Are you bored with begonias, fed up with fuchsias or tired of tagetes?  If so, just look to our native plants for inspiration and something a little different.  Wildflower gardening becomes ever more fashionable and not only offers us some much needed variety but by planting native species we can ensure that our gardens will be well used by wildlife.  The wild daisies, or Compositae family, have already come under our scrutiny but there are plenty more valuable plants that did not feature in our last round up of this useful family.  The daisy family are amongst the most highly evolved of our native flora, making them very successful and ubiquitous plants.  Their flower structure consists of many tiny flowers or florets clustered into larger flower heads and the dandelion shows this structure perfectly.  This means that they have masses of pollen and nectar on offer to bees and butterflies plus large quantities of seeds too.  If your garden or allotment is visited by greenfinches and goldfinches (or linnets if you are in a more rural location) you will know how important these flowers are to seed-eating birds.  Dandelion clocks have their uses and the stunning white ermine moth’s caterpillars feed on dandelion leaves.

We have already explored the more familiar daisies (the May edition of OG) including ox-eye daisy, lawn daisy, corn chamomile, corn marigold and fleabane, but there are so many more to add colour to your garden.  There are bright yellow natives for meadows, thistles for spectacular height or if you prefer there are the ‘wilder’ varieties of introduced plants such as Michaelmas daisy and golden rod.  All daisy family and all brilliant plants for wildlife.  For the purist though the natives will take precedence and there is no better place to start than the statuesque hemp agrimony (Eupatorium cannabinum).  Butterflies have an affinity with this family and this tall, pink-flowered species attracts small tortoiseshells like a magnet.  It is also the larval food plant of the little lime speck pug moth.  This is very much a waterside plant in the wild although it will be perfectly happy in a dense clay soil in a border.  It germinates fairly easily but sporadically from a spring sowing, but if you do try this species from seed, make sure that the compost doesn’t dry out at any stage.  Perfect for a bog garden or the back of a wide border, hemp agrimony will reward you with a steady stream of butterflies and bees of all kinds, well into late summer when colour is fading elsewhere.

dandelion

There are other native daisies for damp spots and sneezewort (Achillea ptarmica) is pretty and obliging.  Its cultivated cousin, A. ptarmica The Pearl, is a commonly grown variety of the wildling, but being a double flowered form it has no nectar and very little pollen.  Sneezewort will be happy beside a pond in damp soil, in a wildflower bog garden or in a heavy clay soil, where its white flowers will wander through other plants or grasses.  Indeed it is a useful component of a damp wildflower meadow and can be added to an existing grassy area as long as the soil retains moisture.  Bees will visit this plant for pollen.  It is closely related to yarrow (Achillea millefolium) a common plant on roadsides and in lawns and is an important component of many wildflower meadows where it attracts meadow butterflies.  This plant is an unassuming and often overlooked wildflower but has great wildlife value. Both butterflies and bees visit it steadily through its long flowering season – not in great quantities but it is reliable and pretty.  The usual flower colour of its small daisy clusters is a rather dirty white, but it sometimes naturally appears in a pale pink form which is well worth growing, or try the brighter cultivated varieties.

 Achillea and mouse-eared hawkweed

Wildflower meadows are rapidly becoming must-have additions to even the smallest of gardens and the daisy family plays a large part in their composition.  There is a bewildering range (to the untrained eye) of yellow ‘dandelions’ including the hawkweeds, hawksbeards, hawkbits and cat’s ears.  By and large these can be quickly distinguished from the true dandelion by their taller size and the fact that they usually have several flowers on branched stalks.  The appearance of their flowers is less coarse than the dandelion and indeed the small mouse-ear hawkweed (Pilosella officinarum) is stunning.  Its flowers are a delicate shade of lemon yellow and the gently creeping stems and leaves are covered with silvery hairs.  This is a wonderful little plant for the front of a border or short grass.  The hawkweeds and hawkbits come in many species, most practically indistinguishable from each other, but the commoner species will often be found in mixtures of seed for establishing a meadow. They provide a splash of bright colour in both spring and autumn (depending on the species) but are best confined to grass as they seed freely.  One exception is the orange hawkweed (Hieracium aurantiacum), which is often known as fox-and cubs.  This plant was once commonly grown in cottage gardens and is not a true native, but is naturalised in some areas.  Like the mouse-ear hawkweed it will creep about at the front of a border, displaying its burnt orange flowers on slender stems.

Yellow is a common colour amongst the members of the Compositae and tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) is another well-known favourite.  This plant has the potential to be invasive, reaching a meter and a half in height, and is best grown only in a wilder part of the garden.  However it attracts plenty of hoverflies to its bright yellow button flowers and is easy to propagate from rooted stem pieces. 

If dramatic plants excite you then look no further than the scotch thistle (Onopordum acanthium).  This native may crop up in unexpected places as the seed is long lived, but before you plant, make quite sure you have the space.  It can reach dizzying heights – maybe three meters – and the basal leaves are prickly and huge but pleasantly woolly.  The purple thistle flowers attract many bees and butterflies and birds such as goldfinches will tease out the seeds in the autumn.  A giant of a plant but well worth growing if you have the space.

As usual not all of this wildlife attracting family should be included in the garden – even in the largest of plots - ragwort being the obvious contender.  Coltsfoot too, in spite of its pretty late winter flowers that remind us the spring is around the corner, is wildly invasive as are the butterburs.  But others not yet mentioned including the glorious blue chicory, wormwood for its grey foliage and some of the non-invasive thistles (melancholy thistle is worth growing for its name alone!) could be perfect if the right spot is found for them.  Experiment with our daisies and you may be surprised by their versatility and wildlife pulling power.