NATIVE WILDFLOWERS
Create some meadow magic
Most of us have a deep and abiding love of flowers, and we grow blooms that originate in every corner of the world. But what of our own native wildflowers? We may encounter them in woods and country lanes, but is there a place for them in gardens too? And, what do we actually mean when we talk about ‘wildflowers’? To answer that, we need to start by taking a quick trip back in time. Just 12,000 years ago – a blink of an eye in the history of the world – Britain was in the grip of the last Ice Age. Things were so cold that pretty much the only plants that survived here were those adapted to arctic conditions. The world then began to warm very quickly. The ice retreated, and all manner of plants spread northwards, their seeds carried by the wind and by wild animals. They included many moving up from ‘mainland’ Europe, for sea levels were so much lower than they are today that there was no English Channel to block their route. We’re talking about everything from tiny duckweeds to massive oaks and everything in between.
As the great ice sheets melted, the seas rose, and Ireland became separated from the British mainland. Then the English Channel filled with seawater in what you might call the first Brexit! No more plants could reach our islands naturally, and it’s the 1,500 different species that had arrived by this point (without human intervention) that are now deemed ‘native’. Over the next few thousand years, successive waves of human invaders and settlers came to Britain, bringing with them plants from foreign lands. For example, the early farmers accidentally imported cornfield annuals in with cereal seeds, such as poppies, corncockle and cornflowers. These plants introduced long ago are actually called ‘archaeophytes’, but they seem so deeply embedded here that they, too, seem like bona fide ‘wildflowers’. Many more plants have since been brought to Britain, and some, such as red valerian and buddleia, have leapt over the garden wall into the wider landscape. Those that were introduced after about 1500AD and became established in the wild are called ‘neophytes’, and the British Isles is now full of native wildflowers plus introduced old and new plants. So how does this relate to your garden? Well, the interesting thing is that where you live was once a wild place, indeed perhaps not so long ago. It might have been part of a wood or a heath or meadow. Old maps may give you a clue and some of your area’s floral history could live on in the plants in your garden – those that you never planted but that seem very much at home. For instance, you may have wildflowers that emerge from the local seedbank as you dig, or thriving in undisturbed parts. A lawn is a good place to find some of them. It may have been laid as pure grass turf or sown as grass seed, but it might now have daisies, dandelions, melicks and speedwells – all native wildflowers.
Wildlife gain
In fact, there’s growing reason to look after and seek to increase wildflowers in your garden, for they’ve been lost at an alarming rate from the surrounding countryside. You can do it for the sake of the flowers, but also for wildlife. Evolving in tandem over thousands of years, native wildflowers have considerable value for nature. To top it all, some native wildflowers are incredibly beautiful. True, they’re often smaller and less showy than cultivated garden blooms, but they can be like the person at the party who doesn’t grab your eye at the start but by the end of the night turns out to be the one you like the most! So, consider your local wildflowers, think about which ones you could grow in your garden, and invite them back – after all, this was probably their home first!
“…the English Channel filled with seawater in what you might call the first Brexit!”