This spring, Plantlife is urging gardeners to go native and start a new love affair.
It's time embrace the jewels of our own countryside, celebrate the Best of British and go wild.
Why grow wild flowers? Benefits include:
- Wild flowers and plants are not only beautiful – they are an essential part of our lives.
- They provide food for humans and animals, and are the basis for many medicines.
- Without plants, bees, birds, butterflies and other wildlife would not exist.
Plantlife's Botanical Specialist Dr Trevor Dines, only grows native wildflowers and plants in his own garden: "Did you know that many of our garden favourites, like Box, Pasqueflower and Welsh poppy are also some of our rarest native plants?
"It always amazes me that you can pop into almost any garden centre, DIY shop or nursery in the country and by a plant of Shrubby Cinquefoil, but this same species is a beautiful native wildflower restricted to just two small areas in Britain.
"Plantlife's Wildflower Garden aims to celebrate the native flowers we probably already grow, introduce you to a few new ones and discover the fascinating stories behind them as British wild flowers.
"And you don't need to let your garden become overgrown and tatty to enjoy them; wild plants and flowers can be woven into the tapestry of all garden styles, from cottage to formal. Now, time to clip that native box hedge."
