Native Flowers

British native flowers, such as foxgloves and yarrow have been a staple of cottage gardens for centuries and wildflowers are being used more and more these days to complement modern varieties.

They are invaluable for our native pollinators, including the struggling bee and butterfly populations. Many of our native plants are disappearing due to loss of habitat and widespread use of herbicides on farmland. Growing wild plants in our gardens helps foster an understanding of their plight and puts them back on our cultural radar — and perhaps encourages us to get out and see them in the wild.

As importantly, growing them provides a valuable food source for our wildlife, which often cannot access non-native flowers (for example, if the flowers have been bred to be double, etc). Our gardens are the only wildlife havens in some areas.

These plants can be simply stunning and, in addition to playing an important role in our beds and borders, they are also good for planting in 'wildlife areas' of the garden, to encourage and support our native wildlife.