Wild flower Specification Manual By Grahame Dixie and Matthew Swift
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40 Meadow Sweet (Filipendula ulmaria) Description and Habitat: Meadow Sweet is a large and attractive plant with strong white flowers. It has dark red stems, with green velvety leaves. The Meadow Sweet flowers from June to September and will grow from 40cm to 120cm tall. Meadow Sweet is common on damp and marshy ground and is often found in shaded mires, ditches, river banks and in open woodlands and hedgerows., (W1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,20,22,24, MG1,2,3,4,5,8,9,10, CG 10,11,12,13,14, U17). The plant is found in pHs of 5 to 8 and in moderately fertile sites.. Soils are always moist and the Meadow Sweet is often found near water but not in permanently flooded sites.
Role: Meadow Sweet is a vital component of wet meadows, damp hedgerows, ditches and water side plantings. Little or no management is required. Meadow Sweet is best suited to damp or moist gardens where it can act as a very beautiful border, particularly around ponds or streams. The plant has a very clear sweet smell that is often dried and used in pot-pourii. It is intolerant of being cut when growing and the only maintenance it requires is to be cut back in late autumn to encourage spring growth. 41 Musk Mallow (Malva moschata) Description and Habitat: Musk Mallow is a an erect perennial with multiple stems and a delicate 5 petaled pink flower, although white variants are common. It flowers from July to September, and can grow from 30-75cm tall. Musk Mallow commonly lives on grassy slopes and banks where the soil is mainly dry (MG1). It is found on chalk pastures, roadsides, churchyards and old quarries. The Musk Mallow is able to cope with all but the most acidic soils and can be found throughout England and Wales.
Role: Musk Mallow is often found alongside roads, in grassy banks and in open scrub as well as in a range of grasslands including alkaline, neutral and mildly acidic. Although often thought of as a plant of dry and infertile sites, it can be highly successful in tussock grass on soil that has been fertilised. Musk Mallow can even gain a foothold on highly fertile sites (i.e. Phosphate over 30 ppm and total Nitrogen 7000 ppm). Maintenance normally involves a single cut in the autumn although the plant can sustain itself in un-managed grasslands. A spring cut results in a shorter more upright plant which flowers later in the summer. The Musk Mallow is useful in wildflower herbaceous borders where it should be cut back in the autumn. The flower is attractive to bees and butterflies. 42 Nettled Leaved Bellflower (Campanula trachelium) Description and Habitat: Nettled Leaved Bellflower has nettled shaped leaves and is a tall plant of 50-100 cm with one main hairy stem. The top 10 or 20 cm of the stem is covered with blue/purple bell flowers during June to September. The Nettle Leaved Bellflower will quickly seed and multiply if left in an ideal site and will re-appear year after year. The most suitable habitats are in damp shaded woodland areas (W8,12). The plant is found in calcareous woods, riverbanks and sheltered paths, mainly in Southern Britain. To really thrive and produce their best colour they also need good fertility and little competition.
Role: An important, attractive and late flowering plant of alkali and neutral woodlands and hedgerows The Nettled Leaved Bellflower is found in both deep and partial shade and can feature in shaded herbaceous borders. 43 Ox-eye Daisy (Leucanthenum vulgare) Description and Habitat: The Ox-eye Daisy is a tall (20-70cm), very common species, and is extremely popular species of wild flower landscaping schemes. The flower head produced on the end of each stem is very akin to a common lawn daisy except around 5 or 10 times bigger. The plant needs full sunlight and grows mainly in calcareous or neutral grasslands, while occasionally appearing in some heaths (MG1,3,4,8,9, CG2,3,4,5,6, H6,7). The plant is very common on disturbed soils or banks, especially quarries and wastelands, in meadows and abandoned pastures. Ox-eye Daisy is found in pHs of 5 to 8 and in soils of low to moderate fertility. The plant is a short lived perennial a needs bare earth or disturbed sites for the population to sustain itself through second generation propagation.
Role: The Oxeye Daisy is a vital component of almost all wildflower seed mixes or planting projects. It is a very good plant for exposed banks or newly created grasslands or meadows. The Oxeye Daisy is highly tolerant of cutting which can be carried out in the spring or late summer. The population will decline unless the sward is very open with bare patches of earth or light harrowing is carried out with the final grass cut. Planting Oxeye Daisy in drifts will create dramatic and highly visible blocks of colour in grass or the herbaceous border The Oxeye Daisy provides nectar for a range of butterflies and bees. 44 Perforate St Johns Wort (Hypericum perforatum) Description and Habitat: A tall perennial flower which is mainly found in disturbed sites with relatively low fertility. Perforate St Johns Wort grows to 60-70cm in height and has green shrubby leaves and stems. The flowers are bright yellow with 5 petals and adds of colour from June to September. The St John’s Wort is found on freely drained soils, low fertility and exposed earth. It is commonly observed in calcareous wasteland, sandy soils, woodland margins and rides and some lightly grazed pastures. Although St John’s Wort is widespread it is generally found growing in groupings of relatively few plants . (W8,MG1,9,CG7) The habitat normally has a soil pH of above 5, although frequencies increase in pHs above 7, in dry conditions and where there are significant amounts of bare earth between the vegetation.
Role: Perforate St Johns Wort is a useful plant to introduce in wasteland habitats, under light shade and in open grasslands of low fertility. The plant can with stand light mowing. 45 Primrose ( Primula vulgaris) Description and Habitat: The Primrose is an extremely popular flower which heralds the spring and the ending of winter. The Primrose grows to 15cm and will produce up to 20, yellow 5 petaled flowers from February up until May. Mainly a plant that enjoys woodland and woodland edge the Primrose can also be found in damp semi-shaded or open grasslands (W7,8,9,10,11,19,24,H10,MG2,CG10,11,13,U16,17,19). Typically the wetter the climate the less shade the plant requires. The Primrose is found in soils with a range of pH’s but not in very acidic or very alkali sites. The plant is rarely found in direct sunlight and is more common under dappled shade or on north facing slopes.
Role: Primroses are often found in lawns, on north facing grassy banks and lightly shaded graveyards. In grassland, unless the soil is infertile, the maintenance programme involves taking a cut after flowering or seed set has finished and a second cut in the autumn. Primroses can be planted as part of a flowering lawn under dappled shade. After flowering the grass is mown regularly. Primroses thrive in hedgerows and in partial shade. They are pollinated at night by a wide variety of moths which are attracted by its petal colours. The plant is a larval host plant for the Duke of Burgundy butterfly as well as a nectar source. 46 Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) Description and Habitat: The Purple Loosestrife is a tall striking plant, which can grow up to 120cm. The flowers are produced from June to August and comprise a tall spire of purple blooms. Purple Loosestrife is a plant of wet soils, marshes and water side sites but will also grow in some woodlands (W2,5,M9 ,13,22,23,24,27,28).
Role: The Purple Loosestrife will grow well in marshy areas of a garden or near ponds or streams. It would be very effective in a water meadow or in a fertile marsh where it would provide colour as well as a important nectar source for insects, bees and butterflies | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||