Posts under ‘wildflowers’

Image by Virole Bridee
Why do we always think of orchids as houseplants from the tropics? Lady’s slipper orchid (Cypripedium calceolus) is a terrestrial orchid that rivals any tropical species. It’s sad to think that in recent times it was nearly lost to the history books here in the UK when over-collecting and destruction of habitats [...]

Believe it or not, this wildflower meadow is slap-bang in the centre of Southampton. It seems the council have seeded it in a rather dull bed of ornamental grasses. This new municipal planting seems to be growing in popularity: last year we found a meadow blooming in Broadmead, Bristol. It is such a refreshing sight: [...]

Isn’t cow parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris) just marvellous? In May the roadsides become frothy and playful, and rather fun, until a goon clutching a strimmer butchers these gorgeous white umbellifers. Cow parsley, or Queen Anne’s Lace, if you’re introducing it to someone important, is a terribly savvy wildflower. Where strong agricultural fertilisers killed off many meadow [...]

Nothing is quite so cheering about the English spring as the Primrose, Primula vulgaris. And nothing is quite so depressing as the sight of bright yellow, pink and red cultivars bringing ’spring colour’ to miserable-looking beds. These gaudy flowers are the wrong colour for spring: wrong in fact, for any season. Please don’t grow them. [...]

Walking through central Bristol’s Bearpit is not usually a particularly aesthetically pleasing experience. But now a beautiful meadow has appeared next to the greying walls and rubbish lying around. It’s a pleasant splash of colour amongst the concrete jungle of Broadmead.

If you want to create your own meadow, you have got two options really.