For a non-native plant in UK, originally from Central America, it manages to survive very effectively on our boundary wall, spreading to the patio and any planters in the vicinity. It flowers all summer and is usually much loved by insects, especially the smaller hoverflies. The current cold, damp weather is making for a good show of flowers, but at present not such a good show of insects.
#44 Wall Daisy (Erigeron karvinskianus)
The weather has cooled right down and there are fewer butterflies and bugs around the garden, but flowers are doing well due to the wet Spring we’ve had. This year we have more Foxgloves than ever, which is really nice and much appreciated by the bumble bees.
As with many plants, you wonder how they arrive in the garden. This one was probably introduced accidentally with other plants. Caper Spurge (Euphorbia lathyris) is a non-native plant from the Med, which is now naturalised in UK, mostly found in gardens and waste ground. The seed heads look a bit like capers, but are poisonous.
These are record shots (ie not very good photos) for two new species to add to my garden list. First up a caddisfly Tinodes waeneri (#990) which was caught in the moth trap at the weekend. This caddisfly is fairly uniform brown with dark veins on the wings. It flies throughout the summer from May-Sept, with a peak in May.
Mostly the buttercups in my garden are Creeping Buttercup (Ranunculus repens), but this one growing between the paving stones is Meadow Buttercup (Ranunculus acris, #991). I’m sure I must have over-looked this plant previous years, but the shape of the leaves is quite different.
A new plant growing on the gravel alley to the house - Prickly Lettuce (Lactuca serriola). This is the closest wild relative of cultivated lettuce, but it comes with prickles on the stem and the underside rib of the leaves. It is supposed to be edible, if with a bitter taste.
Pushing up in a neglected corner, this Wild Pansy has definitely self-seeded itself from somewhere. It’s not a species I’d recorded previously in the garden,
#946 Wild Pansy (Viola Tricolor)
This is another pseudo-wild flower that’s found its way to the garden. Non-native, but a common escaped garden plant, Garden Lady's Mantle is a perennial plant with yellow flowers. This one sprung up at the edge of my lawn somehow.
#931 Garden Lady's Mantle (Alchemilla mollis)
I have been expecting to find this plant, as it’s pretty common around the area, but until now not located in my garden. Garlic Mustard, or Jack-by-the-Hedge as it is sometimes called, is a tall member of the brassica family with white flowers that appear in April/May and leaves that have a hint of garlic when you crush them. You can eat the young tender leaves in a salad and the roots apparently have a horseradish flavour. From a gardening point of view it can be a very invasive plant, so probably I should pull it out, but it is a handsome plant and also the food-plant for Green-veined White butterflies there’s no rush …
#921 Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata)
Found a couple of new plants along the alley leading to the house. There are a couple of patches of White Stonecrop growing between the stones of the limestone wall. Meanwhile at the base of the wall by the path, these are the first Ground Ivy (sometimes called Creeping Charlie!) plants I have noticed.
This field poppy sprouted up on the edge of one of the borders, adding a nice splash of colour for a day or two. Mostly we get self-seeded yellow welsh poppies and ornamental “opium” poppies, so it was a change to find one of the traditional native red ones!
This Red Clover came up in the paving close to the back door, and is new species for the garden (#866). Maybe I’ll try to move it to my lawn instead, where we already have plenty of the white version. It might feel at home in my (very small) “wild meadow” and I’m sure the bees will like it.
This rather pretty white flower that popped up under a bench out the front of the house is White Comfrey. Another new plant for the list. It’s actually not that common; unlike its purple relative Common Comfrey which is often grown by veg gardeners to make liquid fertilizer. White Comfrey is another non-native plant that has become naturalised across much of England.
This Shepherds Purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris, #859) popped up in the earth floor of the greenhouse. It’s a common enough weed, but this is the first time I found it in our garden - one of a handful of new plants I’ve found this Spring. It is considered a non-native plant in UK, introduced from Asia Minor / Eastern Europe in ancient times. As a member of the brassica family it is also edible, and even cultivated as a crop in parts of Asia.
The gravel path to the house has not been weeded for a while, allowing a few new plants to appear. Oxford Ragwort is similar to the Common Ragwort, but flowers earlier and has distinctive black tips on the flower bud. Cow Parsley covers all the roadsides round here, but this one managed to pop u[p between two paving slabs. Yellow Corydalis is probably a garden escapee, but it is well established along the wall on the shady side of the path.
These days I don’t get to find many new plants in the garden, so a clump of Yarrow growing in the lawn is good news. Another weed; hopefully it survives to flower next year, or even to be used as herbal tea.
Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)
Hypericum androsaemum or Tutsan s a member of the St John’s wort family. It’s a medicinal plant, used to heal wounds and burns, as an anti-septic and also as an anti-depressant, so has some colourful names like “Balm of the Warrior’s Wounds” and “Sweet Amber”. The name Tutsan sounds superficially Asian, but it is in fact a native plant found wild, mostly in the west of UK, with the name coming from the French “toute-sain”, literally all heal This example was found growing up between the cracks in the paving out the front of the house - which is definitely a Pathclear-free zone, and a as a result by late summer a riot of weeds. Tutsan is a common garden shrub as well, so probably this one arrived courtesy of a bird-dropped seed from a neighbouring garden.
For some reason I missed Honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum) off the list, but this is also a native hedgerow plant and I have a couple of clumps of it in the garden. They are there mostly for the scent and the insects, but this is another plant known for medicinal uses, including to treat respiratory and intestinal infections.
Broad-leaved Willowherb (Epilobium montanum) is one of the commonest weeds all over the garden, but yesterday I noticed this willowherb growing up in one of my plant pots. With slender-leaves, its more cross-shaped petals and less cross-shaped pistil, it is an American Willowherb (Epilobium ciliatum). As the name suggests this plant is native to North and South America, and introduced to Europe. It was first recorded in UK in 1891 and is now found all over the country. It’s a pretty common plant, though the broad-leafed version is much more prolific in my garden.
Checking the weeds, I noticed a patch of Slender Speedwell (Veronica filiformis, #559). These might have been imported courtesy of the garden centre with some raspberry canes I bought last year. Speedwells are fairly similar looking, but this one flowers early, is a deeper blue than the Common Field Speedwell (Veronica persica) and has longer-stemmed flowers. Finally a few weeks later in May yet another species of Speedwell appeared, Thyme-leaved Speedwell (Veronica serpyllifolia, #573), this species has a spike of small, pale blue flowers. so there you go, four species of speedwell in one small lawn, all of which can spread and can become a nuisance. But they are pretty and my lawn is nothing much to worry about.
The Ivy-leafed Speedwell, Field Forget-me-not and Green Alkanet are also all quite invasive. The former, with its tiny flowers, grows in a thick carpet under shrubs. Field Forget-me-Not sprouts wherever it can, but especially between the paving slaps on the path. Its relative, Green Alkanet, grows in thick leafy clumps in the shady damp areas under the trees, giving you a rash on whenever you touch it. All these have a long flowering season, starting right now.
Some of the early flowering plants in the garden are shown below. The Wild Garlic is a new addition, but making itself very much at home in the sheltered spaces under the trees. For some reason I don’t get many Lesser Celandines, just a few plants around the edges of the borders, but the Toadflax and Archangel grow everywhere. Together they all add some colour and some nectar/food for the insects.
As a final drop of photos from my August trip to France: this time some of the alpine flowers from the Vanoise National Park, mostly from high up in the French Alps above Courchevel. Supporting the profusion of butterflies & insects and the nibbling of the local marmots, there is an even greater profusion of wild-flowers, especially on the upper pastures. Most of these examples are alpine plants taken on a hike up to the Lacs Merlet, though the Helleborine and Willow Gentian were photographed on the wild-flower trail at Lac de la Rosière just outside Courchevel.
Passionate about nature, based in Gloucestershire UK; this site is about creating a wildlife friendly family garden and exploring the diversity of animal & plant species that share it with us.
As a nature lover and wildlife gardener I started wondering about the biodiversity in my backyard and just how many species from plants to insects to birds to mammals might live in or visit it.
Much of the wildlife in my small, village garden has been present right under my nose for years without my really appreciating it, so on the way I am learning a lot about different species and how to make a wildlife-friendly environment for them; also getting engaged more in conservation activities around Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and the Cotswolds.
My garden species tally started from zero on June 1st 2018, the target is 1000 species - let's see where it goes.
I'm very interested in your comments & advice: whether it's about the blog, some help with identification or just how to make my own little Eden better for wildlife. So please leave a comment or drop me a line if you feel like it!
Graham Tompsett
microedenproject@gmail.com
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