Guide to Wild Flowers

A walk anywhwere whether in the city or the coutryside can be enlightened with a simple browse through this guide. Your eyes will be opened to all the facinating flowers that populate each and every corner of our world.


Bogbean - Manyanthes Trifolate
Don't be deceived by the dull name, the bogbean is one of the more beatiful wild flowers. They often grow around ponds or boggy areas. The flower buds are bright rose pink and when fully open look like white stars. The roots have been used in older times to bulk up the meal in bread. The leaves have been used in infusions for treatment of scurvy, gout and rheumatism.

Burnet Rose - Rosa Pimpinellifolia
The most sweetly scented of all roses, a mixture of jasmine and honey. The dark stems are covered with fine hairs and sharp prickles. It is found extensively in the United Kingdom on the west coast of Scotland and Ireland and is much more scarce in England and Wales.

Columbine - Aquilegia Vulgaris
The latin name aquila means eagle and the shape of the flower is likened to the wings of a bird. None of the varieties of this flower have any scent. The lack of scent is made up for by its vibrant deep colours. They often appear in backyards and old gardens. Herbalist Nicholas Culpeper claimed that "the seed taken in wine causeth a speedy delivery of women in childbirth". In fact most parts of the plant are poisonous.

Common Comfrey - Symohytum Officinale
The flowers are tubular, in clusters with a springing curve. The English name comes from conferve - the latin verb for grow together. All parts of the plant have a reputation for healing cuts and fractures. Grating the roots produces a jelly like paste which can be applied to lesions. An infusion of the leaves is said to help in sprained wrists and ankles and such has earned the comfrey a nickname of "knitbone". In the wild it grows by rivers and in ditches.

Common Knapweed - Centaurea Nigra
This has the appearance of thistle but its leaves are not prickly. A dark head beneath the purple florets has given rise to few nicknames such as "hard heads" and "the black knapweed". In England and Scotland it is found in meadows and on roadside verges. In the south UK its found on heavy wet soil. They are a valuable food source for many insects and these in turn feed small birds.

Common Mallow - Malva Sylvestris
The flower is pale mauve and clearly marked with deep purple lines running down the petals. The petals taper down to the calyx and the gaps between them imitate a green star. The centre of the flower holds a column of stamens and anther heads. Insects are guided in by the dark lines of the petals to the direction of the flowers dusty pollen honey pit. It is today quite rare in the wild.

Corn Marigold - Chrysanthnum Segetum
An intense yellow flower, found on the East coast of Cornwall. They have several flower heads on each stem and are accompanied by foliage. Remains of corn Marigold have been excavated from archaeological sites of the Neolithic era. This popular flower has now been replanted abundantly and so is a common sight.

Corn Poppy - Papever Rhoeas
This yellow flower resembles a wild buttercup. It was an unstoppable weed in fields of wheat and barley until agricultural herbicides dealt with the problem. It reminds us of its determination popping up on ground disturbed by motorway construction. While scarce it is gradually making its way back into the countryside. The welsh poppy favours rocky shady areas.

Crocus - Crocus Tommasinianis
Some may be interested to discover that saffron is harvested from the stigmas of crocus. The Crocus was brought to Britain for the cultivation of saffron. Crocus is a common purple garden flower and is best planted in partial shade.

Evening primrose - Oenothera Glazoviana
This is an exotic flower imported from North America and is widely found on roadsides, watery ground and in sandy soil. It is tall with long lemon yellow flowers. A popular perennial often found in man made gardens is the long flowering evening primrose Oenothera Missouriensis. Some varieties are scented while others remain unscented.



Foxglove - Digitalis Purpurea
A very common wild flower, tall with columns of pink and purple tubes. They grow best in well drained but not sandy soil. All parts of the plant are poisonous but are still used as herbal remedies for strengthening a feeble heartbeat. An overdose could be fatal and marked the beginnings of a science for exact measurements in the preparations of remedies.

Germander Speedwell - Veronica Chamaedrys
A wild plant of grasslands and rough areas. The small flowers host a curious two horn like stamens protruding from the uppermost and larger petal. Approaching insects grasp these for support while dusting pollen. In Ireland this flower was often sewn into the coats of travellers as the charm of a safe journey. They grow best is a slightly shaded spot on a lawn or hedge bank.

Harebell - Campanula Rotundiflora
This delicate blue flower hangs from narrow stem which when blown by the wind causes the bell to leap upward. In the wild the Harebell occupies a variety of nutrient-poor locations including mountains, sand dunes, chalk meadows and heaths. It's a commonplace countryside flower and a beautiful sight. It usually grown under open skies where it can enjoy full sun.

Lady's Bedstraw - Galium Verum
The flowers are beautifully arranged in clusters forming an oblong mass of blossoms. Otherwise know as Galium from its Latin name, the name comes from a Christian story that "Our Lady gave birth to Jesus in a bed of bracken and white flowered Galium". The fragrance of the flower is honey and highly attractive to butterflies and as such can be sown to attract butterflies. In the wild it is found on dry banks and grasslands and hedgerows.

Lady's Smock/Cuckoo Flower - Cardamine Pratensis
The flowers are a very pale purple with veins of a deeper purple which can bleach under strong sun towards tones of lilac and pink. They are attractive to all manner of insects and when fertilised by them, their seed ripens to the point where its sudden splitting burst out its seed to claim new ground. They grow well in a little shade and in moist areas such as by a pond. It has been also know as Cuckoo flower due to them blooming about the time of the arrival of the cuckoo in spring. A study reveals that it begins to flower precisely in the twelve days before the first sound of Cuckoo.



Marsh Marigold - Caltha Palustris
With yellow flowers similar to tall buttercups, they flower on top on thick fat stalks, their leaves resemble the shape of a kidney. The flowers consist of five or six golden petals. They have dwindled in population in recent years but are grown easily in boggy ground or next to a pond. A few regional nicknames for the flower include Maybubbles, Mollyblobs and Yellow crazies.

Meadow Cranesbill - Gernanium Pratense
Cranesbills are wild geraniums and some of the more beautiful and intricate looking flowers of the countryside. It tends to grow on road verges and field edges. It is a perennial with small and large leaves that are segmented. Insects are attracted to the flowers vibrant colour and honey and will deposit pollen on the stigmas from their previous visits. Their seed when ripe, bursts out and is catapulted to pastures new.

Meadowsweet - Filipendula Ulmaria
Meadowsweet survives in ditches and on riverbanks. In the garden it requires permanently moist soil to germinate. Each flower is a ring of greenish cream petals within which stands a circlet of gold tipped stamens. While not helpful for insects in honey, their pollen is sufficient for bees to feed their larvae and young. When fertilised by incoming insects the seed forms stacks of tiny shapes that resemble caterpillars which birds will feast on and scatter the seed. It is widely used to decorate homes in the summer time giving off a delightful scent.

Primrose - Primula Vulgaris
The sulphur colours of primrose are in clumps everywhere. They are set on mounds of leaves that are oval, scallop edges, wrinkled on the upper surface and softly hairy beneath. The yellow eye in the centre of the flower serves as an attracter for insects. They have two types, pin eye or thrum eye each with intricacies of the mouth of the flower tube and stamens.
(picture of birds eye primrose)

Ramsons - Wild Garlic - Allium Ursinum
With its highly strong smell it is a very attractive wild flower. The leaves are long an shiny with the texture of soft rubber. They look particularly attractive as they open from the bud and spill out. They have been use to flavour stew and as garnish on sandwiches. They have also been used in a general all purpose tonic when infused in brandy.

Red Campion - Silene Dioica
If you pick this flower it almost immediately shrivels and wilts. It generally doesn't grow in open fields but in woodlands and hedgebanks. the flowers are a magnet for insects and in turn for wild birds. Other varieties in pink and white are called "catchfly" due to their alure for insects. They also draw into the garden many night flying moths due to the fact that they extend their petals to their fullest as darkness falls. Their fragrance is clovelike.

Self Heal - Prunella Vulgaris
It is full of nectar for bees and butterflies.The flower is made up of two petals in the shape of lips, the upper arched like a hood with three lobes on the lower. Visiting bees have to plunge into the flowers head first, they suck the honey for 2 seconds and then reverse out, brushing pollen onto their heads. As the name suggests, it was used in remedies for ulcerations of the mouth and applied to cuts burns and bruises. Other names given to it are Blue Curls and Heart of the Earth.

Snakes Head Fritillary - Fritillaria Meleagris
This is a very strange looking flower that is rarely discovered in the wild. It used to be more widely found but now is more likely to be found in protected areas. When fully open, its lantern like blooms are almost square hence the name fritillary - meaning its like a dice box. Melagris is latin for guinea fowl whose markings are likened to those on the petals. Bulbs can be planted in moist ground to add a very strange and mystifying flower to your garden.

Snowdrop - Galanthus Nivalis
Snowdrops are not now widely found in the wild and tend to be found at lost and remote places and also commonly around churches and monasteries. Ther is some argument that it was the Romans who introduced the flower. They are not today the first flower of the new year, this accoloade goes to the Winter Aconite. They are often however the first noticed by enthusiats, even if only found in their remote locations. Establishing the snowdrop to your garden is not always easy and will take to some but not to others.

Spear Thistle - Cirsium Vulgare
While most people would like to avoid the thistle through bad experience of being spiked by one, the garned is not complete without the thistle. They can lie so unobtrusively at grass level ready to to spike the unaware but also their exists a tall Melancholy Thistle Cirsium Heterophyllum. It has a lovely purple flower on a tall stem and can be found on wet upland pasture beside streams and open woods. Thistles are ripe when the seed-heads start to open. Its so called Melancholy becasue the flower bud droops while it is still growing. The spear thistle can grow up to 2 metres tall and has become the national emblem of Scotland.

Sweet Cicely - Myrrhis Odorata
This wild flower is native to the mountainous regions of south and central Europe. Sweet Cicely is to be found on roadsides, riverbanks and by woods and seems to be particularly found around limestone areas. The flowers are fat clusters and is simaler in appearance to Cow Parsely but with soft ferny leaf-sprays. The word Cicely comes from the Greek girls name seseli. The fresh leaves are used in salad, almost the whole plant has the savour of aniseed. The seed smells simaler to cloves and the crushed seed mixed with wax is a traditional recipie for furniture polish.

to be continued..

 

If you want a USA flower delivery then you'd best go to the USA homepage

Choosing the right flowers for your wedding