Great Willowherb
Great Willowherb is a large herb that flourishes in damp ground, such as wet grasslands, ditches, riversides and woodland clearings. Its fluffy seeds are dispersed by the wind. Pink flowers appear on the top of hairy stems from July to August.
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 and managed for the benefit of the plants and animals they hold, including Great Willowherb. We have a vision of a 'Living Landscape': a network of habitats and wildlife corridors across town and country, which are good for both wildlife and people. You can support this greener vision for the future by joining your local Wildlife Trust.
Evening-primrose
Common Evening-primrose, or 'Evening Star', was introduced into the UK in the 1600s and has since become naturalised on dry waste ground, roadside verges, sand dunes and railway cuttings. Its common names allude to its large, yellow, sun-like flowers that actually only open in the evening. These blooms appear on tall spikes from June to September and attract bees, butterflies and moths searching for nectar. For this reason, Common Evening-primrose is a good choice for wildlife gardens.
To encourage wildlife into your garden, try planting native flower species in your borders to provide a 'nectar-cafe' for bees and butterflies. But if you do prefer some non-native varieties, be careful when you throw away cuttings - species can easily escape into surrounding habitats and can cause problems for local wildlife. 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.
Purple-loosestrife
Purple-loosestrife can be found in wet habitats such as reedbeds, fens, marshes and riverbanks, where its impressive spikes of magenta flowers rise up among the grasses. Many tall stems can grow from a single root stock. It flowers between June and August when its nectar becomes a valuable food source for long-tongued insects like bees, moths and butterflies, including Brimstones, Red-tailed Bumblebees and Elephant Hawk-moths.
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 and managed for the benefit of the plants and animals they hold, including Purple-loosestrife. We have a vision of a 'Living Landscape': a network of habitats and wildlife corridors across town and country, which are good for both wildlife and people. You can support this greener vision for the future by joining your local Wildlife Trust.
Grass-of-Parnassus
Grass-of-Parnassus isn't actually a grass, instead getting its common name from the translucent green stripes that adorn the white petals of this cup-shaped flower.
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 and managed for the benefit of the plants and animals they hold, including Grass-of-Parnassus. We have a vision of a 'Living Landscape': a network of habitats and wildlife corridors across town and country, which are good for both wildlife and people. You can support this greener vision for the future by joining your local Wildlife Trust.
Navelwort
Navelwort is a distinctive plant of walls, stony banks and rocky areas, particularly in shade or damp places. It has fleshy, circular leaves and upright, straw-coloured flower spikes which appear from June to August.
The Wildlife Trusts look after many nature reserves for the benefit of kinds of plants and animals and we are working closely with farmers, landowners and developers to promote wildlife-friendly practices. We have a vision of a 'Living Landscape': a network of habitats and wildlife corridors across town and country, which are good for both wildlife and people. You can support this greener vision for the future by joining your local Wildlife Trust.
Biting Stonecrop
Biting Stonecrop is a mat-forming plant that is common on well-drained ground such as sand dunes, shingle, grasslands, walls and pavements. It has yellow, star-shaped flowers that appear from May to July and fleshy leaves that have a biting hot taste. It attracts many bees in search of nectar.
The Wildlife Trusts look after many coastal habitats for the benefit of all kinds of plants and wildflowers, and are working closely with farmers, landowners and developers to promote wildlife-friendly practices in these areas. We have a vision of a 'Living Landscape': a network of habitats and wildlife corridors across town and country, which are good for both wildlife and people. You can support this greener vision for the future by joining your local Wildlife Trust.
Salad Burnet
Salad Burnet is a low-growing herb of chalk and limestone grasslands which produces rounded, reddish flower heads from May to September. The leaves are famous for smelling of cucumber if crushed or walked upon, and this plant lives up to its name as a popular addition to salads and summer drinks.
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. You can help too: volunteer for your local Wildlife Trust and you could be involved in everything from scrub-cutting to stockwatching.
Great Burnet
The presence of the bulbous, blood-red heads of Great Burnet is an indication of a rare group of plants and flowers flourishing together in a floodplain meadow. These special grasslands have thrived for centuries because of the way they are managed which results in a flower-rich hay crop. A member of the rose family, Great Burnet can survive for decades due to its extensive root system.
Once awash with wildflowers and alive with insects, our floodplain meadows have been drained, damaged and destroyed; now, only 1,600 hectares of these precious habitats are left in the whole of the UK. This has had a detrimental effect on wildlife and once common plants and animals, from Great Burnet to Ragged-Robin, Curlews to Reed Buntings, are becoming a rarer sight. The Wildlife Trusts look after many meadow and wetland habitats for the benefit of local wildlife and are working closely with farmers, landowners and developers to promote wildlife-friendly practices in these areas. You can support this vital work by joining your local Wildlife Trust.
Tormentil
Tormentil is a common, low-growing and creeping perennial of acid grasslands, heaths and moors, as well as roadside verges. Its four-petalled yellow flowers appear May to September and provide nectar for solitary bees.
Windswept heaths and moors are an iconic feature of the UK's landscape and are the result of hundreds of years of low-impact human activities such as livestock-grazing and scrub clearance. Yet development and the decline of traditional farming methods have caused many of these precious habitats to be lost - for example, over 80% of lowland heathland in the UK has disappeared in just 200 years. The Wildlife Trusts manage many heathland habitats for the benefit of wildlife. By volunteering for your local Trust you can help too, and you'll make new friends and learn new skills along the way.
Silverweed
Silverweed is a trailing plant at home in grassland, roadside verges, sand dunes and waste ground. Its yellow flowers appear between June and August among the creeping mats of its silvery, downy leaves which remain all year-round.
Although they sometimes don't look especially wildlife-friendly, our roadside verges and waste grounds can provide valuable habitats for all kinds of plants and animals. The Wildlife Trusts get involved in different projects to help make these places as beneficial for wildlife as possible. We have a vision of a 'Living Landscape': a network of habitats and wildlife corridors across town and country, which are good for both wildlife and people. You can support this greener vision for the future by joining your local Wildlife Trust.
