Wildflower Plants A to Z

The Great Mullein bears tall spires of soft, silvery leaves which spiral around the stem. In fact, this plant’s super-soft, hairy texture is just as well-known as the dense clusters of miniature pale-gold flowers it produces. Throughout history this plant’s seen a variety of uses, and in the garden it benefits bees and butterflies greatly, with some species of bees using its silvery ‘hair’ to build their homes. A friendly flower which helps the wildlife and adds a uniquely bright splash of colour to the backs of borders.

• Type: Biennial 
• Height: 100-180cm.
• Flowers: July-September 
• Soil Requirement: Well-drained
• Light Requirement: Full sun
• Natural Habitat: Woodland margins, clearings, waste grounds
• Also known as: Aaron’s Rod, Feltwort, Velvet Plant

Growing tall, slender stems with flowers climbing up the stalk, the Moth Mullein’s subtle beauty comes in a variety of colours: petals are often white, tinted with pale pink or lemon yellow. Much like its namesake, it enjoys a place in bright light where its bright blooms can really glow- and it’s not picky about soil conditions, making it ideal for borders or rockeries.

• Type: Biennial 
• Height: 60-100cm.
• Flowers: June-September 
• Soil Requirement: Well-drained
• Light Requirement: Full sun
• Natural Habitat: Woodland margins, clearings, waste grounds
• Also known as: Shepherd’s Club, Slippery Mullein, Woolly Mullein

A famous subject mentioned in Shakespearian stageplay, this lovely, hardy and hearty flower truly is the perfect colour of a midsummer night’s dream, with heart-shaped white or yellow petals stained purple in the centre, supposedly from being hit by one of Cupid’s arrows. The unique, whiskery patterns on each pansy are easy to fall in love with, and make for a spellbinding spectacle when scattered in borders or rockeries.

• Type: Annual
• Height: 15-30cm.
• Flowers: April-June
• Soil Requirement: Moist but well-drained
• Light Requirement: Full sun
• Natural Habitat: Grasslands, dry meadows, rocky outcrops
• Also known as: Cupid’s Flower, Heartsease, Love-In-Idleness

Unique lilac flowers that emit a very strong fragrance of spearmint when crushed that's commonly used in aromatherapy. This species has been known to be used in herbal medicine as an insect repellent and antiseptic. 

• Type: Perennial
• Height: 10-25cm
• Flowers: August onwards
• Soil requirement: Damp
• Light requirement: Full sun or partial shade
• Natural habitat: Grassland, meadows, roadsides
• Also known as: Pennyrile, Squaw Mint, Mosquito Plant, Pudding Grass

This grass-like plant produces dense spikes of greenish florets, which later display long, lilac stamens that provide this otherwise-prickly plantain with a soft and ribbony appearance. A real gift to your garden that’s perfect for pollinators, and also provides a sweet scent like vanilla. Well-suited to meadows.

• Type: Perennial  
• Height: 30-45cm.
• Flowers: May-August 
• Soil Requirement: Well-drained, chalky
• Light Requirement: Full sun
• Natural Habitat: Grasslands, pastures, roadsides
• Also known as: Fire Leaves, Healing Herb, Kemps

True nature-lovers can give little bit back to nature with this rugged and robust meadow plant. The cream-coloured anthers that give colour to the Ribwort Plantain's spikes of sharp umber petals also serve as a vital food source for pollinators and other animals. A good addition to meadows that's easy to naturalise.

• Type: Perennial
• Height: 60-90cm. 
• Flowers: April-September
• Soil Requirement: Well-Drained
• Light Requirement: Full or partial shade
• Natural Habitat: Grasslands, roadsides
• Also known as: Black Jack, Hen Plant, Ribgrass

The Wild Primrose’s pale yellow, five-petalled flowers are a cottage classic! Its light colouration is a delight under trees and bushes- just imagine a shady spot illuminated by sweet-scented, hardy clusters of buttery beauty!

• Type: Perennial  
• Height: 20-30cm.
• Flowers: February-May 
• Soil Requirement: Moist but well-drained
• Light Requirement: Full sun or partial shade
• Natural Habitat: Woodland, grassland
• Also known as: Culver Keys, Suncups

So-named for its feathery, forked flowers in flamingo pink, we recommend these raggedy riches for a lot of reasons. Planted in a marshy spot, these bright bursts of streaming pink petals will help to bring in bees and butterflies! 

• Type: Perennial  
• Height: 30-60cm.
• Flowers: May-July 
• Soil Requirement: Moist
• Light Requirement: Full sun or partial shade
• Natural Habitat: Woodland, wetlands
• Also known as: Cuckoo Hood, Meadow Pink, Wild William

Although similar in looks to the stinging nettle, Red Deadnettle has harmless, heart-shaped foliage with a purple tint. As an early-blooming plant, these whorls of hooded flowers in ruby red to pinkish-purple are a prominent source of early pollen for bees as they build up their nest.

• Type: Annual
• Height: 5-30cm.
• Flowers: March - October
• Soil requirement: Moist
• Light requirement: Full sun, partial shade
• Natural habitat: Waste grounds, field edges, roadside verges
• Also known as: Purple Deadnettle, Purple Archangel

A creeping perennial which produces pink and white, pea-like petals, with equally-appealing and hardy hairy foliage with toothed leaves. An ideal meadow plant which prefers sandy soil and blooms in late summer, which also attracts bees and butterflies. 

• Type: Perennial 
• Height: 30-60cm.
• Flowers: July-September
• Soil Requirement: Well-drained
• Light Requirement: Full sun
• Natural Habitat: Grassland, coastal areas
• Also known as: Cammock, Land Whin, Stay-Plough

A shrub-like perennial that's usually found in infertile meadows and grasslands that compliments other species such as Vetch, Betony and Knapweed. Bold, red-pink, delicate flowers on erect, spiny stems. 

• Type: Perennial
• Height: 40-50cm
• Flowers: July-September
• Soil requirement: Natural-acidic
• Light requirement: Full sun or partial shade
• Natural habitat: Grassland, meadows, roadsides
• Also known as: Women's War, Plough Tail 

The lilac-pink bracts of the Clary Sage certainly are a sight for sore eyes! Not only that, but its heart-shaped foliage is famously aromatic to the point where it’s frequently used in aromatherapy, along other medicinal uses the herb’s seen throughout the years.

• Type: Biennial  
• Height: 60-100cm.
• Flowers: March-September 
• Soil Requirement: Well-drained
• Light Requirement: Full sun
• Natural Habitat: Grassland, coastal areas
• Also known as: Clear-Eye, See-Bright

Though the Wood Sage’s crinkly foliage has a more subtle scent than some of its cousins, this sublime specimen has n unusual beauty, bearing dark burgundy stems and stamens contrasted by cream-coloured petals with a large lower lip, making it look like a spoonful of sugar- and it’s sure to add that little extra bit of sweetness to stone gardens and hedgerows.

• Type: Perennial
• Height: 30–50cm. 
• Flowers: July-September
• Soil Requirement: Well-drained
• Light Requirement: Partial shade
• Natural Habitat: Woodland, heathland, coasts
• Also known as: Garlic Sage, Hind Heal

These upright spikes of nectar-rich, stripey fuchsia flowers are your best bet for a bloom that’s beneficial to the wildlife of your wild meadow- it’s best grown with grasses to balance out both plants and best show off its vivid colouration!

• Type: Perennial
• Height: 40–50cm. 
• Flowers: July-September
• Soil Requirement: Well-drained, chalky
• Light Requirement: Full Sun
• Natural Habitat: Meadows, Foot Paths
• Also known as: Esparsette, French Grass, Holy Clover

Named for its serrated, saw-like leaves, these tall-growing and hardy plants are a relative of the daisy, which you’d hardly believe from their violet, thistle-like flowers. They make a sharp statement in a wild meadow! 

• Type: Perennial
• Height: 70–120cm. 
• Flowers: July-September
• Soil Requirement: Well-drained, chalky
• Light Requirement: Full Sun or partial shade
• Natural Habitat: Meadows, Forest edges
• Also known as: Dyer's Plumeless Saw-Wort

For those looking for something truly unique, the Burnet Saxifrage is one in a million: bearing thin branches of miniature, crystal-white floral umbels like snowflakes, as well as highly variable foliage, ranging from thin and sharp to short and toothed.  It’s easy to naturalise, and its simple colouration makes it a suitable addition to any arrangement.

• Type: Perennial
• Height: 50–100cm.
• Flowers: May-September
• Soil Requirement: Moist but well-drained
• Light Requirement: Sun or partial shade
• Natural Habitat: Grassland, heathland
• Also known as: Lesser Burnet

Named after from its shallow roots, said to have been bitten short in folklore, the Devil’s Bit Scabious is a devilishly good addition to a loamy spot in the garden. Produces rounded, purple-blue ‘pincushion’ flower heads on upright stems. A hardy and alluring plant which attracts bees and butterflies.

• Type: Perennial
• Height: 50–80cm. 
• Flowers: June-September
• Soil Requirement: Moist but well-drained
• Light Requirement: Sun or partial shade
• Natural Habitat: Bogs, woodland, heathlands
• Also known as: Blue Bonnets, Bobby Bright Buttons, Fore-Bit

This dainty-looking globe flower produces an intricate pattern of bluish-lilac petals: the innermost flower, a soft-looking cluster of miniature florets, is framed by long and papery outer florets! A magical addition to a meadow, especially when mixed with other light-coloured wildflowers.

• Type: Perennial
• Height: 30–90cm.
• Flowers: July-September
• Soil Requirement: Well-drained
• Light Requirement: Full sun
• Natural Habitat: Grasslands, verges
• Also known as: Black Soap, Egyptian Rose, Lady’s Cushion

Though smaller than certain other scabious, these compact, cluster-growing flowers are best suited for complimenting beds and borders rather than taking centre stage, whilst still bearing the hardiness and pretty, periwinkle blue florets of its brethren. In fact, the Small Scabious bears five-petalled florets rather than the regular four- sometimes, it’s the little things that matter.

• Type: Perennial
• Height: 60–70cm. 
• Flowers: July-August
• Soil Requirement: Well-drained, chalky
• Light Requirement: Full sun
• Natural Habitat: Grasslands, verges
• Also known as: Curl-Doddy, Lilac-Flowered Scabious

The Cyperus Sedge produces drooping, yellow-green tufted flowers, which are well-suited for pond margins for those who want a super lush and lively look. Hardy and tall-growing, the blade-like leaves of this sedge provide important cover for waterside wildlife.

• Type: Perennial  
• Height: 60-90cm.
• Flowers: May-June 
• Soil Requirement: Moist
• Light Requirement: Full sun or partial shade
• Natural Habitat: Marshes, river banks, ditches
• Also known as: Sedge Hop

Perhaps named for its spiky, orange-and-bronze tinted flower heads, there’s no mistaking the sedge’s characteristic fresh green tint and long, slender leaves. Best planted in heavy soil or slightly submerged in water to create a vibrant display at the water’s edge and benefit the wildlife. 

• Type: Perennial  
• Height: 60-90cm.
• Flowers: June-July 
• Soil Requirement: Moist
• Light Requirement: Full sun or partial shade
• Natural Habitat: Marshes, river banks, ditches

The Pendulous Sedge is a popular pond-side plant, and for a good reason- its nodding, tufted heads of grassy-green and golden-brown flowers really complete the mood of a marshy meadow, and are attractive to wildlife as well! One of the tallest species of sedge, this boisterous and hardy plant will self-seed readily.   

• Type: Perennial 
• Height: 100-140cm.
• Flowers: May-June
• Soil Requirement: Moist
• Light Requirement: Partial shade
• Natural Habitat: Marshes, river banks, wet woodlands
• Also known as: Great Pendulous Sedge

This whisical wildflower's short spikes of violet and burgundy beauty are just as pretty as its name! Though it's named for its medicinal uses, we think that there's nothing more rejuvinating than the sight of this multicoloured majesty flooding beds or wild meadows, as it naturalises to any environment and self-seeds readily.

• Type: Perennial
• Height: 20–30cm. 
• Flowers: June-September
• Soil Requirement: Well-drained or moist
• Light Requirement: Full sun or partial shade
• Natural Habitat: Grasslands, woodlands
• Also known as: Blue Lucy, Heart of the Earth, Thimble-Flower

These soft-looking, bright blue blooms pair perfectly with other fluffy-petalled flowers, especially in yellows and pinks, such as hawk-bit and knapweed. An excellent plant for pollinators; bees and butterflies go baa-rmy for them! Recommended for rockeries and rough meadows, or anywhere with sandy soil. 

• Type: Biennial 
• Height: 20-50cm.
• Flowers: May-September
• Soil Requirement: Well-drained, sandy
• Light Requirement: Full Sun
• Natural Habitat: Grassland, clifftops, coastal areas
• Also known as: Shepherd’s Scabious