From award-winning show gardens to the Floral Marquee nursery displays, cultivated varieties of British wildflowers are making a splash at this year's RHS Flower Show Tatton Park
As rewilding becomes ever more popular and we long for a touch of nature in our gardens, growing wildflowers is becoming ever more mainstream. But gardeners and plant breeders can't resist picking out the best forms – or breeding them intentionally. So now there's a whole range of 'upgraded' wild plants that have new flower colours, better forms or just simply bloom for longer.
Pretty in pink
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Wild forms of this plant are generally more purple in colour, bees love them all!
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Soft pink flowers set the variety 'Blush' apart from wild plants of loosestrife (Bluebell Cottage Gardens, Floral Marquee)
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With slender spikes of bright pink flowers, Lythrum 'Swirl' brings summer-long colour (Bluebell Cottage Gardens, Floral Marquee)
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Wild forms of this plant are generally more purple in colour, bees love them all!
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Soft pink flowers set the variety 'Blush' apart from wild plants of loosestrife (Bluebell Cottage Gardens, Floral Marquee)
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With slender spikes of bright pink flowers, Lythrum 'Swirl' brings summer-long colour (Bluebell Cottage Gardens, Floral Marquee)
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Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) is one of our most colourful native plants. It adorns riversides and other damp places with its bright purple flowers all summer long. These are a magnet for bees and other pollinating insects: they're so valuable that it (and its cultivars) have been awarded the RHS Plants for Pollinators designation. Cultivated varieties of this plant come in a range of colours from pale pinky-white through to a rich magenta purple.
Bee and butterfly heaven
This improved form of the wildflower small scabious brings joy to both people and pollinators
Small scabious (Scabiosa columbaria) is a delightful native wildflower, and one that's really useful for pollinating insects as it blooms later than many others. 'Mariposa Blue' is an improved selection that is more compact and bushy, with added flower-power thrown in. A useful plant for a dry, sunny spot.
Funky foxgloves
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Digitalis 'Firecracker' and 'Dalmatian White'
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A range of foxgloves (Digitalis) illuminate the Macmillan Legacy Garden
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Digitalis 'Firecracker' and 'Dalmatian White'
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A range of foxgloves (Digitalis) illuminate the Macmillan Legacy Garden
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Digitalis 'Firecracker' and 'Dalmatian White'
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Plant breeding work has given foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea) an extra boost of flower power. Varieties such as 'Dalmatian White' have larger flowers and more of them than wild plants. By crossing Digitalis purpurea with other Digitalis species, breeders have created a whole new kind of foxglove, Digitalis × valinii. While they're not as hardy as wild plants, they more than make up for it by flowering their socks off for months on end. Look out for 'Firecracker' - it's one of the very best!
Multicoloured wildlife magnet
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Achillea 'Pink Grapefruit' on Tissington Nursery stand in the Floral Marquee
Achillea 'Terracotta' adds warm tones to cool planting in the Macmillan Legacy Garden
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Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) is a familiar plant in lawns and on roadsides. It's wonderful for wildlife as the flat flowerheads make the perfect landing pads for all sorts of pollinating insects. Wild plants bloom in slightly muddy shades of white and pale pink: choose a cultivated variety and you can get flowers in a range of yellows, reds, rich pink and orange.
See a weed in a whole new light
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'Pink Pearl' also gives long displays of pretty flowers (both from Hooksgreen Herbs, Floral Marquee)
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Prunella 'Blue Pearl' shows just what the common lawn weed selfheal can do if you free it from the mower's blades!
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'Pink Pearl' also gives long displays of pretty flowers (both from Hooksgreen Herbs, Floral Marquee)
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Prunella 'Blue Pearl' shows just what the common lawn weed selfheal can do if you free it from the mower's blades!
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'Pink Pearl' also gives long displays of pretty flowers (both from Hooksgreen Herbs, Floral Marquee)
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Another common weed you might want to take a fresh look at is selfheal (Prunella vulgaris). Two cultivated varieties, 'Blue Pearl' and 'Pink Pearl' have flowers many times bigger than wild plants. Their botanical origins are debated (possibly a cross between Prunella vulgaris and P. grandiflora) but whatever their parentage they make hardy garden plants that will flower over a long period in summer and autumn.
Cottage garden perfection
Like miniature hollyhocks, mallows 'Mauritania' and 'Zebrina' are perfect for creating the cottage garden look (Hooksgreen Herbs, Floral Marquee)
Mallow (Malva sylvestris) is a delightful wildflower. Its bright pink flowers adorn all sorts of sunny places from roadside verges to meadows and cliffs. Its varieties 'Mauritiana' (strictly speaking Malva sylvestris var. mauritiana) and 'Zebrina' offer different colours: the former is a rich blackcurranty purple while the latter has white petals streaked with purple. All are easy to grow in sunny gardens.
The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity. We aim to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place.
