is too hot or below 5 is too cold for the plant. If your zone in your area of your country is within that range or your zone number is greater, then you can grow it in your garden.

Pruning of
Woody Plants in Groups 1 - 13 and
Herbaceous Perennials in Group 14 with
Ferns in Group 15 and
Evergreen Perennials in Group 16.
 

Tagetes

Annual

12 x 12 (30 x 30)

Dark Green

Yellow, Orange or Red in
June-October

"Marigold".
All Tagetes are Rabbit Resistant - see other Rabbit Resistant Plants.
Four main hybrid groups:-
African Marigolds,
French Marigolds,
Afro-French Marigolds and
Signet Marigolds

Tamarix ramossissima
'Pink Cascade'

Tamarix species
No HB

Deciduous Shrub above 72 inches (180 cms) in height

180 x 180 (450 x 450)

Blue-Green

Abundant Pink flowers in
September-October

"Late Tamarisk". From eastern Europe to central Asia.
Full Sun
Zones 2-10
Deep, sandy soil with good drainage and can be pruned after flowering or hard pruned in spring to remain compact. It can be allowed to develop freely into a large shrub in dry gardens.

Tamarix tetrandra var. purpurea
(Tamarix parviflora)

Deciduous Shrub above 72 inches (180 cms) in height

120 x 120 (300 x 300)

Purple

Feathery plumes of Light Pink in
May-June

"Tamarisk". Has arching purplish brown shoots and needle-like leaves. In spring, it bears lateral racemes of 4-petalled flowers on the previous year's growth. Shorten back the growths after flowering.
Full Sun
Zones 6-10
Deep sandy soil with good drainage in dry garden.

Tamarix are wind-resistant shrubs. It is much used for seaside planting, but will also thrive inland in full sun and any good garden soil.

Tanakaea radicans

Evergreen Rhizome Perennial below 24 inches (60 cms) in height

4 x 12
(10 x 30)

Dark Green above, paler beneath, leathery and pointed

White in
June-July, with its tiny flowers on 6 (15) stems

"Japanese Foam Flower" grows clumps slowly in Part Shade, cool woodland conditions or humus-laden soil in shade of shrubs.

Taxus baccata

Taxus baccata
No HB

Evergreen Conical Conifer above 72 inches (180 cms) in height

300 x 240 (750 x 600)

Dark Green

Yellow male cones in
April-June

"English Yew, Common Yew". From western Asia, North Africa and Europe. Excellent Dense hedge.

Fruit of Green poisonous seeds with Red aril.
Full Sun to Full Shade
Zones 5-10
Moist alkaline chalk soil in an open position. They do not enjoy warm winters or hot, dry summers.

Taxus baccata leaves and seeds contain an alkaloid called Taxine, which acts as a cardiac depressant, interferes with respiration. Death occurs from suffocation. Fatal to cattle, horses, humans, all animals. It was used as a vermifuge until it was found to kill the patient as well as the worms!

Taxus baccata
'Fastigata Aurea'

Evergreen Conical Conifer above 72 inches (180 cms) in height

360 x 144 (900 x 360)

Dark Green, Gold-variegated with Gold patches

...

"Yew". Variegated yes require sun to give them a good colour.

Taxus baccata
'Repandens'

Ground-cover Conifer 24-72 inches (60-180 cms) in height

24 x 180 (60 x 450)

Very Dark Green

...

"Yew". This is a female yew that does not produce any leaders but spreads by side shoots, forming a low dense mound. It will tolerate full sun or part shade.

Taxus baccata
'Repens Aurea'

Ground-cover Conifer 24-72 inches (60-180 cms) in height

48 x 48 (120 x 120)

Green leaves edged gold on young growths, turning pale cream later in summer

...

"Yew".

All golden yew variants contrast well with blue flowers or glaucous foliage, and harmonize with hot colour schemes.

Taxus baccata
'Standishii'

Evergreen Columnar Conifer below 24 inches (60 cms) in height

18 x 6
(45 x 15)

Golden-Yellow

...

"Yew".

Taxus baccata
'Summergold"

Evergreen Ground-cover Conifer 24-72 inches (60-180 cms) in height

24 x 48 (60 x 120)

Yellow in Spring and Summer, Green with Yellow margins in Autumn and Winter

...

"Yew". It spreads quickly, forming a low carpeting conifer, but with enough height to show off its bright golden yellow foliage. In winter it reverts to green-margined yellow.

The new shoots of this yew contrast with the reddish purple young leaves of VCotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple'.

Tellima grandiflora

Herbaceous Perennial 24-72 inches (60-180 cms) in height

24 x 24 (60 x 60)

Mid-Green, rounded, hairy, burnished in winter

Small White or Greenish-White bells on 24 (60) erect stems in
June-August

"Fringe Cups" is best in cool woodland conditions, or under tall shrubs. Easily grown, quickly spreading / creeping clumps, easily divided. Good town plants. Erect
Part Shade
Zone 4-9
Moist, humus-rich soil

It tolerates dry shade, so can be used as ground cover in a woodland garden.
Plants are prone to infestation by vine weevils, especially if grown as a solid mat of ground cover. Interplant with Nepeta cataria and Allium sativum to ward off the weevils from Pest Control using Plants.

Companions - ferns, aster divaricatus, hosta, epimedium, luzula, hakonechloa, stylophorum, polygonatum, smilacina

Tellima grandiflora
'Perky'

Herbaceous Perennial below 24 inches (60 cms) in height

16 x 10 (40 x 25)

Mid-Green

Red in
June-August

"Fringe Cups".Erect
Part Shade
Zone 4-9
Moist, humus-rich soil

Teucrium chamaedrys
(Teucrium x lucidrys)

Herb - Alpine Subshrub

12-24 x 24-36
(30-60 x 60-90)

Dark Green, small, hairy

Rosy Purple in July-
September in terminal heads on 9 (22) stems

"Wall Germander, Dwarf Germander". From Europe and southwestern Asia. Clumps suitable for walls, steep banks and edging and a medicinal herb.
Full Sun
Zones 5-10
Light, well-drained soil. Does best in poor soil

Left untouched, dwarf germander is effective in large, informal areas and in desert and rock gardens, where its deep roots serve as a binder in sandy soil. It takes well to shearing, often serving as an excellent low, formal hedge or walk edging.

Teucrium divaricatum

Herb

30 x
(75 x )

Dark Green

...

A good hedging plant for use in knot gardens.

Teucrium fruticans

Evergreen Shrub 24-72 inches (60-180 cms) in height

24 x 144 (60 x 360)

Aromatic Grey-Green above, White-woolly beneath

Pale Blue in
July-September

"Shrubby Germander, Tree Germander". Small shrub giving a silvery-grey effect on account of the fine white felt covering the stems and undersides of the leaves. Zone 7 in dry garden.
Teucrium fruticans 'Azureum' has richer blue flowers.

Thalictrum flavum

Thalictrum species
No HB, ST

Deciduous Rhizome Perennial 24-72 inches (60-180 cms) in height

36 x 18 (90 x 45)

Mid-Green

Fragrant Yellow in
July-September

"Yellow Meadow Rue, Common Meadow Rue". Spreading / creeping rhizomes.
Use at edge of woodland gardens. Sturdy stems, clump-forming.
Zone 5-9
Site in the middle or back of the border in full sun. The plants should not be cut to the ground after flowering as new growth will not appear until late the following spring. Spent flowers should be removed to prevent over-abundance of self-sown seedlings.

Companions - roses, aconitum, astilbe, alchemilla mollis, ferns, hosta, polygonatum, brunnera, smilacina, aruncus, hydrangea, fuchsia magellanica.

Photo of Thalictrum flavum subsp. glaucum taken by Kavanagh in Mixed Borders, Wisley on 21 August 2013.

Thuja occidentalis
'Danica'

Evergreen Ground-cover Conifer 24-72 inches (60-180 cms) in height

24 x 24 (60 x 60)

Light Green

...

"White Cedar, American Arbor-vitae". This species has only more than 140 cultivars, so it could get sad at Xmas when it cannot meet all its relatives. From northeastern Asia and North America.
Full Sun
Zones 4-10
Any soil which is well-drained, but they dislike dry conditions. Dwarf cultivars make excellent rock garden or container specimens.

Whole plant of Thuja occidentalis is extremely poisonous.
 

Thuja occidentalis
'Holmstrup'

Evergreen Columnar Conifer above 72 inches (180 cms) in height

132 x 36 (330 x 90)

Mid-Green

"White Cedar".

Thuja occidentalis
'Sunkist'

Evergreen Bushy Conifer above 72 inches (180 cms) in height

96 x 72 (210 x 180)

Golden-Yellow in Spring and Summer, Green in Autumn and Winter

...

"White Cedar".

Thuja occidentalis
'Aurea Nana'

Evergreen Bushy Conifer 24-72 inches (60-180 cms) in height

24 x 24 (60 x 60)

Yellow-Green in Spring, Summer and Autumn, Bronze in Winter

...

"White Cedar".

Thymus serphyllum
'Pink Chintz'

Thymus species with very fragrant flowers. No bee garden should be without some Thymus.
No HB, ST, LT, SOL

Herb Sub-Shrub below 24 inches (60 cms) in height

10 x 18 (25 x 45)

Grey-Green

Flesh Pink in
July-September

"Wild Thyme, Creeping Thyme, Mother of Thyme". Use in rock gardens, between stepping stones or used for display on banks.
All Thymus are Rabbit Resistant - see other Rabbit Resistant Plants.
Prostrate in habit.
Full Sun
Zones 3-9
Moist, well-drained soil, especially in the chalk districts, on moorland, and on dry pastures. For thick dense plants, the flowerheads should be removed after flowering.

Thymus vulgaris
'Silver Posie'

Herb Sub-Shrub below 24 inches (60 cms) in height

9 x 16
(22 x 40)

White-margined Grey-Green

Bright Purple to White in
June-July

"Garden Thyme". Has tiny, white-variegated leaves and masses of pink-purple flowers.
Many of the thymes are natives of the Mediterranean area, and are well suited to growing in hot, rocky places.
There are over 350 species of Thymus and practically all of them flower profusely, producing copious amounts of nectar for the making of honey. They tolerate dry, stony, infertile soils and are quite hardy.

Thymus x citriodorus

Herb Shrub below 24 inches (60 cms) in height

12 x 10 (30 x 25)

Mid-Green

Lavender-Pink in
July-September

"Lemon-scented Thyme". Rounded shrub where its leaves are used in cooking. Lemon-scented foliage.
Full Sun in sheltered garden
Zones 7-10
Moist, well-drained soil.

Thymus x citriodorus
'Silver Queen'

Herb Shrub below 24 inches (60 cms) in height

12 x 10 (30 x 25)

Cream-variegated Mid-Green

Lavender-Pink in
July-September

"Lemon-scented Thyme". Has variegated leaves with either silver or gold markings and a strong lemon scent. It is not very hardy.

Tiarella cordifolia

Herbaceous Rhizome Perennial below 24 inches (60 cms) in height

6 x 12
(15 x 30)

Pale Green, lobed, hairy leaves become tinted Bronze-Red in Autumn

Tiny, Creamy-White flowers in 9 (22) feathery spikes in
July-September

"Foam Flower" is one of the most attractive carpet and prolific of rooting ground-covers. Good autumn, winter colour, vigorous, spreads / creeps by stolons
Part Shade
Zone 3-8
Moist, humus-rich soil. From rich woodland, and even wet streamsides, of eastern North America, from Quebec to the southern Appalachians.

Companions - ferns, epimedium, pulmonaria, astilbe, helleborus, hosta , trillium, uvularia, polygonatum, spring bulbs, luzula, hakonechloa, geranium, aster divaricatus.

Tolmiea menziesii

Herbaceous Rhizome Perennial below 24 inches (60 cms) in height

18 x 60 (45 x 150)

Pale to Lime-Green

Slightly scented Pale Green shaded and line Purple-Brown, Purple-Brown petals and Orange anthers in
June-July

"Thousand Mothers, Pick-a-Back Plant - young plants develop on older leaves, Piggyback Plant". Clump-forming, quickly making effective ground cover in cool woodland conditions or under tall shrubs, but rather weedy .
Part Shade, Full Shade
Zone 6-9
Moist soil containing abundant humus. In very cold climates grow as a house or greenhouse plant. From western North America.

Companions - ferns, pulmonaria, vancouveria, epimedium, polygonatum, tiarella, heuchera, x heucherella, helleborus, luzula, hakonechloa, stylophorum, meconopsis cambrica, tricyrtis.

Trachycarpus fortunei

Evergreen Palm above 72 inches (180 cms) in height

840 x 96 (2100 x 240)

Dark Green, fan-shaped leaves, sometimes 30 inches (75) long and 42 inches (105) wide.

Yellow flowers are borne at the top of the tree in huge yellow panicles in
July

"Chusan Palm".
Female plants bear Blue-Black fruit. This striking palm thrives out of doors in the warmer parts of the UK and also the London area. Young plants should be protected in bad weather for their first few years. The tree does best in rich loam soil and sunshine; and benefits from a mulch of rotted manure each spring. No pruning.

Tradescantia Andersoniana Group

Evergreen Perennial below 24 inches (60 cms) in height

18 x 24 (45 x 60)

Mid-Green, often Purple-tinted

Blue, Purple, Pink to Rose-Red, or White in
July-October

"Spider-wort". Clump-forming
Full Sun
Zone 4-9
Moist, well-drained, rich soil in herbaceous borders. Plants derived from the prairies and moist meadows of central and eastern USA.

Companions - ferns, hosta, iris foetidissima, iris siberica, ligularia, heuchera, brunnera, hemerocallis lilooasphodelus; the summer border

Tricyrtis flava

Herbaceous Rhizome Perennial below 24 inches (60 cms) in height

18 x 12 (45 x 30)

Glossy Mid-Green , often with Dark Purplish-Green spots

Yellow in
October

"Toad Lily".

Companions - ferns, hosta, helleborus, pulmonaria, epimedium, podophyllum, polygonatum

Tricyrtis hirta

Herbaceous Rhizome Perennial 24-72 inches (60-180 cms) in height

32 x 24 (80 x 60)

Pale Green

Purple-spotted White in
September-November

"Toad Lily, Japanese Toad Lily".
Light to Full Shade
Zone 5-8
Moist, humus-rich soil. Mulch the soil to prevent soil drying out in the summer/autumn. From Japan.

Trifolium pratense
'Susan Smith'

No HB, ST, LT, SOL

Herbaceous Perennial below 24 inches (60 cms) in height

6 x 18
(15 x 45)

Dark Green..

Pink in
July-August

"Red Clover". Mat-forming.
Full Sun
Zone 6-9
Fertile, moist but well-drained soil. Native to most of Europe and naturalized in North America.

Companions - Foreground plants such as ophiopogon planiscapus 'Nigrescens', ajuga, lysimacia.

Trifolium repens
'Purpurascens Quadrifolium'

Yes HB, ST, LT, SOL
This is one of the best plants for bees

Herbaceous Perennial below 24 inches (60 cms) in height

4 x indefinite (10 x indefinite)

Deep Purple-Maroon centres and narrow Mid-Green margins

White in
July-September

"White Clover". Mat-forming and spreading / creeping.
Full Sun
Zone 4-9
Well-drained, limy soil. Weave round heucheras. Naturalized in North America, but native to Europe.

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, white clover was abundant in the British Isles because it occured in widespread permanent pastures. Clover, which was mainly white clover, was estimated to account for about 75% of the British honey crop and clover honey was common. However, changes in agricultural practice have dramatically reduced the amount of white clover across much of the British Isles. Intensification of agriculture has reduced the amount of permanent pasture and the easy availability of nitrogenous fertilisers has reduced the need for white clover to be sown. Even when clover is present, silage cutting can remove flowers before bees have had much chance to visit them.
Throughout the British Isles, white clover is one of the commonest plants, except on acid soils. It is prevalent along roadsides where it often thrives in the gravel or sand swept off the road surface. This may be due largely to the good soil aeration such a habitat provides. It also occurs freely in waste places and as a weed in arable land and lawns.
The wild white is a smaller plant than the Dutch clover, and is longer lived and is most used for permanent pasture. Soils having an abundance of lime - like chalk soils - always yield the best results.

A solution for grass round trees depriving them of water and nutrients; using the expertise of DLF.
If the turf was uplifted during August/September using a fork for a distance of 24 inches (60 cms) round the base of the tree trunk in the grass and placed upside down beyond that 24 inches, that would expose the roots of that tree. 10 grammes of PM105 which is equal parts of Alsike White Clover, Red Clover, White Clover, Yellow Trefoil and Birdsfoot Trefoil could be added to a bucket, with 50 grammes of Rehofix MK1500 Bulking Granules (these are corn skin granules and biodegradable and used as a carrier for the PM105). This mixture could be mixed with 12 grammes of Groweb Tackifier (a gelling agent that when mixed with water, swells becoming highly viscous, binding the seed and the Rehofix and sand to the soil surface. It also stops anybody else from taking the seeds, whether it is wind, bird, or human). This is then distributed onto the exposed soil between the trunk and the water ring created by the overturned turf slabs. Then 2 bags of sharp sand are spread over the sown seed to prevent birds from eating the seeds and to cover the exposed roots of the tree. This is followed by spraying 2 gallons of water on top of the sand, and the wildflower seeds can then grow through the sand with the clover. The clover are legumes and would fertilise the tree roots. Since there is usually quite a bit of rain from October to March, irrigation of these wildflowers would be unnecessary and having grown during that autumn/winter period, these plants would probably be okay for the following spring/summer growing conditions. The replacement of the turf with these wildflowers would stop that area of turf from drinking all the rain that falls on it and if any fertiliser was applied on top of it, from it using all of it and the tree getting none.

Trillium cuneatum

Deciduous Rhizome Perennial below 24 inches (60 cms) in height

18 x 12 (45 x 30)

Mid-Green marked pale or Silver-Green

Musk-scented Dark Maroon in
April-June

"Trinity Flower, Sessile". Clumps.
All Trillium are Rabbit Resistant - see other Rabbit Resistant Plants.
Part Shade from deciduous trees
Zone 5
Best on limy soil but tolerates acid conditions. From southeastern USA.

Companions - smilacina, disporum, viola, erythronium, uvularia, primula, polygonatum, arisaema, hosta, jeffesonia, brunnera, dicentra, tiarella, pulmonaria; the woodland garden.

Trillium grandiflorum

Deciduous Rhizome below 24 inches (60 cms) in height

16 x 12 (40 x 30)

Dark Green

Pure White in
April-September

"Wake Robin, White Wake Robin". Clump former
Part Shade
Zone 4-9
Neutral to slightly acid soil, enriched with woodland leafmould - Pine needles. From Quebec, Canada, southward to eastern USA.

Excellent in a woodland garden, growing through a carpet of bugles or wood anemones. It is best with pink, mauve or blue flowers. Protect from slugs by interplanting with Rosemarinus officinalis, Helleborus niger or Artemesia absinthum and Artemisia frigida from Pest Control using Plants .

Above is the RHS plant label for the Trillium grandiflorum in the woodland above the Mixed Borders at Wisley from the photo I took on 15 May 2013.

Below is the RHS plant label for the Trillium grandiflorum in the Alpine House at Wisley from the photo that I took on 16 April 2014, which is shown above.

What a load of crap - these 2 plants are not the same; so how can one view the plant labels in the Royal Horticultural Society gardens and know whether the plant label identity is valid!!!

You can see why I have stopped taking photos of plants in gardens open to the public and except for RV Roger in Yorkshire nobody else has given me permission to photo their growing plants in their nursery, since I am assuming that if they labelled plants incorrectly, then the customers might notice. It is a damming thought that in the RHS they do not do plant label checking, so that you end up with these kind of invalid labels; and other label problems in the heather collection.

Trillium grandiflorum
'Flore Pleno'

Deciduous Rhizome below 24 inches (60 cms) in height

16 x 12 (40 x 30)

Dark Green

Pure White in
April-September

Part Shade
Zone 5
Neutral to slightly acid soil, enriched with woodland leafmould - Pine needles.

Trillium luteum

Deciduous Rhizome below 24 inches (60 cms) in height

16 x 12 (40 x 30)

Mid-Green

Sweet-scented Golden or Bronze-Green in
April-June

"Wood Lily".
Use in Woodland garden.
Part Shade
Zone 5
Prefers neutral to slightly alkaline soil. From eastern North America and Europe

Tritonia disticha

Herbaceous Corm Perennial 24-72 inches (60-180 cms) in height

30 x 2
(75 x 5)

Dark Green

Orange-Red, Red or Pink in
August-September

All Tritonia are Rabbit Resistant - see other Rabbit Resistant Plants.

Trollius x cultorum cultivars

Herbaceous Perennial 24-72 inches (60-180 cms) in height

36 x 18 (90 x 45)

Glossy Dark Green, fingered and smooth

Orange or Yellow semi-double flowers on branching 30 (75) stems in
May-August

"Globe Flower" are like double buttercups on rich, moist or boggy soil in full sun or part shade. Clump-forming with many orange and yellow flower colour forms.
All Trollius are Rabbit Resistant - see other Rabbit Resistant Plants.
Full Sun
Zone 3-8
Moist soil

Companions - ferns, primula japonica, primula beesiana, primula bulleyana, primula x bulleesiana, primula florindae, primula poissonii, ligularia, hosta, astilbe, iris sibirica, scilla, carex elata 'Aurea', astrantia major 'Sunningdale Variegated', sanguisorba 'Sunsplash'

Tsuga canadensis
'Pendula'

Evergreen Pendulous Conifer 24-72 inches (60-180 cms) in height

144 x 300 (360 x 750)

Mid-Green

Cones

"Eastern Hemlock, Canadian Hemlock". From cool northeast of North America. Very effective hanging over a bank or wall as a semi-prostrate mound.
Part Shade
Zones 2-9
Slightly acid, deep, well-drained sandy soil with plenty of organic matter. It will grow on lime provided there is plenty of humus present.

Tsusiophyllum tanakae

Semi-Evergreen Shrub below 24 inches (60 cms) in height

20 x 8
(50 x 20)

Very hairy Dark Green

Hairy White in
July

Tulipa

Bulb Perennial 24-72 inches (60-180 cms) in height

24 x 6
(60 x 15)

Mid or Grey-Green

wide range of colours

"Tulip".
The highly bred garden tulips are unsuited to dry conditions, but many of the wild species of Central Asia are adapted to cold winters and long, hot summers without rain - Zone 4 - Tulipa turkestanica, Tulipa praestans, Tulipa greigii, Tulipa linifolia, Tulipa saxatilis, Tulipa clusiana and Tulipa orphanidea.

All Tulipa are Rabbit Resistant - see other Rabbit Resistant Plants. Tulips look best massed in beds and borders, carpeted with other spring flowers. For planting permanently, the Cottage and Darwin tulips are best.
Tulips require a fair amount of sand in a well-drained, deeply-dug, rich loam with a cool, moist subsoil, and a sunny, sheltered position not subject to draughts and cold winds. Plant early in November, from 4-5 inches (10-12.5) deep and from 8-10 inches (20-25) apart.

'Single Flowered' Tulips in the following groups are usefull for bees:-
Single Early Group,
Triumph Group,
Darwin Hybrid Group,
Lily-flowered Group,
Fringed Group,
Viridiflora Group,
Rembrandt Group,
Parrot Group,
Kaufmanniana Group,
Fosteriana Group and
Greigii Group.

Single Lates are sometimes labelled Cottage tulips are good for bees. Get into the habit of having a backup supply of crowd-pulling tulips, which you can grow in plain black plastic pots and then drop into any bare bit of bed or border. By mid- to late spring, foliage is growing fast, so peony leaves, campanulas or fennel soon disguise the pots themselves. You might try, for instance, bringing in pots of the tulip ‘Blue Parrot’ to complement the restrained and handsome foliage of the hosta ‘Krossa Regal’. This has greyish leaves, but the stem grows unusually long before the elegant, not-too-broad leaf begins to develop. The plant stands high and urnlike.

Pots confer another advantage. If your ground is heavy, sticky clay (in a word, hideously unsuitable for bulbs), pots allow you to arrange drainage (critical for so many bulbs) more easily. Put 2–3 cm (1 in) of sharp grit at the bottom of the pot, then a layer of compost. For this, I make a mix of two scoops of a rich loam-based compost (John Innes No.3) with one scoop of 6 mm (1⁄4 in) grit. Settle the bulbs comfortably into this bed, then cover them with more compost.

See Tulips in the Tulip Gallery

Other details about Tulips are in the last row of this table.

Tulips are very poisonous.

Typha minima

Marginal Aquatic Herbaceous Water Plant 24-72 inches (60-180 cms) in height

30 x 18 (75 x 45)

Dark Green

Dark Brown in
August-September

"Bulrush, Cat's Tail, Reedmace".

Site design and content copyright ©December 2006. Page structure changed September 2012. Height x Spread in feet changed to Height x Spread in inches (cms) May 2015. Data added to existing pages December 2017. Zone and Companion Data added April 2022. The 1000 Ground Cover plants detailed above will be compared in the Comparison Pages of the Wildflower Shape Gallery and in the flower colour per month comparison pages of Evergreen Perennial Gallery starting in November 2022. 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.  

Height in inches (cms):-

25.4mm = 1 inch
304.8mm = 12 inches
12 inches = 1 foot
3 feet = 1 yard
914.4mm = 1 yard

I normally round this to
25mm = 1 inch
300mm = 30 cms = 12 inches =1 foot,
900 mm = 3 feet = 1 yard and
1000mm = 100 cms = 1 metre = 40 inches  

Details of smaller Tanakaea, Teurcium, Thalictrum, Thymus, Tradescantia, Trifolium, Trillium, Trollius and Tulipa and which container to grow the plant in:-

• A. The plant can be grown in sinks, trough, pans or scree beds
• B. The plant is best accommodated in a trough or sink.
• C. Suitable for peat beds and raised beds (suitable for alpine rhododendrons) - remember that rhododendrons are toxic to honey bees

I have included within these pages on 1000 Ground Cover Plants information from other pages within this PLANTS Topic like

• Poisonous Plants
• Flower Arranging
• Rabbit Resistant
• Bee Forage
• Attracts Bird/Butterfly

and links to Rock Garden Plants Suitable for Small Gardens Index Gallery.

Any of these 1000 Ground Cover Plants may well have further details about them in the remainder of the pages in this PLANTS Topic linked to from the PLANTS PAGE MENU above.
 

Although Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) is a weed and not a ground cover, it is one of the most useful of wild plants for bees and is a major honey plant for beekeepers. It occurs everywhere and is regularly visited for nectar and pollen. It is to be found in flower almost throughout the year, but flowers most freely early in the season, before the appearance of fruit blossom, when it is of most value to the beekeeper, especially for brood rearing. It occurs freely in pastures, particularly in chalk districts, where fields may be sheets of yellow at flowering time.

When dandelions occur in quantity in or near large orchards they can be a nuisance to the fruit grower in that the bees will often forsake apple or pear blossom in favour of the dandelion flowers, to the detriment of fruit pollination and subsequent yield of fruit.

Elswhere, this can be grown in verges, within planted areas in the roundabout circle, public parks and in any private garden bed or lawn, to help increase the honeybee, short-tongued bee, long-tongued bee and solitary bee population; free of charge.

Yes HB, ST, LT, SOL

Light Sandy Soil is usually fairly infertile, and it also dries out quickly. In such cases, use drought-tolerant plants, such as ones that grow in dry soil conditions (see plants in the Dry section of the Moisture column of the soil type, aspect and moisture list page) and also do the following actions, since any nutrients in the soil are usually washed out very quickly.

Acid soil is most common in places that experience heavy rainfall and have moister environments. Areas in red have acidic soil, areas in yellow are neutral and areas in blue have alkaline soil in the World Map. Find Me Plants has further details on other plants for acidic soils, when you set Soil Type in Part 1: Surveying the planting area to Sandy/Gritty, or Light Sand or Stony/Sub-Soil.

Action to assist in Light Sandy soil maintenance:-

• Mulch the beds with a 4 inch (100mm) deep layer of Spent Mushroom Compost to improve fertility and drainage; preferably in the Autumn in between the existing plants, and top it up each year after that with a Bark Mulch instead (available from garden centres or Gardenscape). This will stop the Light Sandy soil from drying out through the action of sun and wind on its surface, and to provide carbon to aid in soil formation and fertility. Adding clay in water solution as a spray will also greater improve the soil structure.
• If starting a new lawn or bed, add the 4 inch layer of Spent Mushroom Compost mulch and rotovate that in. If you also add an inch deep of clay, before rotovating that in as well, then that will provide part of the glue in creating a better soil from the sand. Heel and rake the ground for a new turf (or to be seeded) lawn, before laying or seeding it. Insert plants in new bed, before installing the irrigation system and then applying a 4 inch layer of this mulch on top of it.
• Spread 5Kg of Dolodust (Dolomitic Lime), with 2Kg of Maxicrop Seaweed Meal over a 25 square yard or 25 square metre lawn area, each April. This will improve the fertility of the lawn by providing calcium and the trace elements (See What is Soil Texture Page and How are chemicals stored and released from soil Page in the Soil Section for further details). Spreading the same amount of Dolomitic Lime and Maxicrop Seaweed Meal on the flower/vegetable beds at the same time would also be beneficial.

Sources of further information:-

• Notcutts Catalogue of 1994 - retail catalogue of their plants for sale. It has Plants for a Purpose pages including one on Light sandy dry soil including trees for gravel workings.
   
• The Royal Horticultural Society Gardeners' Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers. Editor-in-Chief Christopher Brickell. Published by Dorling Kindsley Limited. Reprinted and updated 1990, 2/1990, 3/1990. ISBN 0-86318-386-7. The Planter's Guide suggests lists of plants that are suitable for growing in particular situations, or that have special uses or characteristics including Plants for Sandy Soil.
   

Gardening in Sandy Soil by C.L. Fornari. A very useful book and one you can have on a Kindle in December 2017. A Storey Country Wisdom Bulletin with this Index:-

• The benefits of Sandy Soil
  • Drainage
  • Root Penetration
  • Air Circulation
  • Digging
• The disadvantages of gardening in sand
  • Rapid water loss
  • Nutrient loss
• Strategies for Success: using amendmentss
  • Soil amendments
  • Green amendments
  • Amending new beds
  • Amending established beds
• Fertilizing
• Mulch
  • Mulching materials
  • How much mulch
  • Problems with mulch
• Choosing plants
  • Sandy soils and pH
  • Moisture-loving plants in sandy soil
  • Vegetables in sandy soil
• Plants for sandy soils - I have bought the book and read it, but unfortunately I have not added its recommended plants.
  I would at least recommend that its list is carefully looked at by the Americans; for whom it was written.
  • Ground covers and Grasses
  • Annuals
  • Perennials
  • Shrubs and Trees

Action to assist in other soil types in:-

• Read 'Explaination of how soil works' and 'Negative impacts on the soil food web' for Any and Peat
• Chalk
• Clay
• Acid (Lime-Free)

The following is from "A land of Soil, Milk and Honey" by Bernard Jarman in Star & Furrow Issue 122 January 2015 - Journal of the Biodynamic Association;_

"Soil is created in the first place through the activity of countlesss micro-organisms, earthworms and especially the garden worm (Lumbricus terrestris). This species is noticeably active in the period immediately before and immediately after mid-winter. In December we find it (in the UK) drawing large numbers of autumn leaves down into the soil. Worms consume all kinds of plant material along with sand and mineral substances. In form, they live as a pure digestive tract. The worm casts excreted from their bodies form the basis of a well-structured soil with an increased level of available plant nutrients:-

• 5% more nitrogen,
• 7% more phosphorous and
• 11% more potasium than the surrounding topsoil.

Worms also burrow to great depths and open up the soil for air and water to penetrate, increasing the scope of a fertile soil.

After the earthworm, the most important helper of the biodynamic farmer is undoubetdly

• the cow. A cow's digestive system is designed to make use of roughage such as grass and hay. Cow manure is arguably the most effective and long lasting of all the fertilizing agents at the farmer's disposal and has been found to have a carry over effect of at least 4 years. It is also one of the most balanced and it contains no grass seeds, since they have been completely digested.
• Pig manure is rich in potassium, attractive to earthworms and beneficial on sandy soils.
• Horse manure increases soil activity and stimulates strong healthy growth, but it does contain grass seed and other seeds."
   

Plant Combinations for Sandy Soil

Action to assist in Light Sandy soil maintenance is given in the row above and this is required annually.

Plants

Comments

Sun lovers - You can achieve a design with grey-leaved plants, interspersed with smaller or larger groups of taller perennials and a single shrub. Because the grey-leaved plants predominate they are used as a basis, with suggestions for plants which can be combined with them.

Grey Foliage with white and yellow flowers and plants that combine with these

• Yarrow (Achillea chrysocoma),
• pearl everlasting (Anaphalis),
• mouse ear (Cerastium),
• Raoulia,
• catchfly (Silene uniflora 'Robin Whitebreast') and the
• bunnies' ears (Stachys byzantina 'Silver Carpet')

all have grey leaves and either white, yellow or inconspicuous flowers.

If the above plants are planted together; the effect of different heights and size of leaf will be rather messy and unclear. Plant the above as the background ground cover and the ones in the next column within that background.

• Acaena buchanii and Acaena magellanica being silver-leaved species of the pirri-pirri-bur form pretty vigorous ground cover. Add a few groups of grey-leaved grasses for their contrasting shape to make an interesting picture. The ground-covering Festuca glauca and Koeleria glauca are especially suitable, to which can be added the tall, also grey-leafed blue oat grass Helictotrichon sempervirens, for a striking feature.
• Gypsophila, with its delicate flowers, can best be planted next to a plant which has a strong leaf structure, for example Geranium renardii.
• For a taller feature among the grey-leafed ground cover you can choose one of the beautiful cultivars of the common German flag, Iris germanica. The tall, sword-shaped leaves which are grey-green, stand out very well here.
• The Yucca has a similar structure, forming a stout clump of leaves with tall sprays of white flowers.
• The tall mulleins, especially Verbascum bombyciferum, with splendid rosettes of grey, felty leaves and yellow flowers like huge torches that can easily reach 60 inches (150 cms), a real must.
• Annuals that deserve a place in this predominantly grey planting include Gazania pinnata with yellow flowers and the white Senecio cineraria.

The above comes from Ground Cover. How to use flowering and foliage plants to cover areas of soil by Mineke Kurpershoek. Published by Rebo Productions Ltd in 1997. ISBN 1 901094 41 3

Contents

• Chapter 1 What are ground-cover plants?
• Chapter 2 Plant combinations for normal garden soil
• Chapter 3 Plant combinations for sandy soil
• Chapter 4 Plant combinations for clay soil
• Chapter 5 Woodland, heaths and wet soil
• Chapter 6 Shrubs for slopes and large beds
• Chapter 7 The A to Z of plants for ground cover.
   

Tulips

Read How to grow Tulips by Sarah Raven for cultivation instructions.

"Manuring
Tulips like a rich soil, but like other bulbs are intolerant of actual contact with manure. Sir Cotter after the initial preparation of ground never previously devoted to bulb culture, never used farmyard manure. He used bone meal as his chief stand by, used at the rate of a double handful to the square yard. When the soil was very deficient in lime he used basic slag as an autumn dressing, or superphosphate of lime as a spring one, applied at the same rates.

Plant Combination
It would not perhaps be out of place here to mention one way in which Sir J.L. Cotter utilised both Daffodils and Tulips, where a spring show of bloom and a summer one as well had to be maintained, and at the same time an eye on economy. In front of a house where Sir Cotter resided some years ago, there were several large beds which always caused a considerable amount of difficulty, and no little expense, to keep in constant or nearly continuous bloom. Finally he hit on the plan of planting them out with dwarf polyantha roses, one variety to a bed, 9 inches (23 cms) apart, and in the intervening spaces Daffodils or Tulips , chosen so that all the beds were in flower, the roses were pruned so closely to the ground as to be quite unnoticeable. Afterwards, when the bulbs were over, the roses had attained their full size of 12 inches (30 cms) or more, and closely covering the beds with their foliage, completely hid the dying leaves of the bulbs. The beds are in bloom for practically the whole season. There is a vast economy in labour." from The Culture of Bulbs, Bulbous Plants and Tubers Made Plain by Sir J. L. Cotter. Published by Hutchinson & Co.

To locate mail-order nursery for plants from the UK in this gallery try using search in RHS Find a Plant.

To locate plants in the European Union (EU) try using Search Term in Gardens4You and Meilland Richardier in France.

To locate mail-order nursery for plants from America in this gallery try using search in Plant Lust.

To locate plant information in Australia try using Plant Finder in Gardening Australia.

To see what plants that I have described in this website see
Plant Botanical Index
...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

Top ten plants that are bad for bees from Countryfile Magazine

"Lavender, alliums, fuschias, sweet peas - keen gardeners know the very best flowers to entice bees to their gardens. But what about plants that are  bad for bees? Here is our expert guide to the top ten plants that you should avoid to keep bees happy and buzzing, plus the perfect alternatives.

1. Rhododendron
Spectacular and beautiful, not many people know the common rhododendron hides a poisonous secret – its nectar is toxic to bees. It’s common practice for beekeepers to keep their hives closed until the flowering season is over. The resulting honey from rhododendrons has also been known to contaminate honey, making it unsafe for humans to eat.
Alternative: Clematis have beautiful, wide flowers and are 100 per cent bee-friendly.

2. Azalea
Rhododendron’s sister, azaleas are also toxic to bees.
Alternative: Foxgloves (Digitalis) are a bee favourite and despite being poisonous if consumed by humans, they are both honey and bee safe.

3. Trumpet flower, or angel’s trumpet (Brugmansia suaveolens)
Though ornamental and sweet smelling, the trumpet flower’s nectar can cause brood death in bees and is best avoided.
Alternative: Try honeysuckle (Lonicera) instead for deliciously scented results.

4. Oleander (Nerium oleander)
Harmful to butterflies as well as bees, oleander has a severe effect on hives. Nectar taken to the hive concentrates as it dries out, which increases the amount of toxins and usually results in a mass hive wipeout. 
Alternative: Snapdragons (Antirrhinum majus) are equally as bright and arguably more attractive in small or large gardens.

5. Yellow Jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens)
Pleasantly aromatic and attractive as they are, bees are often poisoned by the vines and flowers of the yellow jessamine and its toxins are said to be as severe as hemlock.
Alternative: Plant Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta) in tubs and along fences for a pretty, easy-to-grow substitute.

6. Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia)
Part of the blueberry family, the mountain laurel is an evergreen shrub with sweet, white or pink flowers when in bloom. Pretty they may be, but the honey produced by mountain laurel is toxic to humans and is often bitter tasting.
Alternative: Lilacs (Syringa) are both beautiful and wonderfully sweet smelling. Easy to grow and are loved by bees and butterflies. 

7. Stargazer lily (Lilium 'Stargazer')
Stunning but deadly to cats, stargazer lilies’ pollen is poisonous to bees.
Alternative: Hollyhocks (Alcea) are impressive and just as beautiful as the stargazer but bee-friendly.

8. Heliconia Exotic and interesting, heliconia, or lobster-claws as its sometimes called, is very toxic to bees. You should not prune your heliconias, as the 'stem' is actually made up of rolled leaf bases and the flowers emerge from the top of these 'pseudostems'. However, each stem will only flower once, so after flowering you can cut that stem out. This is recommended, to encourage more flowering, to increase airflow in between the stems of your plant, and also to generally tidy it up and improve the appearance.
Alternative: Although not quite as exotic, hyacinths are fragrant, gorgeous and easy to grow. Hyacinth bulbs are poisonous; they contain oxalic acid. Handling hyacinth bulbs can cause mild skin irritation. Protective gloves are recommended.

9. Bog rosemary (Andromeda polifolia -
All parts of the plant contain andromedotoxin and are considered poisonous)
Not to be confused with the herb, bog rosemary is acutely poisonous and the honey produced from the nectar of Andromeda polifolia contains high enough levels of grayanotoxin to cause full body paralysis and potentially fatal breathing difficulties due to diaphragm paralysis.
Alternative: Why not try planting a classic rosemary bush (Rosmarinus officinalis) – aromatic, resilient and favoured by bees.

10. Amaryllis (Hippeastrum)
Now most commonly recognised as decorative Christmas flowers, amaryllis are gorgeous in bloom but their pollen produces toxic honey. Bulbs, chewing or ingestion of the bulbs, leaves or flowers poisons goats and sheep with Lycorine (An emetic) and small amounts of alkaloids.
Alternative: Dahlias are a highlight of late summer gardens. Beautiful and simple to grow, dahlias often flower until the first frosts of the year."

This is another list of Plants toxic to bees, which includes:-
Aesculus californica,
Angelica triqueta,
Asclepias species,
Astralagus species,
Astralagus lentiginosus,
Camellia thea,
Corynocarpus laevigata,
Astralagus miser v. serotibus,
Cuscuta species,
Cyrilla racemiflora,
Ochrama lagopus,
Solanum nigram,
Sophora microphylla,
Tillia species,
Veratrum cailfornicum,
Zygadenus cenesosus.

The following details come from Cactus Art:-

"A flower is the the complex sexual reproductive structure of Angiosperms, typically consisting of an axis bearing perianth parts, androecium (male) and gynoecium (female).    

Bisexual flower show four distinctive parts arranged in rings inside each other which are technically modified leaves: Sepal, petal, stamen & pistil. This flower is referred to as complete (with all four parts) and perfect (with "male" stamens and "female" pistil). The ovary ripens into a fruit and the ovules inside develop into seeds.

Incomplete flowers are lacking one or more of the four main parts. Imperfect (unisexual) flowers contain a pistil or stamens, but not both. The colourful parts of a flower and its scent attract pollinators and guide them to the nectary, usually at the base of the flower tube.

Androecium (male Parts or stamens)
It is made up of the filament and anther, it is the pollen producing part of the plant.
Anther This is the part of the stamen that produces and contains pollen. 
Filament This is the fine hair-like stalk that the anther sits on top of.
Pollen This is the dust-like male reproductive cell of flowering plants.

Gynoecium (female Parts or carpels or pistil)
 It is made up of the stigma, style, and ovary. Each pistil is constructed of one to many rolled leaflike structures.
Stigma
This is the part of the pistil  which receives the pollen grains and on which they germinate. 
Style
This is the long stalk that the stigma sits on top of ovary. 
Ovary
The part of the plant that contains the ovules. 
Ovule
The part of the ovary that becomes the seeds. 

Petal 
The colorful, often bright part of the flower (corolla). 
Sepal 
The parts that look like little green leaves that cover the outside of a flower bud (calix). 
(Undifferentiated "Perianth segment" that are not clearly differentiated into sepals and petals, take the names of tepals.)"

The following details come from Nectary Genomics:-

"NECTAR. Many flowering plants attract potential pollinators by offering a reward of floral nectar. The primary solutes found in most nectars are varying ratios of sucrose, glucose and fructose, which can range from as little a 8% (w/w) in some species to as high as 80% in others. This abundance of simple sugars has resulted in the general perception that nectar consists of little more than sugar-water; however, numerous studies indicate that it is actually a complex mixture of components. Additional compounds found in a variety of nectars include other sugars, all 20 standard amino acids, phenolics, alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenes, vitamins, organic acids, oils, free fatty acids, metal ions and proteins.

NECTARIES. An organ known as the floral nectary is responsible for producing the complex mixture of compounds found in nectar. Nectaries can occur in different areas of flowers, and often take on diverse forms in different species, even to the point of being used for taxonomic purposes. Nectaries undergo remarkable morphological and metabolic changes during the course of floral development. For example, it is known that pre-secretory nectaries in a number of species accumulate large amounts of starch, which is followed by a rapid degradation of amyloplast granules just prior to anthesis and nectar secretion. These sugars presumably serve as a source of nectar carbohydrate.

WHY STUDY NECTAR? Nearly one-third of all worldwide crops are dependent on animals to achieve efficient pollination. In addition, U.S. pollinator-dependent crops have been estimated to have an annual value of up to $15 billion. Many crop species are largely self-incompatible (not self-fertile) and rely almost entirely on animal pollinators to achieve full fecundity; poor pollinator visitation has been reported to reduce yields of certain species by up to 50%."

The following details about DOUBLE FLOWERS comes from Wikipedia:-

"Double-flowered" describes varieties of flowers with extra petals, often containing flowers within flowers. The double-flowered trait is often noted alongside the scientific name with the abbreviation fl. pl. (flore pleno, a Latin ablative form meaning "with full flower"). The first abnormality to be documented in flowers, double flowers are popular varieties of many commercial flower types, including roses, camellias and carnations. In some double-flowered varieties all of the reproductive organs are converted to petals — as a result, they are sexually sterile and must be propagated through cuttings. Many double-flowered plants have little wildlife value as access to the nectaries is typically blocked by the mutation.

There is further photographic, diagramatic and text about Double Flowers from an education department - dept.ca.uky.edu - in the University of Kentucky in America.

"Meet the plant hunter obsessed with double-flowering blooms" - an article from The Telegraph.

THE 2 EUREKA EFFECT PAGES FOR UNDERSTANDING SOIL AND HOW PLANTS INTERACT WITH IT OUT OF 10,000:-

• THE INTERACTION BETWEEN THE 2 QUARTZ GRAIN SIBLINGS, and
• HOW ROOTS OF PLANTS ARE IN CONTROL IN THE SOIL
• before continuing in this website.

Explanation of Structure of this Website with User Guidelines Page for those photo galleries with Photos (of either ones I have taken myself or others which have been loaned only for use on this website from external sources)

Choose 1 of these different Plant selection Methods:-

1. Choose a plant from 1 of 53 flower colours in the Colour Wheel Gallery.

2. Choose a plant from 1 of 12 flower colours in each month of the year from 12 Bloom Colours per Month Index Gallery.

3. Choose a plant from 1 of 6 flower colours per month for each type of plant:-

Aquatic
Bedding
Bulb
Climber
Conifer
Deciduous Shrub
Deciduous Tree
Evergreen Perennial
Evergreen Shrub
Evergreen Tree
Hedging
Herbaceous Perennial
Herb
Odds and Sods
Rhododendron nectar is toxic to bees
Rose
Soft Fruit
Top Fruit
Wild Flower

4. Choose a plant from its Flower Shape:-

Shape, Form
Index
Flower Shape

5. Choose a plant from its foliage:-

Bamboo
Conifer
Fern
Grass
Vegetable

6. There are 6 Plant Selection Levels including Bee Pollinated Plants for Hay Fever Sufferers in
Plants Topic.

or

7. when I do not have my own or ones from mail-order nursery photos , then from March 2016, if you want to start from the uppermost design levels through to your choice of cultivated and wildflower plants to change your Plant Selection Process then use the following galleries:-

• Create and input all plants known by Amateur Gardening inserted into their Sanders' Encyclopaedia from their edition published in 1960 (originally published by them in 1895) into these
  • Stage 1 - Garden Style Index Gallery,
    then
  • Stage 2 - Infill Plants Index Gallery being the only gallery from these 7 with photos (from Wikimedia Commons) ,
    then
  • Stage 3 - All Plants Index Gallery with each plant species in its own Plant Type Page followed by choice from Stage 4a, 4b, 4c and/or 4d REMEMBERING THE CONSTRAINTS ON THE SELECTION FROM THE CHOICES MADE IN STAGES 1 AND 2
  • Stage 4a - 12 Bloom Colours per Month Index Gallery,
  • Stage 4b - 12 Foliage Colours per Month Index Gallery with
  • Stage 4c - Cultivation, Position, Use Index Gallery and
  • Stage 4d - Shape, Form Index Gallery
  • Unfortunately, if you want to have 100's of choices on selection of plants from 1000's of 1200 pixels wide by up to 16,300 pixels in length webpages, which you can jump to from almost any of the pages in these 7 galleries above, you have to put up with those links to those choices being on
    • the left topic menu table,
    • the header of the middle data table and on
    • the page/index menu table on the right of every page of those galleries.

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

• 12 Bloom Colours per Month Index
• Plants Blue, Orange, Red, Yellow, White, Other Colours which lead on to other pages
• Colour Wheel - All Flowers per Month 12
• Bedding
• Bulb
• Climber
• Deciduous Shrub
• Deciduous Tree
• Evergreen Perennial
• Evergreen Shrub
• Evergreen Tree
• Herbaceous Perennial
• Rhododendron
• Rose
• Wild Flower

• Plants for Cut Flowers in
  January
  February
  March
  April
  May
  June
  July
  August
  September
  October
  November
  December
• Climber 3 sector Vertical Plant System with flowers in
  Jan,
  Feb,
  Mar,
  Apr,
  May 1, 2
  Jun,
  Jul,
  Aug,
  Sep,
  Oct,
  Nov,
  Dec

• Indoor Bulbs for
  December
  January
  February
• Indoor Bulbs for
  March
  April
  May
• Indoor
  Bulbs for
  June
  July
  August
• Indoor Bulbs for
  September
  October
  November
• Plant Bloom
  Dec-Jan
  Feb-Mar
• Plant Bloom
  Apr-May
  Jun-Aug
• Plant Bloom
  Sep-Oct
  Nov-Dec

Pruning

Pruning Made Easy - A gardener's Visual Guide to when and how to prune everything, from flowers to trees by Lewis Hill. Published by Storey Publishing as one of its Storey's Gardening Skills Illustrated Series in 1997.
ISBN 1-58017-007-2. Lewis Hill owned Berryhill Nursery.

The illustrations combined with the text tell you precisely what to do in the above book.

I have spent a long time investigating the state of the trees in pavements within Funchal in Madeira and I have taken 100's of photos to show what happens when any tree is pruned and allowed to rot followed by the inside rot being set light to. You can look at the welcome page, and below this leads on to the start page of the 100's of photos linked to in the comments on cavity repair, for further details.
 

• This information about pruning is very useful to people not living in England in 2023, since by 2030 much of England is going to run out of water and therefore the English population that it affects will have to move out of their existing homes into another country; leading to a major financial mortgage and housing value crash in England.
  Southern Water Authority is responsible for water undertakings in Medway from 1973.
  "Twenty-five years from now we will have lost a third of our water sources through climate change, seen a reduction in the amount of water we are allowed to take from rivers and underground sources, and our population will have grown by 15%. Without action, we predict a supply and demand deficit by 2030 equivalent to around 50% of our current supply. Our Plan proposes 43 performance commitments for the five-year period from 2020 to 2025, directly aligned to 10 key outcomes to create a resilient water future." from Southern Water. Southern Water has £5,100,000,000 of debt, so how does it intend to execute these performance commitments?
  Medway has a population of 274,015 in 2014, which has grown to 280,000 by January 2023. So Medway has increased its population by more than 2% in 9 years where our water supply has shrunk by more than 18%. See further details about 'Lack of drinking water from Southern Water by 2030' in Mission Statement page.
  Since West Midlands, London, Parts of the South West, East Midlands, East of England and South East regions of England are at risk of running out of water by 2030, cemeteries and churchyards in England will then be abandoned as its 35,000,000 population has to leave.
  From South East Rivers Trust report on Water, water everywhere ... or is it? - "By 2050, the South East of England will need to find at least an additional one billion litres of water per day to meet demand in the region. That is about a fifth of the water used in the region today, and equivalent to the water use of seven million people per day.  Demand for water will exceed supply by 2030."
  Since the privatised water companies in England are so much in debt (due to asset stripping and borrowing to pay the high dividends and payments in salary and bonuses to their staff during the 30 years of privatisation), it is extremely doubtful if anything has been done about it for the last 30 years or for the next 7.
  They and the government blame the increasing population in overusing the decreasing
  a) by 33% of the rainfall water resource plus
  b) the reduction that the water companies will be allowed to take from rivers and underground sources plus
  c) the reduction in the rainfall being allowed into the ground by the new buildings, roads etc covering it.
  Further details concerning the involvement of the government in this fraud; is on the Welcome Page;
  for those from America, Canada and other countries who will experience the loss in their retirement pension value from this future market crash in the UK.

Chapter

Contents

Comments

Reasons to prune

Pruning with a purpose.
Pruning when planting or transplanting.
Pruning to train.
Pruning to control size.
Pruning for appearance.
Pruning for health.
Pruning for production.
Pruning for rejuvenation.
Pruning to create a barrier.

Tools and Equipment

Clippers and loppers.
Sharpening pruning shears.
Shearing equipment.
Tree paints and sealers.
Tool storage.

Pruning Methods

A proper pruning cut.
Pruning at different life stages.
When to prune.
Training.
Shearing.
Pinching.
Removing large limbs.
Beheading.
Disbudding.
Thinning fruit.
Basal pruning.
Root pruning.

Ornamental trees and shrubs

Pruning a bare-root shrub.
Pruning container-grown or balled-and-burlapped plants.
Pruning flowering trees.
Pruning Flowering Shrubs.
Pruning a viburnum.
Pruning a lilac.
Restoring an old flowering tree or shrub.
Turning a shrub into a tree.
Pruning shrubs that produce fruit or berries.
Plants with coloured bark.
Shrubs and trees that need special care in pruning.
Pruning roses.
General rose maintenance.
Pruning a hybrid tea rose.
Pruning shrub and species roses.
Pruning climbers and ramblers.
Pruning tree roses.
Choosing a tree or shrub.

From shrubs and trees for the smaller garden by Frances Perry. Published by C. Arthur Pearson Ltd in 1961:-

When pruning trees.
Never leave dead, damaged or diseased branches. Remove these as soon as possible or the trouble may spread. Paint with a wood preservative such as Stockholm Tar any cuts over 0.5 inch (1 cm) in diameter. Pine tar is a product from our trees. By treating wood with pine tar, you are adding natural substances that the tree itself uses to protect itself from e.g. mildew and algae. Impregnation with pine tar also prevents moisture penetration like Imprex 845, instead allowing the wood to breathe. This helps prevent the wood from drying out and cracking.
Remember cherries, prunus and even rhododendrons can contract Silver Leaf disease. Never leave dead wood lying about and in an infected area paint the wounds and prune between May and July (when the spores of Silver Leaf are inactive).
Remove large branches in at least two sections to prevent damage farther down to the trunk or lower branches.
NEVER LEAVE STUMPS.

Shrub pruning.
Shrubs should be carefully examined once a year.
Start by checking over the bush and removing broken, dead or diseased branches. Old, worn-out and weak shoots should next receive attention and must be taken out entirely or shortened back to a younger or stronger shoot. One important object of thinning is to admit light and air and many shrubs which have become leggy grow out again freely from the older stems when cut hard back at the right season.
Further pruning of deciduous shrubs will be closely related to their method and time of flowering, a point on which the gardener must satisfy himself with every species he grows.
a. Shrubs flowering in early spring on wood made the previous year. Examples - Jsminum nudiflorum, Forsthia suspensa, Clematis montana and Prunus triloba plena. As soon as the blooms fade, cut back the flowering shoots, almost to the old wood. New shoots will soon break and thus receive the longest possible season in which to grow and ripen. These in turn will carry the next season's flowers.
b. Shrubs flowering from April to July on wood made the previous year. Examples - Lilacs, ribes, spiraeas and philadelphus. These require very little pruning and often flower well for years with little attention. Thin crowded shoots and remove weak twigs, and if the bush is traggly and over-tall (a common fault with lilacs and philadelphus) remove a few of the worn-out branches at ground level and shorten back the top flowering shoots to strong young growths on the main branches. This may spoil next season's flowers but the plant will eventually benefit and be brought back to more reasonable proportions.
c. Shrubs flowering in late summer on growths of the current year. Examples - Bufddleia davidii, Tamarix pentandra, Clematis jackmannii and Ceanothus 'Gloire de Versailles.' In order to encourage strong flower shoots, cut back all last year's flowering stems to within a few inches (cms) of the old wood in January or February, that is before growth commences.

Evergreen shrubs.
Do not prune evergreens in winter, but in spring, just before the recommencement of growth, or, with plants like Berberis stenophylla (which blooms in April) immediately after the flowers fade.
Autumn flowering heaths may be improved by having the old flowering shoots trimmed back in spring. Cutting them over with shears is usually sufficient.

Pruning and clipping hedges.
Freshly planted hedges must not be allowed to run up until a thick dense bottom has formed. Cut the plants back hard and repeatedly until this is achieved. Height will come later but in future years it will be found difficult to induce new shoots from the bottom of a thin hedge.
Prune evergreen hedges hard in spring when the fresh new growths quickly mask the scars of cutting. Very old yew or holly hedges should not be treated too drastically. Reduce them gradually, the top one year and one side in each of the next 2 years.
Young, fast-growing hedges need 3 or 4 clippings during the season, and mature hedges 1 or 2 - in spring and late summer. The clipping of beech, hornbeam and similar deciduous hedges is best performed in winter or in August. At the latter season beech produces short new growths which retain their leaves during the winter.
Ivy on walls or fences may be clipped with shears or a hedge trimmer in April, but it is better to use secateurs in August to remove any long, loose shoots.
Shrubs grown for the beauty of their stems in winter, notably Salix britzensis, Salix vitellina and certain Cornus species should be treated like the deciduous shrubs in category c. The object is to obtain as much new growth as possible each year and to that end the previous year's shoots are spurred back hard in March to within 1 or 2 eyes of the old wood.

Pruning hints.
Prune so that the maximum time is allowed for fresh growth before a new flowering season comes round. All tools used for pruning should be kept very sharp."

Shade trees

Basic tree shapes.
Choosing the proper tree.
Pruning at planting time.
Maintenance pruning.
Basal pruning.
Care of mature trees.
Tree surgery.
Cavity repair.

Cavity repair.
"1. Clean out the cavity carefully. Remove all dirt, old bark, insects, and rotten wood right down to soil wood, much as a dentist cleans out a tooth prior to filling it, If possible, flush out the area with clean water." Fine.

"2. Smooth out the rough edges with a heavy-grit file" No, that would tend to remove the remains of the branch collar and further damage the tree.

"3. Fill the hole with a good tree-cavity sealer. Asphalt compounds, such as those used in patching driveways and roofs, are suitable..."
No, asphalt as well as concrete are solid and may shrink slightly as they dry out leaving a gap where the water, insects can get back in and rot the tree.

I suggest the following:-
"Solution to holes in trees.
Remove ... rot within the hole. Then blast the remaining rot with a high pressure water hose to try and clear more of the rot. Spray with Boron (a water based preservative kills only wood boring insects - not spiders, birds or bats) as a treatment for insect, wet and dry rot attack. While it is still wet, apply a layer of Expanding Foam to the bottom of the hole. Immediately place bottles on this and allow to set for 5 minutes. Apply another layer of expanding foam and another layer of bottles. The aim of the bottles is to occupy space, they are not there as a deterrent. That is why the foam has to be in contact with the inside of the tree not the glass bottle. The poisons in the foam will kill anything eating it and the foam does stick better when wet with water. Keep up this operation until the hole is covered. 
Leave to set and then paint the foam surface twice with a recommended water-based, but not oil-based, sealant.

Solutions to stop creating holes in trees.
When a branch is cut off, remember to cut it off on the other side of the Branch Collar - see figure in next row. (See Figure 1 - Optimum position of the final pruning cut in "Guide to Tree Pruning" by the Arboricultural Association which shows the branch collar within and outside the tree. My Comments: I disagree with their recommendation not to apply wound paint as you can see the result if you do not paint trees which are dehydrated, starved and gassed as these trees in the pavements of Madeira are.) 
Once that is done, then immediately apply Boron and 2 coats of protective sealant as used for holes in trees above." from Photo Damage to Trees in Madeira Page 1.

I also saved the yew tree in my local churchyard.

Branch Collar

Pruning evergreens

What is an evergreen.
Needled evergreens.
Shearing basics.
How to shear.
Shearing specimen evergreens.
A shearing timetable.
Shearing dwarf evergreens.
Creating a dwarf evergreen.
Shearing windbreaks and screens.
Pruning needled evergreens.
Broadleaf evergreens.
Renewal pruning.

Pruning hedges

Starting a new hedge.
Shearing a hedge.
Making an arch in your hedge.
Reviving an old hedge.
Formal hedges.
Hedges for barriers.
Flower- and berry-producing hedge plants.
Hedges needing careful maintenance.
Annual hedges.
Low-maintenance hedges.

Artistic pruning

Topiary.
Topiary frames.
Espalier.
Creating a cordon.
English fences.
Pollarding and coppicing.
Pruning a Japanese-style garden.

Pruning fruit trees

Pruning a bare-root fruit tree at planting time.
Pruning a young fruit tree.
Fruit-tree pruning styles.
Prune for quality fruit.
Repair pruning.
Prune to manage your tree's size.
Prune to keep your tree healthy.
Managing suckers.
Dealing with sunscald.
When to prune fruit trees.
Pruning dwarf fruit trees.
Pruning to make trees bear.
The old orchard.
Pruning sanitation.
Pruning spur-type fruit trees.
Specific trees: apple; apricot; cherry; citrus; fig; peach and nectarine; pear; plum; quince; tropical and semitropical fruits.
Cutting grafting wood.