Frogbit
Frogbit is an attractive aquatic plant which floats on the surface of ponds, lakes and still waterways. Looking like a small water-lily, it is in bloom during July and August. In the winter, it becomes dormant and its buds are buried in the mud at the bottom of the pond. When it grows back, it provides shelter for tadpoles, small fish and dragonfly larvae.
Human activity, including the drainage of land for agriculture and development, has resulted in the disappearance of many of the UK's wetlands. The Wildlife Trusts are working closely with planners, developers and farmers to ensure our wetlands are protected. You can help too: add native plants and flowers, such as Frogbit, to a wildlife-friendly pond and its margins, and provide shelter for amphibians and nectar for insects. In partnership with the RHS, The Wildlife Trusts' Wild About Gardens initiative can help you plan your wildlife garden.
Water-plantain
Water-plantain is a long-stalked, tall, aquatic plant that is often found in shallow water or along the muddy banks of slow-moving watercourses. It is in bloom from June to September, displaying small, pale lilac flowers and thin, branching stems. These stalks become hardy and woody once the flowers have died. Like other aquatic plants, it offers resting and sheltering places for aquatic insects like caddis flies and Alder Flies.
Human activity, including the drainage of land for agriculture and development, has resulted in the disappearance of many of the UK's wetlands. The Wildlife Trusts are working closely with planners, developers and farmers to ensure our wetlands are protected. You can help too: add native plants and flowers, such as Water-plantain, to a wildlife-friendly pond and its margins, and provide shelter for amphibians and nectar for insects. In partnership with the RHS, The Wildlife Trusts' Wild About Gardens initiative can help you plan your wildlife garden.
Mouse-ear Hawkweed
Mouse-ear Hawkweed is a spreading plant of dry grasslands with short turf and chalky soils such as those of sand dunes, heaths, cliff tops and chalk downlands. Looking a bit like a ragged version of its relative the Common Dandelion, its lemon yellow flower heads are also a composite of lots of tiny flowers. These flower heads can be seen from May to October and attract a variety of insects. It is sometimes considered an agricultural weed of poor lawns and degraded pastures.
The Wildlife Trusts manage many grassland and coastal habitats for the benefit of all kinds of wildlife. Careful grazing with traditional breeds, hay-cutting at the right time and scrub clearance are just some of the ways these fragile habitats are kept in good condition - supporting wildflowers and, in turn, invertebrates and the larger animals that prey on them. By volunteering for your local Trust you can help too, and you'll make new friends and learn new skills along the way.
Dandelion
Counting down the clock as you blow the fluffy seeds from the head of a Common Dandelion is a familiar game to each and every one of us. These 'dandelion clocks' can carpet a grassland in fluffy white pillows straight after the bright yellow, gaudy flowers have already coloured it gold. Common Dandelions grow in all kinds of grasslands from lawns to roadside verges, pastures to traditional meadows.
Many of our so-called 'weeds' are beneficial to wildlife, providing food for nectar-loving insects and shelter for minibeasts. Try leaving wilder areas in your garden, such as patches of Common Dandelions and longer grasses in your lawn and Stinging Nettles near the compost heap, and see who comes to visit... To find out more about wildlife-friendly gardening, visit our Wild About Gardens website: a joint initiative with the RHS, there's plenty of facts and tips to get you started.
Knapweed or Black Knapweed
Common Knapweed is a thistle-like plant that can be found on all kinds of grasslands from roadside verges to woodland rides, cliff tops to lawns. It is in bloom from June to September and is a huge favourite of all kinds of butterflies including Common Blues, Marbled Whites and Meadow Browns, and is sometimes covered in these species.
Like many of our native plants, Common Knapweed is an excellent source of nectar and pollen for all kinds of insects including bees, wasps and butterflies. To encourage wildlife into your garden, try planting native flower species in your borders to provide a 'nectar-cafe'. To find out more about wildlife-friendly gardening, visit our Wild About Gardens website: a joint initiative with the RHS, there's plenty of facts and tips to get you started.
Greater Knapweed
Greater Knapweed is a thistle-like plant that can be found on chalk downlands, roadside verges, woodland rides, hedgerows and cliff tops. It is more restricted in its distribution than its close relative, Common Knapweed, being found mainly in England on chalky soils. It is in bloom from June to September and is a huge favourite of all kinds of butterflies including Common Blues, Marbled Whites and Meadow Browns; sometimes it is covered in these species.
Areas of rare and unique wildlife, chalk grasslands have been likened to rainforest for the diversity of species they hold. But they are being lost at an alarming rate due to changes in land use causing the decline of grazing: it's estimated that we've lost 80% of our chalk grassland over the last 60 years. The Wildlife Trusts manage many grassland nature reserves for the benefit of the rare wildlife they hold by using traditional management methods such as autumn grazing and scrub clearance. You can help too: volunteer for your local Wildlife Trust and you could be involved in everything from flower surveys to stockwatching.
Carline Thistle
The Carline Thistle is a spiny biennial plant that can be found on dry, chalk grassland. Its distinctive brown and golden flower heads look like a daisy that is dying or a thistle that's gone to seed, but they are, in fact, in full flower. They can be seen from July to September, although the dead heads persist for much longer, often into the following spring.
Areas of rare and unique wildlife, chalk grasslands have been likened to rainforest for the diversity of species they hold. But they are being lost at an alarming rate due to changes in land use causing the decline of grazing: it's estimated that we've lost 80% of our chalk grassland over the last 60 years. The Wildlife Trusts manage many grassland nature reserves for the benefit of the rare wildlife they hold by using traditional management methods such as autumn grazing and scrub clearance. You can help too: volunteer for your local Wildlife Trust and you could be involved in everything from flower surveys to stockwatching.
Spear Thistle
A widespread and common thistle, the Spear Thistle can be found on disturbed and cultivated ground such as pastures, roadside verges and field edges. Its classic thistle appearance - purple, fluffy-looking flowers sitting atop a spiny ball - may well have given rise to the Scottish national emblem. As with other thistles, it can become a nuisance on agricultural land and these species are often considered to be weeds.
Some of our most abundant species are often treated as 'weeds' when they appear in the garden. Yet they can be extremely beneficial to wildlife, providing food for nectar-loving insects and shelter for minibeasts. Try leaving wilder areas in your garden and see who comes to visit... To find out more about wildlife-friendly gardening, visit our Wild About Gardens website: a joint initiative with the RHS, there's plenty of facts and tips to get you started.
Creeping Thistle
The Creeping Thistle is our most common species of thistle and can be found on disturbed and cultivated ground such as rough grassland, roadside verges and field edges. Its creeping roots enable it to quickly spread across an area, forming large colonies. As with other thistles, it can become a nuisance on agricultural land and these species are often considered to be weeds. Despite this status, its seeds are an important food source for a variety of farmland birds.
Some of our most abundant species are often treated as 'weeds' when they appear in the garden. Yet they can be extremely beneficial to wildlife, providing food for nectar-loving insects and shelter for minibeasts. Try leaving wilder areas in your garden and see who comes to visit... To find out more about wildlife-friendly gardening, visit our Wild About Gardens website: a joint initiative with the RHS, there's plenty of facts and tips to get you started.
Woolly Thistle
The Woolly Thistle is a scarcer species of thistle that can be found on chalk and limestone scrub and grassland, especially in central and southern England; sometimes it can also be found on more disturbed ground such as quarries. Its cottony flower heads are distinctively round and appear from July to September. As with the other thistles, it is attractive to a wide range of insects.
Areas of rare and unique wildlife, chalk grasslands have been likened to rainforest for the diversity of species they hold. But they are being lost at an alarming rate due to changes in land use causing the decline of grazing: it's estimated that we've lost 80% of our chalk grassland over the last 60 years. The Wildlife Trusts manage many grassland nature reserves for the benefit of the rare wildlife they hold by using traditional management methods such as autumn grazing and scrub clearance. You can help too: volunteer for your local Wildlife Trust and you could be involved in everything from flower surveys to stockwatching.
