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Purple Purple Toadflax, Bladder Campion, Devils Bit Scabious and Wild Primrose also Common Agrimony

Which of the plants in the title of this post are good for pollinators?
Grow wildflowers in your garden

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  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    All of them

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • edev08edev08 Posts: 56
    Many thanks - A quick reply too! As I have mentioned before I am trying to create a wildflowery wildlife friendly garden
    Grow wildflowers in your garden
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited July 2020
    Don't forget to provide the plants that the caterpillars need to feed on ... they are different plants to the ones that provide nectar ... and without the caterpillars we will have no moths and butterflies.
    https://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/foodplants.php
    Just a few here 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445
    and, being native plants, they will be good for more tha pollinators. The Toadflax Brocade moth larvae will be pleased for a start. 


    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • edev08edev08 Posts: 56
    I am in Upland West Yorkshire and we do not have Toadflax Brocades here as they are in SE England. As an experienced moth recorder 6 1/2yrs yesterday I will be sure not to forgot lepidopteran metamorphosis! Many thanks both
    Grow wildflowers in your garden
  • ButtercupdaysButtercupdays Posts: 4,546
    All of them. 
    Toadflax & Scabious great for pollen & nectar and the Scabious is foodplant to the Marsh Fritillary. Primrose good for early nectar for small tortoiseshell & Brimstone butterflies. Campion similar to other campions. Not found much on the Agrimony, but it produces pollen and is fragrant, so presumably nectar too, and Grizzled Skipper caterpillars like the leaves, and finches like the seeds.
  • edev08edev08 Posts: 56
    Thanks again for your wildflower garden help Buttercupdays. I hope to make my garden similar to yours with lots of different wildflowers and shady spot, sunny spot, obviously the plants will be a bit different though!
    Grow wildflowers in your garden
  • ButtercupdaysButtercupdays Posts: 4,546
    I planted the Agrimony, along with Betony and Knapweed  on a partially shaded, dryish bank under a big Scots pine, but on the sunnier side. A good few years on they have spread all over the bank and the area below, which is moister. I'm going to move some the knapweed and betony before next summer to fill out the meadow area the other side of the tree. That part is a sea of daffodils in spring, mostly planted by the previous owners, though I have added some to extend the season, and the colour range. Because of the daffs it needs later flowering perennials, so I have meadow cranesbill and ox-eye daisies among the various wild grasses and they too seed happily.
    The entire garden is a hillside and the ground behind the house rises sharply. To one side there is a boggy hollow, the dell, surrounded by trees. Water spills from the higher ground in a little stream that is currently, after more than a week of heavy rainfall, creating a 3 tier waterfall. Previously it was barely a trickle as the spring was so dry and I was actually able to walk in the dell without wellies! On the bank at the back is where I planted the primroses and they have spread too and looked very beautiful  when flowering under  yellow and  lavender flowered rhodies.  There are also bluebells and ramsons which I planted, as there were none here, though they are part of the local flora.
    The purple Linaria grows in the flower borders and pops up where it will, and I also have the yellow one which grows wild here, like the red campion. I haven't got the bladder campion as it likes lime and our soil is acidic.
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