Woodland Plants

WOOD SORREL Oxalis acetosella Suran y Coed A delightful dainty woodland plant, with delicate white flowers in spring, and light green 'shamrock' leaves, that can be eaten in salads as sorrel. It needs shade, and to be free of aggressive competition, so ideally planted at the base of trees, or in clear patches on shady banks. Plant the slender rhizomes about 1" deep in leaf mouldy soil. Price 20 / £8.50

PIGNUT Conopodium majus Cnau'r Ddaear The tubers of what is otherwise called Earthnut are well known to country children for the tubers that are good to eat, with a flavour and texture of hazelnuts. A member of the umbelliferae or carrot family, its fine leaves and white flowers grow in most open or shaded ground. Price 10 /£8.50

PENNYWORT Umbilicus rupestris Dail Ceiniog Growing on moist banks and walls, particularily here in Wales and the West it is easy to picture the round, succulent "penny leaves" of the Welsh name being used for toy coins. The plant, a well-known member of the Sedum family, grows from a tuber rather similar to earthnut.

Price 5 / £4.50 10 / 8.50

VALERIAN Valeriana officinalis Triaglog The 'erect rhizome' of Valerian has a remarkable pungent smell, making it easy to believe that they are important in medicine, being used for stress relief and painkilling (not recommended without full advice). It is also a striking plant 3' tall with its umbels of white flowers and pinnate leaves. It grows well in moist woodland, but also does well in open ground. Price 5/£4.50 10/£8.50

MOSCHATEL Adoxa moschatellina Mysglys To some a symbol of Christian watchfulness because the five tiny white green flowers (April) face the four cardinal points and one to heaven. A small plant with fumitory like leaves growing in the shade of large leafed deciduous trees in woods and banks where there is little competition it is interesting botanically as the only species of its genus. Price 10 rhizomes / £7.50

WOOD CRANESBILL Geranium sylvaticum Pig Aran y Goedwig This is one of our native hardy geraniums, and in the wild it ranges as far north as the Arctic. It has violet purple flowers in June-July, the plant reaching 18" in height. Developing a stout rhizome it is easy to establish in most conditions, sun or shade. Price 5 / £6.50

MEADOW CRANESBILL Geranium pratense Pig Aran y Weirglodd A large flowered Cranesbill, well known on roadside verges. Its bright blue flowers add colour in June, while its foliage turns a rich foxy brown in autumn. Price 5 / £6.50

BLOODY CRANESBILL Geranium sanguineum Pig Aran Ryddgoch Familiar on limestone from the Yorkshire Dales to the Avon Gorge, and some seaside dunes, this will do well on any dry bank in the sun. The large flowers are not blood red but shining magenta pink. Price 5 / £6.50

WILD STRAWBERRY Fragaria vesca Sifi goch Not only does this make an excellent ground cover plant with shiny leaves, and dainty white flowers, but it produces delicious tiny fruit best eaten with lashings of cream, or set in delicately flavoured jelly. Ideal for the hedge bank, it grows and can spread in semi shade or full sun.

Price 5 / £4.50 10 / £8.50

PRIMROSE Primula vulgaris Briallu One of our favourite spring flowers, and one of the earliest. Some of ours begin flowering in January continuing through to April and May. It grows well in woodland, on hedge banks or in grass that is only mown in late summer, in soil that does not dry out. AGM Price 5 / £4.50 10 / £8.50

COWSLIP Primula veris Dagrau Mair Nowadays this is becoming a rare sight due to the widespread loss of traditional hay meadows. The English name is a polite version of Cowslops, indicating that they thrived in meadows where cows grazed. The Welsh, translated, is the more poetic Mary's Tears. They prefer moist soil in either sun or slight shade, and spreading happily in grass (mown in late summer). Flowering April-May AGM .Price 5 / £4.50 10 / £8.50

OXLIP Primula elatior This is the true Oxlip – not the coarser Cowslip/Primrose hybrid. With clear primrose yellow flowers held in a gracefully drooping cluster on one side of the stalk, this Primula thrives in light woodland and relishes heavy clay, and although rare in the wild it will naturalise easily. AGM Price 5/£4.50 10/£8.50

RED CAMPION Silene dioica Blodyn Neidr Known as snake's flower in Welsh for no clear reason, this has a long flowering season from spring through to summer, and makes a stunning sight when growing with bluebells. It flowers freely, with male and female flowers on different plants, in all shades of pink, in wood, hedge bank and meadow, and spreads in most soils. Price 5 / £4.50 10 / £8.50

COLOMBINE Aquilegia vulgaris Blodau'r sipsi This is also prosaically called Granny's bonnets, due to the shape of its purple nodding flowers. This is the beautiful wild species that sometimes thrives in our hedgerows, and not an 'improved' modern cultivar. It prefers semi shade but will grow in sun. Price 5 / £6.50

SWEET VIOLET Viola odorata Crinllys Aroglys Grown for centuries for its glorious perfume - though be warned, some people seem unable to smell it - it was considered to be a flower of Aphrodite goddess of love! Ours come in shades of violet to dark purple, sometimes white. Happy in dappled shade. Price 5/£6.50

COMMON DOG VIOLET Viola riviniana Gwiolydd Cyffredin No-one seems to know the origin of the association with dogs in the English name, but it may prosaically be its lack of scent to humans at least. However, these violets are long flowering and make excellent ground cover in light shade. Price 5/£4.50 10/£8.50

SWEET WOODRUFF Galium odoratum Briwydden Ber This little native with its wiry creeping rhizomes and whorls of bright green leaves makes excellent groundcover in shade. In early summer it is dotted with starry white flowers. From medieval times the dried leaves with their scent of new-mown hay were used to scent clothes. It thrives in any rich shaded soils that are not too acid. Price Rhizomes 5 / £4.50 10 / 8.50

GREATER STITCHWORT Stellaria holostea Serenllys mawr Also called satin flower because of the shining quality of its pure white flowers. This is an invaluable plant for semi shade, and growing with bluebells and red campion, it provides the perfect foil for those rich colours. The name stitchwort is ancient and refers to its use for curing sudden pains or stitches, believed to be caused by elf arrows. Price Rhizomes 5 / 4.50 10 / £8.50

BUGLE Ajuga reptans Glesyn y Coed Providing useful ground cover in sun or shade with its glossy rounded dark green leaves, bugle is easy and undemanding. It sends up spikes of blue flowers all summer, which contrast delightfully with the dark stems and leaves. The English name for this wound herb is obscure, but the Welsh translates rather charmingly as something like Blue of the Woods Price 5 / £4.50 10 / £8.50

OX EYE DAISY Leucanthemum vulgare Aspygan These are the big midsummer flowering Moon Daisies. To walk through a field of these tall flowers growing with poppies is an unforgettable experience. In some parts of Europe houses were decorated with moon daisies to protect them against lightning. Price 5/£5.50 10/£9.50

MUSK MALLOW Malva moschata Hocysen Fws With its clear pink flowers borne in profusion from July onwards and its finely divided fresh green leaves, this is one of our prettiest wild flowersand a firm cottage garden favouritefor many years. Thriving in full sun and well drained soil it is a magnet for bees.Price 5/£6.50

Malva moschata alba The equally attractive white flowered form of the Musk mallow Price5/£6.50

BETONY Stachys officinalis Cribau San Ffraid A member of the mint family this has rich red-purple heads of flowers from June through to early autumn, and brightens hedgerows and woodland edges all over England and Wales. Betony was much praised by ancient and medieval herbalists. The Emperor Augustus’ physician used it as a certain cure for 47 illnesses. Our age is somewhat more sceptical, but Geoffrey Grigson does claim it makes a good imitation Chinese green tea. Price 5/£6.50

FOX AND CUBS Pilosella aurantiaca. With a running rootstock which makes it more suitable as a meadow ingredient than in a border, this charmingly named plant, naturalised in Britain for many centuries, produces wonderful burnt-orange daisy flowers in June. Although they prefer damp meadow conditions, they cheerfully grow on the banks next to the chapel in our village, making bright patches of colour. Price 5/6.50

PASQUE FLOWER Pulsatilla vulgaris The common name of this beautiful native refers to its flowering time at Easter. The rich purple flowers are offset by the silvery ferny foliage which glistens with water droplets after rain as the leaves are also furry. The flowers are followed by the feathery globes of the seed heads. In the wild it is a plant of chalk and limestone grassland, so in the garden it needs a place in the sun, with good drainage.AGM Price £2.50 each

DAMES VIOLET Hesperis matronalis Introduced to Britain in the 14th Century, this has spread and gained naturalised status. With its stock like flowers of white through to lilac in summer, this is a plant to enjoy especially in the evening when the gorgeous fragrance is most pronounced, and the flowers seem to glow in the half-light. Sweet Rocket, its other name, will self sow and naturalise happily in poorer soils. Price 5/£6.50

Hesperis matronalis var albiflora The white flowered form of Dames Violet is equally eye catching Price5/£6.50

FIELD SCABIOUS Knautia arvensis Clafrllys An essential meadow plant with its lilac pincushion flowers which are an invaluable nectar source for butterflies in June. The name scabious refers to its early use as a herbal remedy for various skin disorders including the French pox. Price 5/£6.50

GREATER KNAPWEED Centaurea scabiosa Pengaled Fawr This is a most attractive wildflower for naturalising in grass. In July and Augustthe plant is smothered in butterflies and bees. After the flowers have faded the seed heads are loved by goldfinches. Price5/£6.50

FOXGLOVE Digitalis purpurea Bysedd y Cwn Tall and stately,with its hanging purple spotted bells, this is a plant loved not only by bees but also fairies. They were said to give the flowers to foxesto enable them to sneak magically into hen houses and away with their spoils. We have plenty of foxgloves and foxes and keep our hens securely penned. A biennial plant that will self seed freely. Price5/£4.50 10/£8.50

ASARABACCA Asarum europaeum Carn Ebol y Gerrddi Long believed to be native, although rare in the wild, this relative of the mostly tropical ginger family has been grown in gardens for centuries as ground cover in woodland and as a remedy for drunkenness amongst other complaints. It makes a slowly spreading mat of evergreen foliage, invaluable in autumn and winter when the curious rounded leaves reflect the light. Price £2.50 each

STINKING IRIS Iris foetidissima Iris Ddrewllyd Also known as Gladdon or Gladwyn, this is one of our two native Irises. (The other being the well known Yellow Flag (see blow) The name refers to the pungency of the leaves when bruised. Mauve flowers in summer are followed by brilliant scarlet seeds in autumn. It enjoys a variety of conditions being found in quite deep shade as well as open sites. AGM Price Rhizomes £2 each.

GREAT WOOD RUSH Luzula sylvatica Coedfrwynen Fawr Found in well drained areas of woods all over the British Isles. With tussocks of glossy long narrow leaves, and thin stems of tiny chestnut-brown flowers this makes a fine feature in a woodland area. Using stolons it spreads well, liking more acid conditions. Price 5 / £7.50

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Woodland Plants