Arctium lappa can be found growing wild across Europe, Scandinavia, and the Mediterranean, as well as other locations around the world. In the UK, Arctium lappa is more commonly known as Greater Burdock, but I’m sure that this plant has a range of common names, as it’s a native plant of so many countries.
This is an edible and medicinal plant that is grown or foraged for food and medicine.
Origanum onites is one of my favourite plants; its a pretty little thing with a long flowering period; plants bloom over the summer months. This is a superb plant for a wildlife garden. Origanum onites plants produce an abundance of these sweet, dainty flowers that are adored by bees, butterflies, hoverflies, and moths. Commonly known as marjoram, Origanum onites is a culinary and medicinal herb with aromatic leaves that will enhance a wide variety of culinary dishes.
Echium vulgare is a hardy biennial with hairy stems; plants produce pretty pink buds, which open as sky-blue coloured flowers. This is a superb plant for a wildlife garden, as whilst it’s blooming, Echium vulgare is a veritable bee magnet!
This is a UK native plant that can also be found growing naturally in the wild in other European countries. Echium vulgare thrives in areas that are out in the open and warmed by the sunshine.
Knautia arvensis is a very hardy perennial plant, which is often referred to by its common name of field scabious. This wildflower blooms from the middle of summer until autumn, when Knautia arvensis enhances the meadows, grasslands, scrublands, and areas of waste ground, across many European countries, with its pale lilac-blue, circular, pincushion type flowers. This is a fabulous plant for bees, butterflies, and other insects, who are particularly fond of feeding on the pollen and nectar produced by Knatia arvensis flowers.
Lychnis flos-cuculi is an utterly charming plant. This hardy, herbaceous perennial, is a UK wild flower, which is commonly known as ‘Ragged Robin’ – a name that references this plant’s star shaped, deeply cut flowers. Ideally suited to growing in a wet, water meadow, a damp pasture, or a bog garden, Lychnis flos-cuculi is the perfect choice of plant to grow alongside a pond or in any soil or area of ground where the soil is always wet and prone to flooding.
Leontopodium nivale subsp. alpinum Blossom of Snow (‘Berghman’), was bred by Herman Berghman, a Belgian florist, who was frustrated to find that he was unable to source edelweiss plants with a long-stemmed habit that produced tall enough flowers to be useful as cut flowers, in floral arrangements. Herman Berghman spent the next ten years breeding a new edelweiss cultivar that met his requirements, and successfully produced long stemmed edelweiss flowers, with a good vase life.
