Ivydene Gardens Blue Wildflowers Note Gallery: |
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Plant Height from Text Border |
Blue = 0-24 inches (0-60 cms) |
Green=24-72 inches (60-180 cms) |
Red = 72+ inches (180+ cms) |
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Plant Soil Moisture from Text Background |
Wet Soil |
Moist Soil |
Dry Soil |
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Click on thumbnail to change this comparison page to the Plant Description Page of the plant named in the Text box below the photo. |
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VIOLET Pale Heath Violet May-Jun |
MILK-WORT Chalk Milkwort Apr-Jun |
MILK-WORT Chalk Milkwort Apr-Jun |
MILK-WORT Common Milkwort May-Sep |
MILK-WORT Heath Milkwort ACIDIC SOIL in MOORS, HEATHS, MIRES May-Sep |
FLAX May-Sep |
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Site design and content copyright ©January 2016. Photos and other details added February 2017. Chris Garnons-Williams. |
Marjorie Blamey's Wild Flowers by Colour by Marjorie Blamey (ISBN 0-7136-7237-4. Published by A & C Black Publishers Ltd in 2005) has illustrations of each wild flower of Britain and Northern Europe split into the following 13 colours. Instead of colour illustrations, this plant gallery has thumbnail pictures of wild flowers of Britain in the same colour split system:-
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Form from
Form for Wildflowers:- Mat-forming These Forms are used for Bulbs with Herbaceous and Evergreen Perennials.
Shape for Evergreen Shrubs:- These Forms and Shapes are also used for Deciduous and Evergreen Shrubs and Trees. |
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Wildflowers with Blue Flowers |
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Wildflower Common Plant Name Click on Underlined Text Flower Photo Flowers Photo Foliage Photo Form Photo
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Flowering Months Click on Underlined Text |
Habitat Click on Underlined Text
Native in:- |
Number of Petals Without Petals. |
Foliage Colour |
Height x Spread in inches (cms) (1 inch = 2.5 cms, |
Comment Click on Underlined Botanical Name
See illustration
Botanical Name |
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Alpine Clematis Non-Wildflower Garden Escape |
Apr-May |
This early spring flowering clematis is ideal for a north- or east-facing site. Given suitable support it may be grown on its own or allowed to scramble through a strong shrub or tree. |
5 Petals |
Mid-Green |
120 x 60 |
Page 151 |
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Jul-Aug |
A perennial herb found in two contrasting habitats: heavily-grazed limestone grassland on base-rich well-drained soils in the Pennines, and both on and below mica-schist ledges on ungrazed cliffs in Perthshire, often in open communities. |
5 Petals |
Mid green |
10 x 12 Borage Family |
Myosotis alpestris Repro-duction is by seed. Grows best in rock crevices and scree gardens in full sun or part shade needing a gritty soil that retains moisture Page 155 |
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Alpine Sow-Thistle (Alpine Blue Sow-thistle, Blue Sow Thistle) |
Composite flower head is about 1 inch (2.5 cm) wide and is made up of individual violet-blue flowers |
A tall perennial of ledges inaccessible to grazing animals on moist, predominantly N.-facing acidic rocks, often where there is late snow-lie. |
More than 6 |
Mid-Green |
32 x 6 Daisy Catsears Family |
Deer, reindeer and elk eat it. Page 158 |
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Alpine Speedwell |
Dark blue Flowers in small terminal cluster |
This small montane perennial herb typically occurs in areas of late snow-lie in open, often rocky, places on well-drained but slightly moist ground. It grows on both acidic and calcareous substrates. |
4 |
Bluish-green, oval, scarcely toothed, unstalked |
6 x 4 Figwort - Speedwells Family |
Veronica alpina |
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Alpine Squill Garden escape in southern England Flowers from Wikimedia Commons |
Mar-Jun Bright blue, rarely pink or white, starlike in a loose cluster |
Habitat in grassland, scrub, or woods, also on mountains. |
6 |
2 linear, channelled, basal leaves. Foliage will disappear by summer as the plant goes dormant. |
3-6 x 3-4 Lily Family |
Scilla bifolia Page 158 |
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Apple-of-Peru |
Jun-Oct Blue or pale violet with white throat, bell-shaped, opening only for a few hours |
Very poisonous. Habitat in bare and waste places, waysides. Propagation: by seeds sown 0.125 inches (3mm) deep in pots or boxes of light soil in 55F (13C) in March, trans-planting seedlings 36 inches (90cm) apart outdoors in ordinary soil in May; or by sowing seed in sunny position outdoors in April, trans-planting seedlings in June. |
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Leaves pointed oval, toothed or lobed. |
18-24 x Night |
Nicandra physalodes Page 156 Full Sun in open borders. |
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Arctic Bellflower, Arctic harebell It is distributed in arctic North America, including the Rocky Mountains and Greenland, in the Asian part of Beringia and in Iceland, Svalbard, the Scandes Mountains and Novaja Zemlja. |
Jun-Oct Nodding, solitary, bell-shaped, blue, purple |
Habitat in Mountains, arctic heaths. Occurring most often among other forbs, graminoids, and dwarf shrubs on slopes and ledges with meadow or heath vegetation. The growth sites are usually well drained with mixed soils and circumneutral or basic soil reaction (pH). Tends to occupy moderately exposed locations with slight to moderate snow cover. Not much grazed by reindeer or geese. |
Petals joined, with 5 lobes |
Pointed, dark green. |
2-4 x 2 Bellflower Family |
Campanula uniflora Page 157 Used and attracted by humming-birds - not sure there are many of those in the UK. |
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Autumn Squill Flowers |
Jul-Oct |
A bulbous perennial herb of open, drought-prone grasslands and heathy vegetation in rocky or sandy places near the sea; also on terrace gravels in the lower Thames valley. Dry pastures, usually near the sea, in Southern England |
5 |
Narrow linear mid green leaves are produced in the Spring but die back before the flowers emerge. |
5 x 4 Lily Family |
Scilla autumnalis Full Sun with well-drained soil. Plant 3 inches deep and 4 inches (10cm) apart. Pages 138 and 158 |
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Bavarian Gentian (Gentiana bavarica) native to European Alps not the UK |
Jul-Sep Dark blue, tubular |
Damp Grass, Marshes. Avoid lime, with full sun in the rock garden. |
5 |
4 x 4 4 inches is the spacing between plants not the width of the plant Gentian Family |
Gentiana bavarica Page 153 |
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Bitter Vetch |
Apr-Jul |
A perennial herb of moist, infertile neutral and acidic soils in heathy meadows, lightly grazed pastures, grassy banks and open woodlands; also on stream banks and rock ledges in the uplands. |
5 sepals and 5 petals |
Green |
12 x 8 Peaflower Vetches/Peas Family |
Lathyrus montanus (Lathyrus linifolius) Pages 105 and 151 |
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Bearded Bellflower |
Jun-Aug Pale blue, with long white hairs inside, in one-sided cluster; sepals in 2 rows. Thrives in well-drained loam in the rock garden or in the mixed border. |
Short, tufted, bristly. Woods, grassy places, in mountains. |
5 |
Wavy-edged hairy basal leaves, few on stem. |
In high mountains in its native land of France, switzerland and Italy, it is sometimes only about 6 inches (15 cm) high Bellflower Family |
Campanula barbata Page 157 |
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Bladder Gentian |
May-Aug Narrow petal tube, dark blue |
Annual Damp grass, bogs, heaths, stony slopes and hollows. |
5 |
Basal rosette of leaves. |
10 x 2 Gentian Family |
Gentiana utricolosa Page 153 See photo |
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Blue Anemone (Apennine Anemone, Windflower) is |
A rhizomatous perennial, found in woodland, open scrub, under park trees, in churchyards and near former habitations. Like the native A. nemorosa, it requires light shade |
9 Petals |
Green |
6-9 x 6
Buttercup Family |
Blue Anemone on Page 151 Can also be grown in pots on your windowsill, balcony or garden table. The plant does well under deciduous trees, alongside hedges and in shady pots around ponds. |
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Bluebell |
Dark Blue |
In woods, heaths, hedge banks. |
5 |
Keeled leaves with hooded tip |
Lily Family |
Hyacinth-oides Pages 64 for white flowers and 158 for blue flowers |
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Blue Bugle |
Apr-Aug Dark Blue |
Dry grassy in chalk pastures in Berkshire, stony places. It is suitable for the front of mixed borders, or for the margin of shrub beds, and also for naturalising. |
1 lipped flowers |
Stems often hairy, all round. |
6 x Mint section of |
Ajuga genevensis Page 155 |
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Blue-eyed Grass Flower |
Jun-Aug 2 terminal clusters of 2-4 dark blue starlike flowers with a yellow centre |
A cormous perennial herb found naturalised in meadows, pastures, amenity grasslands and on roadsides. It spreads vegetatively by means of rhizomes. |
Blue flowers, with 6 very pointed petals, closed in dull weather and so often hard to detect among herbage, in a small terminal cluster on a stiff winged leaf-like stem. |
Tuft of linear leaves all from roots |
6-10 x Iris Family |
Sis- Pge 158 |
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Blue-eyed Mary |
Feb-May Bright blue, 10mm across, in a loose cluster |
This creeping perennial - with blue flowers - is a garden escape or outcast which has become naturalised in woodland and along lanes. |
5 |
Short, mat-forming, spreads with rooting runners. |
Borage Family |
Page 155 Often mistaken for Forget-me-not of which it is a relative. |
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Blue Hound's-tongue (Cynoglossum creticum) is toxic to stock in Australia |
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So it may have blue flowers, but there is no point in growing a plant whose seed could travel and when its plant is grown could be toxic to stock. |
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Flower |
Blue up to 0.5 inches in diameter in June-August followed by fruits 5-8-veined. |
In arable fields in the South and West of England |
5 |
Pointed oval dark green unstalked leaves, usually in pairs but sometimes, especially later in the year, in whorls. |
Primrose Family |
Anagallis foemina Page 152 |
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Water Speedwell Flowers |
Erect dense spikes of pale blue flowers with tiny narrow pointed leaf-like bracts at their base |
An annual found on fertile substrates by rivers, streams and ponds, in ditches and in flooded clay- and gravel-pits. It grows as a vegetative plant submerged in shallow water, or as a flowering emergent, or as a terrestrial plant in marshy habitats and disturbed ground at the water`s edge. Reproduction is by seed and by rooted stem fragments. |
4 |
Pointed dark green leaves |
6-18 x Figwort - Speedwells Family |
Veronica anagallis-aquatica Page 156 |
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Blue Woodruff Distributed in Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark. |
Apr-Jun Bright Blue |
Slender short annual, hairless. Weed of cultivation. |
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Leaves linear, blunt, in whorls of 6-9. |
Bedstraw Family |
Asperula arvensis Page 153 |
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Borage (Common Borage) |
Deep Blue, 0.75 inches diameter |
An annual occurring as a casual garden escape on roadsides and waste ground. It also arises from bird-seed and as a relic of cultivation as a minor crop. It is rarely naturalised. |
5 |
Leaves, large, ovate, hispid |
Borage Family |
Borago officinalis Page 154 |
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Breck Speedwell (Breckland Speedwell) |
Mar-Jun Dark Blue |
An annual found naturalised on free-draining sandy soils, usually where there is regular disturbance. Habitats include the edges of arable fields, on tracks, sandy banks, and open rough grassland. Very rare in arable fields in the Breckland. |
Stem erect; leaves conspic-uously dentate. |
Figwort - Speedwells Family |
Veronica praecox Page 156 |
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Brooklime |
4 petal, dark blue |
This robust perennial herb occurs on all but the most infertile substrates in a wide range of wetland habitats: in shallow water, by rivers, streams and ponds, in ditches, marshy hollows in pastures, flushes, wet woodland rides and rutted tracks. It thrives in fairly open habitats, competing poorly in dense stands of taller plants. Propagation is by seed and vegetatively from rooted stems. |
4 petals |
Light Green |
Height of 10 inches (25 cms). Depth 0-1 inches (0-10 cms) of water above soil level. Ideal for masking pool edges and it will grow in shady damp borders.
Figwort - Speedwells Family |
Veronica becca-bunga Page 156 It grows on the margins of brooks and ditches in Europe, North Africa, and north and western Asia. |
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Bugle |
Rich powder- Blue, sometimes pink or white, in leafy spike |
A rhizomatous perennial herb of damp deciduous woods and woodland rides, shaded places and unimproved grassland on neutral or acidic soils, sometimes occurring in flushed ground. |
Lipped |
Leaves often bronzy. |
6 x Mint section of Thyme 1 Family |
Ajuga reptans Page 155 |
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Bur Forget-me-not Native to Europe and Asia |
Jun-Aug Light blue flowers, 2-4 mm in a loose leafy spike |
Greyish annual/biennial, roughly hairy; well branched. Dry bare places, dunes and it thrives in overgrazed pastures. |
5 |
Green leaves lanceolate, unstalked. |
Borage Family |
Lappula squarrosa Page 154 Well known as a noxious weed. The seeds are dispersed when the prickles get caught on animal coats and human clothing, and when they are moved by wind. |
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Bristly Bellflower Native in Europe except far north. |
Jun-Aug Pale Blue, bell-shaped, grouped together |
Its natural habitat is woodland edges, hillside meadows, dry meadows and banks. It also flourishes in places where the soil has been disturbed such as after slash-and-burn, or after forest clearance or when coppicing has taken place. |
5 |
Winged leaf stalks half clasp stem. |
12-39 x Bellflower Family |
Campanula cervicaria Page 157 |
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May-Jul Intense Blue or sometimes bluish-white followed by small seed capsule |
Tightly-grazed chalk and limestone grassland |
4 Petals |
Light green lower leaves crowded into an irregular rosette from which the unbranched flowering stems arise |
7 x 3 Milkwort family |
Polygala calcarea. Polygala calcarea 'Lillet' has RHS Award of Garden Merit. |
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Changing Forget-me-not Flower |
May onwards Mature to Grey-blue, flowers |
An annual of open grassland and disturbed ground occurring in a wide range of habitats, including fen- and hay-meadows, pastures, moorland edges, marshes, dune-slacks, arable field margins, road verges, railway tracks, chalk- and gravel-pits, rocks and walls. |
5 Petal |
Light green and hairy |
Borage Family |
Myosotis discolor Page 155 |
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Chicory Flowers |
Flower-heads in twos and threes at the base of the leaves up the stem, an inch (2.5 cm) or more across, unstalked, with ray-florets only, light bright blue Dandelions. |
A perennial herb of roadsides, field margins and rough grassland on a wide range of soils. |
More than 6 |
It has tough stems, a few often long branches, unstalked lanceolate upper, and pinnately lobed lower leaves. |
12-36 x Daisy Thistle Family |
Cichorium intybus Page 158 |
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Hairless Blue Sow Thistle |
Jul-Sep |
This is a not too distant relative of the lettuce. It makes a rosette of long, basal leaves from which arises a tall, stout, branched stem carrying pretty blue daisy-like flowers. Where conditions suit it will self seed to the point of being a nuisance so it is advisable to cut off the spent flowers before the seed develops. Herbaceous perennial requires moist, acidic, sandy fertile soil. |
More than 6 See photo |
Green |
Daisy Catsears Family |
Cicerbita plumieri |
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Common Field Speedwell Flower |
Through-out the year
Sky-blue with darker veins, the lowest petal usually white, 8-12mm, solitary on long stalks at base of upper leaves; all year |
An annual of arable fields, other cultivated areas and waste ground, found on a wide range of fertile soils. It is self-fertile and seeds prolifically, the seeds forming a persistent seed bank and germinating throughout the year. It also spreads vegetatively from stem fragments. |
5 |
Leaves oval, short-stalked, pale green |
Figwort - Speedwells Family |
Veronica persica Page 157 |
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Common globularia (Common Blue Daisy) Not a native of Great Britain, Ireland or Isle of Man. It has a very disjunct distribution: One population in the mountains of southern France and north-central and eastern Spain; and another population on the islands Öland and Gotland in the Baltic Sea. |
Apr-Jun Umbel of dark blue flowers 2-lipped, the upper lip very short, the lower 3-lobed |
Herbaceous Perennial in Dry grassy or stony places. |
... |
Oval, stalked basal leaves, narrower pointed unstalked stem leaves |
6-12 x Bellflower Family |
Globularia vulgaris Page 157 |
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Common Grape-hyacinth (Grape Hyacinth) |
A bulbous perennial herb on free-draining soils, native or long-naturalised in grasslands, hedgerows, pine plantations and rough ground, and on roadsides on a wide range of nutrient-poor soils. It is also a short-lived garden escape or outcast near habitation, on roadsides, allotments and waste ground. Lowland. |
6 |
3-6 linear bright green channeled leaves often red at base. |
Lily Family |
Muscari neglectum Page 158 Grassland for Muscari neglectum and Gardens for Garden Grape-hyacinth Muscari armeniacum |
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Common Lungwort Flower |
Mar-May Flowers in small terminal clusters, pink, often turning bluer; calyx with short broad teeth. |
A perennial herb, naturalised in woodlands and scrub, on banks and rough ground, and also occurring on rubbish tips and waste ground. |
5 |
Hairy and tufted. White blotches on green leaves |
Borage Family |
Pulmonaria officinalis Pages 124, 142 and 154 |
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May-Sep Blue, Pink or White followed by seed capsules |
A perennial herb which usually grows in short, moderately infertile neutral to basic grassland on banks, hill-slopes crags and sand dunes. It also occurs in acid grasslands, heaths and fen-meadows. Dry Grassland in Chalk soil throughout the British Isles |
3-5 True Petals |
Mid Green scattered leaves |
12 x 12 |
Polygala vulgaris Pages 49, 115 and 152 |
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Cornflower Flower |
Bright blue |
This formerly occurred as an annual weed of arable habitats. Since 1986 it has been recorded in very few arable fields, but it is now frequent in waste places, on roadsides and on rubbish tips as a casual arising from gardens and wild-flower seed mixtures. |
4-5 |
Narrow leaves, the upper unstalked and lanceolate, the lower stalked and pinnately lobed. |
12-24 x Daisy Thistle Family |
Centaurea cyanus Page 158 |
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Creeping Water Forget-me-not (Creeping Forget-me-not) |
Light Blue 0.2 inch (5mm), in spikes leafy below |
A stoloniferous annual to perennial herb found by streams and pools, in marshy pasture, moorland flushes and springs. It prefers acid peaty soils, and usually avoids calcareous soils. |
5 |
Numerous leafy runners, stems with hairs spreading below but adpressed above. |
Borage Family |
Myosotis secunda (Myosotis repens, Myosotis palustris), Myosotis scorpioides) Page 155 |
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Cross Gentian Native to France, Belgium, Luxemburg, Channel Isles, Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark |
Jun-Sep Dull Blue, oblong, in tight clusters up the stem, petal-tube 4 lobed |
Perennial in dry grass places or open woods. |
6 |
Leaves oval to broad lanceolate, rather leathery, the upper clasping the stem, the lower stalked. |
Gentian Family |
Gentiana cruciata Page 153 |
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Cultivated Flax (Linseed Oil Plant, Flax, Common Flax) Flower |
Bright Blue flowers an inch (2.5 cms) across, the sepals pointed and shorter than the globular fruit |
A robust annual found on road verges, rubbish tips and waste ground and locally, rather surprisingly, on stone reservoir banks. It is also a moderately frequent bird-seed alien. |
5 |
Narrow lanceolate 3-veined green leaves |
9-18 x |
Page 152 |
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Early Forget-me-not Flowers |
April-June Sky-blue flowers, the corolla-tbe shorter than the longer-stalked calyx, whose longer teeth are spreading in fruit. |
An annual of open habitats or bare ground on dry, relatively infertile soils. It is found in chalk and limestone grassland, on sandy heaths and banks, stabilised dunes, the borders of sandy cultivated fields, railway tracks, rocks, walls, gravel-pits, quarry spoil and waste ground. |
5 |
Hairy green leaves |
Borage Family |
Myosotis hispida Page 155 |
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Field Forget-me-not (Common Forget-me-not) Flowers |
Grey-blue or pinkish, usually saucer-shaped flowers, the petal-like corolla-lobes shorter than the tube. Fruit-stalks longer than the calyx which has numerous spreading hooked hairs. |
An annual or biennial herb of open or disturbed ground, especially cultivated fields. Other habitats include woodland edges, open grassland, hedges, scrub, roadsides, walls and quarries. |
5 |
Softly hairy, with oblong leaves |
Borage Family |
Page 155 |
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Fingered Speedwell |
Small dark blue flowers with petal-like corolla-lobes shorter than the calyx, on slender stalks longer than the leaves and the calyx. Fruits round, notched, shorter than the calyx-lobes, with style little longer than the notch. |
Recently, this annual of sandy calcareous or slightly acidic soils has been found on the margins of arable fields and on sandy banks, but it was formerly also known from tracks, fallow fields, gravel-pits and waste ground. Regular disturbance is needed to maintain sufficient open ground for germination. |
4 |
Lower leaves stalked, with 1-7 narrow finger-like lobes. |
Figwort Family |
Veronica triphyllos very rare Page 156 |
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Birdseye Speedwell |
Flowers brilliant azure blue with a white eye, rarely pink or lilac, in erect spikes at the base of the well-toothed, pointed oval leaves, with short or no stalks. Fruits conspicuously hairy, broadly heart-shaped shorter than the pointed calyx-lobes. |
A stoloniferous perennial herb of woods, hedge banks, grassland, rock outcrops, upland screes, road verges, railway banks and waste ground, found on most soil types except the most impoverished. It also occurs on anthills on chalk downland. It spreads vegetatively by prostrate stems which root at the nodes; reproduction from seed appears to be comparatively rare. |
4 |
Hairs in 2 thick opposite lines down the stems, which are prostrate at the base. |
Figwort Family |
Veronica chamaedrys Page 156 |
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Green Alkanet Flowers |
Small stalked clusters of flat white-eyed, bright blue flowers, at the base of the broad, pointed oval, net-veined leaves, the lower stalked. |
This erect perennial herb is mostly found near habitation in lightly shaded habitats, including waste ground, roadside-banks, hedgerows, scrub and woodland, but it also grows on riversides. It reproduces prolifically from seed and can be very invasive. |
5 |
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12-24 x Borage Family |
Pentaglottis semper-virens (Anchusa semper-virens) Page 154 |
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Green Field Speedwell |
March onwards Pale blue , 4-8 mm, flowers. Fruits with style still shorter, hardy or not longer than the notch. White lower petal
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This spring-germinating annual is a colonist of cultivated land, waysides, gardens and allotments. It prefers soils which are well-drained and acidic, occurring on calcareous substrates only when there is surface leaching. |
4 |
Oval leaves, toothed, short-stalked |
Figwort Family |
Veronica agrestis Page 157 |
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Grey Field Speedwell |
March onwards Uniform dark blue. Fruits as broad as long. |
An annual of cultivated fields and gardens, typically growing on light, sandy, often calcareous soils. |
4 |
Leaves grey-green |
Figwort Family |
Veronica polita Page 157 |
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Harebell Flowers |
Flowers blue, nodding, in a loose truss. |
A rhizomatous perennial herb of dry, open, infertile habitats including grassland, fixed dunes, rock ledges, roadsides and railway banks. It tolerates a wide range of soil pH, being found on both mildly acidic and calcareous substrates, and heavy-metal tolerant races are known. |
5 |
Small roundish root-leaves that usually wither early, with linear stem-leaves, the upper unstalked. |
Bellflower Family |
Pages 137 and 157 |
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Heath Dog Violet Seed Pods |
Blue with yellowspur followed by seed pods |
Perennial with stems decumbent to erect, solitary to many together from a short creeping rhizome. A perennial herb of a variety of acid habitats, including heaths, coastal dunes, stony riversides and lake shores, especially in Scotland. It can also occur on thin, heavily leached substrates overlying chalk and (as subsp. montana) in fens. |
5 |
Has no central non-flowering rosette of leaves, which are heart-shaped, but are thick, dark and distinctly long than broad. |
12 x 12 Violet Family |
Viola canina Dry Turf on sandy Fens, woods and hedgebanks on calcareous (chalk) soils throughout the UK. |
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Heath Milkwort |
Gentian-blue or Slate Blue followed by seed capsule. |
A perennial herb occurring on acidic soils in grasslands, moors, heaths and mires. 0-1035 m (Ben Lawers, Mid Perth). This plant is food for the Small Purple-barred Phytometra viridaria moth. |
5-sepalled, the 2 inner large and petal-like on either side of the 3 true petals, which are joined at the base |
Dark green with lower leaves opposite |
6 x 6 Milkwort family |
Polygala serpyllifolia |
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Ivy-leaved Bellflower Flowers |
An extremely delicate hairless low creeping, pale green perennial with small pale blue bell-shaped flowers, on hairlike stalks longed than the stalked, somewhat ivy-shaped leaves. flowers |
A small, low-growing perennial herb found in damp, wet or boggy places on acidic soils, occurring on heaths, heathy pastures, moors, open woodland and Salix carr, and by streams and in flushes. In Ireland, it is most frequent beside streams and is absent from pastures. It prefers areas with moving, rather than standing, water. |
5 |
Ivy-shaped , palmately lobed, stalked leaves |
Bellflower Family |
Wahlen-bergia hederacea Page 157 |
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Ivy-leaved Speedwell (Ivy Speedwell) |
A prostrate hairy annual, with small, pale lilac flowers |
An annual of cultivated and waste ground, woodland rides, hedge banks, walls, banks and gardens, found on sandy, loam or clay soils. V. hederifolia seeds freely, with germination in spring or autumn. |
4 petal-like lobes |
Roundish ivy-like leaves, the middle of whose 3-5 lobes is the largest. |
Figwort Family |
Veronica hederifolia Pages 135 and 157 |
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Jacob's-Ladder (Greek Valerian) |
A beautiful perennial, with spikes of wide open, inch-wide (2.5 cm) bright blue flowers, brown at the base |
A clump-forming perennial herb, largely restricted as a native to steep but stabilised limestone screes, usually in partial shade, but also found on andesite debris and river-cliffs in Northumberland. It is confined to sites where the soil remains moist. Alien populations occur along hedgerows, on river banks and in other places near habitation. |
5 petal-like corolla-lobes |
Alternate pinnate leaves, the leaflets narrow |
Jacobs Ladder Family 12-24 x |
Polemonium caeruleum Page 153 |
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Larkspur (Rocket Larkspur, Annual Delpinium) is |
July onwards. Blue, white or rose-blue flowers |
An annual species found on waste ground, rubbish tips and in cultivated fields. As an arable weed it usually occurs on dry soils in chalky or sandy areas. |
4 Within the sepals are four true petals, small, incon-spicuous, and commonly colored similarly to the sepals. |
Mid Green |
12-18 x Buttercup family |
Delphinium orientale All 200 Delphinium species are poisonous owing to the presence of alkaloids of which the most commonly occuring is delphinin. |
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Love-in-a-mist, Non-Wildflower Garden Escape |
Jul-Sep |
Grows on Wasteland. Used as bedding in Gardens - 'Miss Jekyll', 'Miss Jekyll Alba' (2 of its cultivars) |
Light Green |
8-20 x 9 |
Page 151 |
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Marsh Gentian
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July-September A striking flower, whose 1-2 inch (2.5-5 cm) azure trumpets, streaked with green outside, reasemble those of the well known alpine and rock garden Gentiana acaulis. |
A long-lived perennial herb of damp acidic grassland and wet heaths, usually on relatively enriched soils, and often where there is seasonal movement of surface water. The opening up of the habitat by grazing or occasional light burning favours this species by promoting flowering. |
5 |
Opposite linear green leaves |
12 x Gentian Family |
Gentiana pneumo-nanthe Page 153 |
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Marsh Pea |
Bluish-purple, 12-20mm wide flowers. Pods black. |
A perennial herb of base-rich fens, reed-beds and fen-meadows; also, rarely, on marshy ground by rivers. |
... |
Dark green |
18-36 x Peaflower Vetches/Peas Family |
Lathyrus palustris |
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Marsh Speedwell Flower |
Few whitish fowers on long stalks in alternate open spikes up the stem. |
This perennial herb is found in a wide range of wetland habitats, including pond and lake margins, marshes, fens and fen-meadows, wet grassland, hillside flushes, bogs and wet heath, often on acidic soils. It occurs in both open habitats and amongst tall vegetation. |
4 |
Dark green, minutely toothed, and often olive-brown. |
Figwort - Speedwells Family |
Veronica scutellata Pages 126 and 156 |
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Meadow Clary
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Prominent whorled spikes of fine bright violet-blue open-mouthed flowers |
A long-lived perennial herb of unimproved grassland, lane-sides, road verges and disturbed ground on well-drained soils overlying chalk and limestone. It is occasionally established from gardens or as a casual in waste places. |
... |
Long narrow, bluntly toothed wrinkled leaves, chiefly at the base. |
12-24 x Thyme 2 Family |
Salvia pratensis Pages 125 and 156 |
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Meadow Crane's-bill |
Bright blue flowers, slightly tinged violet and over an inch (2.5 cm) across, on long stalks. |
A perennial herb of rough grassland on verges, railway banks and streamsides, and in damp hay meadows and lightly grazed pastures, mainly on calcareous soils. |
Cranes-bills have 5 petals, 5 sepals often ending in a bristle, and prominent stamens. |
Stems often reddish, long-stalked green leaves very deeply lobed and cut. |
12-24 x Geranium Family |
Geranium pratense Page 151 Cranesbills fruits have 5 segments curling upwards from the base when ripe, and end in a long pointed beak, whence the name'crane's bill'. |
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Oyster Plant (Sea Lungwort) |
Clusters of attractive purplish-blue flowers.
The stem and leaves of this perennial are covered with bloom like that on a plum. The plant grows along the ground. The leaves are thick, with dots on the upper surface. |
A perennial herb, usually found on gravelly beaches and shingle but sometimes on sand. It can also colonise earth and rocks tipped at the coast (Randall, 1988). Seeds can survive prolonged immersion in sea water, and dispersion in sea currents enables colonisation of new, but sometimes transient, sites. |
6 |
A prostrate mat-forming hairless grey fleshy perennial, with thick oval leaves tasting of oysters. Very scarce and decreasing during 1978 on coastal shingle in Scotland; very rare elsewhere in the North. |
6 x Borage Family |
Mertensia maritimum (Mertensia maritima) Page 154 |
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Pale Heath Violet (Pale Dog Violet) |
May-June Pale greyish-violet flowers followed by seed capsule |
Only on heaths in South-West England. Heathland, open habitats including patchy grassland, tracksides, areas kept open by grazing or rotational burning and other disturbed ground |
5 |
Dark Green triangular-lanceolate at the base |
6 x 6 |
Viola lactea Page 152 |
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Wildflowers with Blue Flowers continued below and in the last row of furthest table on the right. |
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Some of the above are detailed in:-
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BLUE WILD FLOWER GALLERY |
What is PL@NTNET? |
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WILD FLOWER GALLERY
INDEX LINK TO WILDFLOWER PLANT DESCRIPTION PAGE Wildflower Garden Use page from Evergreen Perrennial Shape Gallery. Superceeded Wildflower Indices Wildflower Index
FLOWER COLOUR BED PICTURES HABITAT TABLES
See Explanation of Structure of this Website with User Guidelines to aid your use of this website. |
WILD FLOWER FAMILY
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WILD FLOWER FAMILY
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WILD FLOWER FAMILY
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WILD FLOWER FAMILY
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See Wildflower Common Name Index link Table ON A PAGE for more wildflower of the UK common names - from Adder's Tongue to the Goosefoot Family - together with their names in languages from America, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. |
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Flower Legends by M.C. Carey. Published by C. Arthur Pearson Ltd in 1929. This provides the information for the plants listed below. Common Name |
Botanical Name |
Flower Legend |
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The Anemone |
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A Greek legend relates how once the gentle Zephyrus, who was said to produce flowers and fruits by the magic sweetness of his breath, made the fair Anemone his bride. She was a favourite nymph at the court of Chloris, and fairer and more graceful than any of the lovely band that formed that court of flowers round the goddess. |
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The Arum Lily |
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It is said that when Joshua and Caleb were sent out by Moses to spy out the Promised Land of Canaan, Aaron gave them his rod to take with them. The story goes, that the spies, in proof of their report of a land "flowing with milk and honey", carried back a giant cluster of grapes, cut from vines at Eschol, borne between them on the rod, which they supported on their shoulders. On the deep green leaves of the arum are curious purple spots, and tradition tells that when Christ hung suffering on the Cross, and cried in agony: "Father, forgive them...," a bird was flying by. Hearing the cry of pain, it swerved in its flight, and perched on the Cross. Then, in pity for our Lord, it tried with its little beak to wrench the nails from His hands and feet, and its breast was soon red with the Blood flowing from the wounds. The crimson drops fell to the ground, and stained the leaves of an arum lily growing at the foot of the Cross, and those stains have been borne by the plant ever since. |
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The Blackthorn |
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Two blackthorn trees, are, in France, inseparably connected with the life of St. Patrick. |
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The Bladder Campion |
Bladder Campion is |
Owls, as everyone knows, are reputed to be very wise birds, which is, no doubt, due to the fact that long ages ago they were under the special protection of the goddess of wisdom, Minerva, who kept them as pets and was escorted by them wherever she went. |
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The Broom and the Juniper |
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Mary, the Mother of Jesus, was flying from the wrath of Herod with the Holy Child in her arms. |
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The Campanula or Canterbury Bell |
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The true Campanula was supposed to resemble an ancient mirror, for it was said that Venus once possessed a mirror which added to the beauty of everything that was reflected in it. There came a day when she missed her treasure, and it was found by a rough shepherd, who was so enchanted by the reflection of is own countenance, that he stood lost in admiration gazing into the mirror as if in a dream. |
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The Carnation |
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To this day the family of Ronsecco in Italy displays the device of a carnation in its armorial bearings, in memory of the Countess Margherita Ronsecco and her lover. |
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The Christmas Rose |
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Known as the "Rose of Love", the Christmas roses first bloomed in the gardens of heaven, and were watched over by the angels. At the fall, the earth was covered with snow, and not one flower so carefully tended by Adam and Eve was to be seen. |
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The Chrysanthemum |
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When the Magi, following the star in the East, that guided them to Bethlehem, reached the village, they were puzzled to find no signs of rejoicing in the streets. All was silent, and the people were going about their business as usual, in spite of the many caravans that had journeyed in from far for the tax. |
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The Clematis |
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The Cossacks were once at war with the Tartars, and finding themselves greatly outnumbered were about to turn and flee. |
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The Cornflower |
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The classic name of the cornflower is Cyanus, after the Greek youth who worshipped Chloris, the goddess of flowers and spring, with the most touching devotion. |
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The Cowslip |
Primula veris |
In Norse legend, and later in Christian fable, the cowslip is connected with the symbol of the keys, obviously owing to the appearance of the flower itself, which looks so like a bunch of yellow keys hanging fromits s;lender stalk. |
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The Crocus |
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A Greek legend tells of the spring crocus that once there lived a youth named Krokos, who loved Smilax, a young shepherdess on earth. By this he offended the gods, who changed him into a flower which even to this day "Heralds the spring, young waking love declares The saffron crocus which does not bloom till the autumn was for a long time said to be the monopoly of the Rajah of Cashmere, by reason of its famous dye. In the days of Edward III an Englishman disguised as a pilgrim travelled through India, and when he reached the northern frontiers stole a bulb of the precious plant at the risk of his life, and hid it in a hollow staff which he had carried with him for the purpose. Eventually he returned to England, and reached his home at Walden, in Essex, and planted it in his garden. Such a wealth of flowers sprang from that single bulb, that ever since that year the village has been known as Saffron Walden. |
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The Daisy |
Once upon a time the daisy was the flower that noble spirits chiefly chose when after death they took the form of a flower and bloomed on earth. When the fiingers of Death are laid gently upon the heart of a tiny baby, and it is carried by the angels back to God, the little creatures long to console their mothers left behind on earth to mourn for them. So the babies scatter new and lovely flowers down from the heavens, as a memory of the dead and to cheer the living. |
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The Dandelion |
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The word dandelion is a corruption of dent de lion, less by reason of the shape of its leaves, as has been suggested, than because the lion was once the symbol of the sun. |
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The Edelweiss |
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There is a legend which tells of an angel who, tiring of her heavenly home, besought to be allowed to return to earth, even though she should suffer sorrow and misfortune there again. |
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The Forget-Me-Not |
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Following from Stories 1-3 in Story of their Common Name here is Story 5 - |
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The Geranium |
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In the East the geranium almost reaches the proportions of a tree, and there it was first created. |
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The Heliotrope |
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Apollo, the sun god, loved a king's daughter - the fair Leukothea. But Clytia, to spite her rival and to gain Apollo's favour, went to the king and told him of the secret meetings of the lovers, which so enraged him that he buried the luckless Leukothea alive, and so ended her brief and happy life. |
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The Wild Hyacinth or Bluebell |
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Once upon a time there lived a youth called Hyacinthus, the son of a Spartan king, who was much beloved of Apollo, the god of the sun, and Zephyrus, god of the west wind. |
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The Iris |
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When history alludes to the lilies of France, it is really the iris to which it refers. |
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The Jasmine |
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An Indian myth tells how a king had a lovely daughter, with whom the sun god fell in love. But he soon deserted her for another, and in despair the young princess killed herself from grief. The jasmine flower is much loved in Italy, and in the year 1699 the Grand Duke of Tuscany was able to secure a specially lovely variety, unequalled in the size and fragrance of its blooms. |
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The Lavender |
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Our Lord was lying as a tiny babe at the inn where his Mother lodged, and one day she took some of His little garments down to the stream to wash. The river flowed over some stones very clear and fresh, and formed a natural basin where Mary rinsed and wrung out the tiny clothes. |
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The Leek |
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The origin of the adoption of the leek as the badge of the Welsh, and which is worn on St David's day - the first of March - is said to be as follows: In Sicily the leek is always associated with the mother of St Peter, who to them is traditionally ill-favoured and stingy. |
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The Lily of the Valley |
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A Sussex legend tells that it was in the forest bearing his name that the bold young warrior saint, St. Leonard, sought out and gave battle to the might dragon Sin. For 3 days and nights they fought up and down the forest, and it was not until the fourth day that victory came to the saint, and he drove back the monster. |
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The White Lily |
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Lilies were not white at the beginning of time, but saffron-coloured. But the sea-borne Aphrodite appearing before them whiter than the foam from which she sprang, was so exquisite and beautiful that the lilies trembled and grew pale from jealously, and so for ever remained white. |
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The Marigold |
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There once lived a maiden called Caltha, who loved the sun so deeply that she would sit all day long gazing at the heavens, rejoicing in his beams when he appeared and watching for him when hid behind a cloud. |
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The Pansy |
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A German legend tells that long ago the first pansies had a lovely scent, and were even sweeter than their little sisters, the March violets. They grew in cultivated fields, chiefly amongst the long yellow stalks of corn and barley, and were peaceful and happy with such nice neighbours. But the fragrance of their scent became known, and as they were also said to possesss certain healing properties, the corn and barley and oats were trampled ruthlessly down by the thoughtless people trying to find the flowers. |
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The Poppy |
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Long ago, on the banks of the river Ganges in India, there lived a magician with a little red mouse. The mouse was quite happy with its lot for several years, but after a time it grew discontented, and asked the rashi to change it into something else. So he transformed it into a cat; but it was not content with this, and again he changed it into a dog, then to an ape, to a bear, and at last into a beautiful girl, to whom he gave the name of Postimani. Then only was the little red mouse content. |
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The Primrose |
The harbinger of spring, the prima rosa, is the twin sister of the cowslip, and the same legend of the key flower is told of it. |
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The Rose |
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According to legend roses were the sacred flowers of Venus, the goddesss of Love, but Cupid as a bribe later consecrated them to Harpocrates, the god of Silence,in order to keep hil quiet, and prevent him from giving away secrets concerning the goddess. |
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The Dog Rose |
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There was once a Roman soldier who went raving mad when bitten by a savage dog. As he lay dying his mother had a dream, and in her dream was told of the healing virtues of the root of a rose tree. When she awoke, she at once sent her slaves to procure her this strange remedy, and held it against the wound of her son, who was now unconscious. To the amazement of the onlookers, the poison seemed to disappear and the man recovered. And the name remains. |
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The Moss Rose |
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In those far-off days when angels came down to earth as messengers of goodwill, there was one who, after a long day's toil in the haunts of men, grew tired. |
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The Red Rose |
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Cupid was dancing in and out amongst the gods, and paying no heed as to where he played he managed to overturn a cup of nectar, the drink of the immortals. The precious liquid fell to earth, staining red the roses upon which it was spilled. This colour they have kept all the ages, and you also know them by the scent of the nectar which they still bear, the gift of the gods to them. |
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The Snowdrop |
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There is an old legend that as the beautiful brave-hearted Hope bends year by year over the white death pillow of Earth, weeping for the buried flowers and cold bare ground below, she lets fall tears which drop on to the frozen snow and melt it. And as the tears fall there spring up the little white flowers we call the snowdrops - tears from the eyes of Hope - messengers of comfort on dark winter days. |
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The Thistle |
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Legend, in accounting for the adoption of the thistle as the Scottish emblem, takes us back to the days when the Danes were harrying and raiding the coasts of the north, and proving themselves formidable enemies by both sea and land. |
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The Tulip |
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A German fairy tale accounts for the wonderful variety of colours in the tulips in this way. There was once a flower king, who had an only daughter - Violet - of great beauty. Both the king and the queen were very proud of her, so proud that their one desire came to be to make the princess haughty and vain, and their chief care was to teach her to dress herself in the most exquisite clothes that could be found. |
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The Violet |
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According to a Greek myth the violet is the flower of Io, a priestess of Juno's temple. Jupiter fell in love with her, but on one occasion was very nearly discovered with the maiden by the jealous goddess. To save Io, Jupiter instantly changed her into a white heifer, but as grass was not a fit food for so delicate a creature, the moment "she in hunger stooped in tears" there sprang to meet her lips the first white violets, created by Jupiter as her special food. |
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The Wallflower |
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On the banks of the Tweed stood an old grey castle, in which lived a maiden, who was so young and beautiful that she was never allowed to set foot outside her father's grounds. |
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The Blue Mountain Anemone |
Blue Mountain Anemone is |
There are a number of explanations for the name, but the most popular account relates to Anemona, a nymph at the court of the goddess Flora. The sage declared that Zephyros, the god of the west wind, had fallen in love with Anemona. Jealous Flora turned her into a flower so that Zephyros could only kiss her petals and that’s why the flower always opens out completely when it blooms – she’s inviting her lover. |
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THE LIFE AND DEATH OF A FLAILED CORNISH HEDGE
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.
CHECK-LIST OF TYPES OF CORNISH HEDGE FLORA by Sarah Carter of Cornish Hedges Library:-
Titles of papers available on www.cornishhedges.co.uk:-
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." |
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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. |
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Plants used by the Butterflies follow the Plants used by the Egg, Caterpillar and Chrysalis as stated in and The Butterflies of Britain & Ireland New Revised Edition by Jeremy Thomas & Richard Lewington. |
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Plant Name |
Butterfly Name |
Egg/ Caterpillar/ Chrysalis/ Butterfly |
Plant Usage |
Plant Usage Months |
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Egg, |
1 egg under leaf. |
10 days in May-June |
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Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches encircling the branch of the food plant. |
Hatches after 18-22 days in April. |
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Egg, |
Groups of eggs on upper side of leaf. |
- |
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Egg, |
1 egg at base of plant. |
Late August-April |
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Egg, |
Groups of eggs on upper side of leaf. |
- |
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Egg, |
1 egg laid on underside of leaflets or bracts. |
7 days in June. |
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Egg, |
1 egg laid on underside of leaflets or bracts. |
7 days in June. |
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Egg, |
1 egg laid under the leaf or on top of the flower. |
7 days in August. |
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Egg, |
1 egg on underside of a flower bud on its stalk. |
7 days. |
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Egg, |
1 egg on underside of a flower bud on its stalk. |
7 days. |
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Egg, |
1 egg under leaf. |
10 days in May-June. |
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Egg, |
1 egg on leaf. |
2 weeks |
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Cabbages - ELarge White eats all cruciferous plants, such as cabbages, mustard, turnips, radishes, cresses, nasturtiums, wild mignonette and dyer's weed |
Egg,
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40-100 eggs on both surfaces of leaf. |
May-June and August-Early September. 4.5-17 days. |
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Egg, |
1 egg on underside of leaf. |
May-June and August. 7 days. |
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Cabbages:- |
Egg, |
1 egg on underside of leaf. |
July or August; hatches in 3 days. |
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Cabbages:- |
Egg, |
1 egg laid in the tight buds and flowers. |
May-June 7 days. |
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Cherry with |
Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches encircling the branch of the food plant. |
Hatches after 18-22 days in April. |
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Egg, |
Groups of eggs on upper side of leaf. |
- |
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Egg, |
1 egg on leaf. |
10 days in May-June. |
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Egg, |
1 egg on leaf. |
6 days in May-June. |
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Egg, |
1 egg under leaf. |
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(Common CowWheat, Field CowWheat) |
Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches on the under side of the leaves. |
Hatches after 16 days in June. |
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Currants |
Egg, |
Groups of eggs on upper side of leaf. |
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Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches on the under side of the leaves. |
Hatches after 20 days in July. |
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Dog Violet with |
Egg, |
1 egg on oak or pine tree trunk |
15 days in July. |
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Dog Violet with |
Egg, |
1 egg on leaf or stem. |
Hatches after 15 days in May-June. |
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Dog Violet with |
Egg, |
1 egg on leaf or stem. |
Hatches after 10 days in May-June. |
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Egg, |
1 egg on underside of a flower bud on its stalk. |
7 days. |
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Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches encircling the branch of the food plant. |
Hatches after 18-22 days in April. |
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False Brome is a grass (Wood Brome, Wood False-brome and Slender False-brome) |
Egg, |
1 egg under leaf. |
... |
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Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches on the under side of the leaves. |
Hatches after 20 days in July. |
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Egg, |
1 egg laid on underside of leaflets or bracts. |
7 days in June. |
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Egg, |
1 egg on leaf or stem. |
Hatches after 10 days in May-June. |
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Egg, |
1 egg on underside of a flower bud on its stalk. |
7 days. |
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Egg, |
1 egg laid under the leaf or on top of the flower. |
7 days in August. |
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Egg, |
1 egg on leaf. 5 or 6 eggs may be deposited by separate females on one leaf. |
14 days in July-August. |
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Egg, |
1 egg on underside of a flower bud on its stalk. |
7 days. |
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Egg, |
1 egg laid in the tight buds and flowers. |
May-June 7 days. |
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Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches on the under side of the leaves. |
Hatches after 20 days in July. |
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Egg, |
Groups of eggs on upper side of leaf. |
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Egg, |
1 egg under leaf. |
1 then |
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Egg, |
1 egg on underside of a flower bud on its stalk. |
7 days. |
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Egg, |
1 egg at base of plant. |
Late August-April. |
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Egg, |
1 egg on leaf. |
10 days in May-June. |
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Egg, |
1 egg on leaf. |
2 weeks |
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Egg, |
1 egg on leaf. |
6 days in May-June. |
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Egg, |
1 egg on underside of leaf. |
May-June and August. 7 days. |
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Egg, |
1 egg on leaf. 5 or 6 eggs may be deposited by separate females on one leaf. |
14 days in July-August. |
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Narrow-leaved Plantain (Ribwort Plantain) |
Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches on the under side of the leaves. |
Hatches after 16 days in June. |
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Narrow-leaved Plantain (Ribwort Plantain) |
Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches on the under side of the leaves. |
Hatches after 16 days in June. |
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Nasturtium from Gardens |
Egg, |
1 egg on underside of leaf. |
May-June and August. 7 days. |
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Egg, |
1 egg on tree trunk |
15 days in July. |
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Mountain pansy, |
Egg, Chrysalis |
1 egg laid under the leaf or on top of the flower. |
7 days in August. 3 weeks in September |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Egg, |
1 egg on tree trunk. |
15 days in July. |
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Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches on the under side of the leaves. |
Hatches after 20 days in July. |
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Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches encircling the branch of the food plant. |
Hatches after 18-22 days in April. |
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Egg, |
Groups of eggs on upper side of leaf. |
- |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Egg, |
1 egg under leaf. |
|
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Egg, |
1 egg laid under the leaf or on top of the flower. |
7 days in August. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches encircling the branch of the food plant. |
Hatches after 18-22 days in April. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches on the under side of the leaves. |
Hatches after 16 days in June. |
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Egg, |
1 egg on underside of a flower bud on its stalk. |
7 days. |
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Egg, |
1 egg on underside of a flower bud on its stalk. |
7 days. |
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Egg, |
Groups of eggs on upper side of leaf. |
|
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Egg, |
1 egg under leaf. |
|
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Egg, |
1 egg on leaf. |
2 weeks |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Trefoils 1, 2, 3 |
Egg, |
1 egg on leaf. |
6 days in May-June. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Egg, |
Groups of eggs on upper side of leaf. |
- |
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Egg, |
1 egg laid on underside of leaflets or bracts. |
7 days in June. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Violets:- |
Egg, |
1 egg on underside of leaf or on stalk. |
July-August for 17 days. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Violets:- |
Egg, |
1 egg on stem or stalk near plant base. |
July to hatch in 8 months in March. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Egg, |
1 egg on leaf. |
2 weeks. |
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Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches encircling the branch of the food plant. |
Hatches after 18-22 days in April. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Egg, |
1 egg on leaf. 5 or 6 eggs may be deposited by separate females on one leaf. |
14 days in July-August. |
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Willow |
Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches encircling the branch of the food plant. |
Hatches after 18-22 days in April. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Egg, |
Eggs laid in batches on the under side of the leaves. |
Hatches after 20 days in July. |
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Plants used by the Butterflies |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Plant Name |
Butterfly Name |
Egg/ Caterpillar/ Chrysalis/ Butterfly |
Plant Usage |
Plant Usage Months |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Asters |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
|
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Runner and Broad Beans in fields and gardens |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
April-June or July-September. |
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Aubretia in gardens |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
May-June or August till killed by frost and damp in September-November |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Butterfly |
Eats sap exuding from trunk. |
April-Mid June and Mid July-Early September for second generation. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
20 days. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
May-June |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Holly Blue |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
April-Mid June and Mid July-Early September for second generation. |
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Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
July-October. |
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Buddleias |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
July-October. |
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Wood White |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
May-June. |
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Cabbage and cabbages in fields |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
April-June or July-September. |
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Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
July-October |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Adonis Blue |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
1 Month during Mid-May to Mid-June or during August-September |
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Pale Clouded Yellow |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
May-June or August till killed by frost and damp in September-November |
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Cow-wheat |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
June-July |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
May-June |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
April-Mid June and Mid July-Early September for second generation. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
3 weeks between May and September |
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Germander Speedwell (Veronica chamaedrys - Birdseye Speedwell) |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
June-July |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
July-October. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
30 days in May-June. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
May-September |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
May-June for 18 days. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
July-October |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
1 Month. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
July-October. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Painted Lady |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
July-October. |
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Marigolds in gardens |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
May-June or August till killed by frost and damp in September-November |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
1 Month during Mid-May to Mid-June or during August-September. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Michaelmas Daisies |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
July-October |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
April-June or July-September. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Narrow-leaved Plantain (Ribwort Plantain) |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
June-July |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nasturtiums in gardens |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
April-June or July-September |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Butterfly |
Eats sap exuding from trunk. |
April-Mid June and Mid July-Early September for second generation. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
June. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
May-June. |
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Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
July-October. |
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Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
July-May |
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Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
7 weeks in July-August. |
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Comma |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
July-October. |
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Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
3 weeks between May and September |
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Trefoils 1, 2, 3 |
Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
1 Month during Mid-May to Mid-June or during August-September |
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Butterfly |
Eats nectar. |
20 days in August. |
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Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
June.
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Butterfly |
Eats nectar |
June-July |
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Apple/Pear/Cherry/Plum Fruit Tree Blossom in Spring |
Butterfly |
Eats Nectar |
April-May |
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Rotten Fruit |
Butterfly |
Drinks juice |
July-September |
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Tree sap and damaged ripe fruit, which are high in sugar |
Butterfly |
Hibernates inside hollow trees or outhouses until March. Eats sap or fruit juice until April. |
10 months in June-April |
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Wild Flowers |
Large Skipper |
Butterfly |
Eats Nectar |
June-August |
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Links to the other Butterflies:- Black Hairstreak uses Blackthorn, Privet, Guelder Rose, and Wayfaring tree I have detailed the use of plants by these eggs, caterpillars, chrysalis and butterfly in full with either photos of those butterflies, etc or illustrations from Sandars. It shows that they do use plants all year round and I will insert the information of their Life Histories into the remainder of the Butterfly Description Pages but I will put no further information in this table or the Butterfly Name with its use of plants table. Please see what a council did to destroy the native habitat, so that children could ride bicyles anywhere in the park in the row below. Details of what plant is used by each of the different 'egg, caterpillar, chrysalis or butterfly' unit and for how long is given in the table on the left. At least 2 of these butterflies live in America as well as in the UK in 2022:- |
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"We would be sorry to lose the butterflies on the bluebells, bramble and ivy that would be restricted to only the very small area of proposed Wildlife Meadow by the Woods at the bottom of a hill with water springs on it. The wildlife is now being excluded from all the other areas by the "pruning", so that the nettles, brambles etc which had for instance the butterfly life cycle included; are now being ruthlessly removed to create a garden, not a park, with neat little areas." 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 table on the left. 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, you destroy the wildlife in this park 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. |
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Cultural Needs of Plants "Understanding Fern Needs |
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It is worth remembering that especially with roses that the colour of the petals of the flower may change - The following photos are of Rosa 'Lincolnshire Poacher' which I took on the same day in R.V. Roger's Nursery Field:- |
Closed Bud |
Opening Bud |
Juvenile Flower |
Older Juvenile Flower |
Middle-aged Flower - Flower Colour in Season in its |
Mature Flower |
Juvenile Flower and Dying Flower |
Form of Rose Bush |
There are 720 roses in the Rose Galleries; many of which have the above series of pictures in their respective Rose Description Page. So one might avoid the disappointment that the 2 elephants had when their trunks were entwined instead of them each carrying their trunk using their own trunk, and your disappointment of buying a rose to discover that the colour you bought it for is only the case when it has its juvenile flowers; if you look at all the photos of the roses in the respective Rose Description Page!!!! |
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My current ambition at my retired age of 73 in 2022 (having started this website in 2005) is to complete the following:- Wildflower Flower Shape and Landscape Uses Gallery has an empty framework that I created on 20 February 2022. When all the remainder of the UK wildflowers have been checked:-
Then, the wildflower entries in the Wildflower Flower Shape and Landscape Uses Gallery will be filled in after each Wildflower has its cultivation details added to the Botanical Names and Common Names Galleries. Starting the above from 20 February 2022, I think it might take me a few years, but it does mean that as I progress then you will be able to associate more wildflowers with more of all the plant types of the cultivated plants who have similar growing requirements. Then, more of the natural world with its wildlife could also inhabit your garden. |
Ivydene Gardens Water Fern to Yew Wild Flower Families Gallery: |
Only Wildflowers detailed in the following Wildflower Colour Pages |
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Flowering plants of |
From the Ivydene Gardens Box to Crowberry Wild Flower Families Gallery: |
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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. |
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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 |
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Bee Garden in Europe or North America |
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Wildlife-friendly Show Gardens With around 23 million gardens in the UK, covering 435,000 ha, gardens have great potential as wildlife habitats. And, with a bit of planning and a few tweaks, they can indeed be wonderful places for a whole host of creatures, from birds to bees, butterflies, frogs and toads, as well as many less obvious creatures. Wildlife-friendly gardens can be beautiful too, and a colourful garden full of life can lift the spirits and give immense pleasure, and can also help to connect people, both young and old, with our wonderful wildlife. The eight-point plan for a wildlife-friendly garden
Many of our gardens at Natural Surroundings demonstrate what you can do at home to encourage wildlife in your garden. Follow the links below to explore our show gardens, and when you visit, be sure to pick up a copy of our Wildlife Gardening Trail guide
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Database of Insects and their Food Plants from the Biological Records Centre:- This database is primarily a collation of published interactions between Great Britain 's invertebrate herbivores (insects and mites) and their host plants. There are also some interactions for the invertebrates closely associated with herbivores, such as predators, parasitoids, cleptoparasites and mutualists. DBIF contains about 47,000 interactions for roughly 9,300 invertebrate taxa (species, sub-species and forms) and 5,700 plant taxa (species, genera and broader groupings). DBIF aims to help researchers access the accumulated knowledge of British plant-herbivore interactions, which is otherwise scattered throughout a vast published literature. The database complements the more specialised internet resources that focus on particular groups (see Links). We hope that the database is of use to professional researchers in the environmental sciences and expert amateurs alike. DBIF is derived from the Phytophagous Insect Data Bank (see PIDB), which was the brainchild of Dr Lena Ward. Many people have contributed to the version of the database presented here; we would like to thank them all for their varied and skilled support (see Acknowledgements). To ensure that the information held in the database is used appropriately, please take time to read about what the database contains (see Description of the database ), and what caveats or limitations may apply (see Interpreting foodplant records and Limitations ). Lastly, DBIF is a work in progress and this website is still under development in some areas. We would be very surprised if you did not find some omissions, or nomenclature that did not need updating. Please alert us (see Contact us) of any necessary changes or of the presence of new sources. They will be incorporated in future updates. A companion piece in the naturalists' magazine British Wildlife (Smith & Roy, 2008) serves as an introduction to invertebrate herbivory and DBIF. |
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From the Ode to the London Plane Tree by Heather Greaves:- "They are also very important to the city of New York (and not just because the leaf is the Parks Department logo). The London plane, usually considered Platanus x acerifolia but also known by other Latin epithets, is not really native, although it very closely resembles the native American sycamore, Platanus occidentalis. Actually, it is probably a cross between this American species and Platanus orientalis, a Eurasian relative. In any case, it has been widely planted as a city tree for decades, which turns out to be a good idea. In its assessment of the New York City urban forest, the US Forest Service Northern Research Station determined that the London plane is the most important city tree we have. They base this conclusion on several factors. For one thing, London planes have a very high leaf area per tree; that is, the London plane gives us a lot more pretty, shady, air-filtering, evaporatively-cooling leaves per single trunk than most other species in the city. In fact, according to the Forest Service, London planes make up just 4% of the city tree population, but represent 14% of the city's total leaf area. (Compare this with the virulently invasive tree of heaven [Ailanthus altissima], which constitutes 9% of the tree population but only about 4% of the total leaf area.) Also, because they tend to become very tall and have large canopies, London planes are our best trees for carbon storage and sequestration. They are holding on to about 185,000 tons of carbon (14% of the total urban tree carbon pool), and each year they sequester another 5,500 or so tons (about 13% of all the carbon sequestered by city trees each year). That makes them both gorgeous and highly beneficial: all in all, good trees to have around." |
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From Sarah Ravens Kitchen & Garden:- Wildflowers - Chalk and sand, freely-drained soil mix A wonderfully varied self-sowing wild flower mix for thin, poor, chalky or sandy soils to give your garden or field flowers right through the year and food for the birds and bees. Spring into Summer Flowering • Cowslip March – May Summer into Autumn Flowering • Field Scabious June – September
From Sarah Ravens Kitchen & Garden:- Wildflowers - Clay and rich loam soil mix There are two main things I want from my wildflower meadow – to look beautiful for months not weeks, with flowers coming out and going over in succession AND to grow pollen-rich, insect friendly plants from EARLY in the year to LATE. I want my patch to be a regular and reliable food source for the birds and the bees. That’s what you’ll get with this beautiful selection of my favourite easy and reliable perennial wild flowers. General Height: 60cm. Sow: April- June Spring into Summer Flowering • Cowslip March – May Summer into Autumn Flowering • Self Heal June – September |
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", in the Vermont hills, is a biodynamic farm using organic practices. Natural minerals and planned grazing with American Milking Devon cattle rejuvenate the soil, sequester carbon and yield nutrient dense foods and medicines including milk, grass fed meats, eggs, fermented vegetables (sauerkraut and kimchi / kim-chi), and herbal tinctures. We offer educational opportunities, farm visits, and seminars on nutrition, growing and preparing nutrient dense food, diversified farming and fermentation. |
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Edible Plants Club website "has been created largely from the point of view of a plantsman interested in the many different resources available in the plant world, especially edible and medicinal plants. What started me off on this path was reading Robert Harts book Forest Gardening and then Ken Fearns Plants for a Future and also Richard Mabeys 'Food For Free' along the way. This also led to me to change my career and become a gardener." |
'Sort out your soil' - A practical guide to Green Manures, and Frequently Asked Questions from the Receptionist Myrtle of Cotswold Grass Seeds. |
Saltmarsh Management Manual from the Environment Agency informs you about:-
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Helping Earth's Sustainable Management with a Plant "Alternatives to the burning of fossil fuels, nuclear waste, deforestation and nitrate chemical fertilizers need to be developed. Hemp could have a vital role to play in the development of friendly alternatives. Energy production A report published by the FCDA of Europe outlines the Cannabis Biomass Energy Equation (CBEE), outlining a convincing case that hemp plants can be used to produce fuel energy CHEAPER per BtU than fossil fuels and uranium - WITHOUT PRODUCING GREENHOUSE GASES! Hemp plants have the highest known quantities of cellulose for annuals - with at least 4x (some suggest even 50-100x) the biomass potential of its closest rivals (cornstalks, sugarcane, kernaf and trees) (Omni, 1983). Biomass production still produces greenhouse gases, although the idea is that the excess of carbon dioxide will be used up by growing hemp plants - they are effective absorbers and thrive at high levels - Unlike fossil fuel energy which produces energy from plants which died millions of years ago. On reading the report of the FCDA, Hon. Jonathon Porrit (ex-director of Friends of the Earth, currently on the Board of Forum for the Future) commented 'I DID enjoy reading it - the report should contribute much'. Three years later - authorities are still not taking the potential of this plant seriously. MAFF are currently engaging in supporting research into the biomass potential of poplar trees which they claim has the most scientific support for biomass energy production. H-E-M-P recommend use of the hemp plant if biomass energy production is to have any real impact in reducing carbon dioxide levels. IT'S SO PRODUCTIVE! 1 acre of hemp = 1,000 gallons of methanol. In fact, Henry Ford's first car ran on hemp-methanol! - and at just a fraction of the cost of petroleum alternatives. Alternatives to coal, fuel oil, acetone, ethyl, tar pitch and creosote can be derived - from this one single plant! As regards depletion of the ozone layer - hemp actually withstands UV radiation. It absorbs UV light, whilst resisting damage to itself and providing protection for everything else. Risk-free, pollution-free energy. No acid rain, and a reduction in airborne pollution of up to 80% ... There's further potential for the same in industry. " |
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Suppliers of British native-origin seeds and plants:- "Flora locale maintains a list of suppliers who should be able to supply seeds and/or plants of known British (and sometimes known local) native-origin. Although not all their stock will necessarily be of British native-origin, they should be able to provide details of provenance on request. View Flora locale's list of suppliers - follow the "Suppliers of native flora" link. You may also wish to view the Really Wild Flowers site, which contains a wealth of information about creating habitats and cultivating native species." |
British Native Plants List of Edible Plants:- "I thought it would be useful to include native plant lists from different regions of the world. This list is from British Isles (including Ireland and the Channel Islands) and was compiled by Professor Clive Stace of the University of Leicester for the FFF conference on Native Plants held at the Linnean Society of London, June 1997. It can be found here at the postcode plants database." |
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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:- |
Marjoram - Origanum officinale |