Ox-eye daisies are easy to grow and very popular with pollinators
Image: Ox-Eye Daisy from Thompson & Morgan
Wildflowers are a low-maintenance and long-lasting addition to any garden. Often planted as annual or perennial meadows, they make a wildlife-friendly alternative to lawns or a quick and easy way to fill a border. Not sure which varieties to choose? The easiest way is to use a themed wildflower mixture. You can also choose individual varieties of wildflower seeds if you prefer to concentrate on your favourites. Here are our top ten wildflowers and how to grow them.
1. Cornflower ‘Blue Diadem’
Bees flock to cornflowers during the summer
Image: Cornflower ‘Blue Diadem’ from Thompson & Morgan
The intense, azure blue flowers of Cornflower ‘Blue Diadem’ were once a common sight dotted through golden cornfields. This charming annual makes an unforgettable impact in grassy meadows and summer borders. Sow between March and May for flowers in June, July, and August. The bright blue flowers grow up to 75cm tall and also look great in a vase.
2. Cowslip (Primula veris)
Cowslips bring a ray of golden sunshine to any garden
Image: Primula veris from Thompson & Morgan
Holding an RHS Award of Garden Merit, the stiff stems of Primula veris carry whorls of pendulous yellow flowers above swathes of lush, mid green foliage. Perfect ground-cover in natural planting schemes, the delicate fragrance of these edible flowers is an added bonus. Reaching a height of 25cm, sow your seeds between March and May for flowers in June, July and August.
3. Meadowland mixture
A wildflower meadowland mixture includes classic grassland varieties
Image: Meadowland mixture from Thompson & Morgan
Our meadowland mixture includes over 30 types of pretty wildflowers including lady’s bedstraw, meadow buttercup, corn chamomile, wild clary, cowslip, crane’s-bill, ox-eye daisy and many others. With varied heights of 20-150cm, some flowers emerge the first summer after sowing, while the rest appear in spring, summer or autumn the next year.
4. Lychnis flos-cuculi
Bright pink eye-catching ragged robin petals peak through the grass
Image: Garden World Images
A perennial wildflower with delicate bright pink flowers, Lychnis flos-cuculi (Ragged Robin) has attractive raggedy petals that come into bloom from May to August. A good choice for difficult, damp areas of the garden, the stems vary in height from 25cm to 100cm.
5. Wild poppy
Create a field of red with wild poppies
Image: Wild poppy from Thompson & Morgan
The bright scarlet flowers of wild poppies (Papaver rhoeas) traditionally dot cornfields with bright scarlet flowers. Sow your seeds in thick swathes for a bold carpet of red, or scatter randomly through your borders and wait for the flowers to peep through your perennials. An annual flower that self-seeds happily, you can expect your poppies to return every year in early summer. Sow between March and October.
6. Cornfield mixture
Create a traditional meadow with this cornfield mix
Image: Cornfield mixture from Thompson & Morgan
Sow the cornfield mixture along paths or near your vegetable garden where the nectar-rich flowers will attract pollinating insects and beneficial predators. White campion, corn chamomile, field forget-me-not and poppies make up just a portion of this varied mix. Plants vary in height from 15cm to 60cm and flower during the summer.
7. Teasel
Teasel seed heads add interest to the back of beds and borders
Image: Teasel from Thompson & Morgan
Teasel is a tall, striking, thistle-like plant with serrated leaves and large spiny flower heads. It’s a valuable source of nectar for bees and butterflies, and attracts seed-eating birds to your garden. This biennial plant self-seeds freely once established, and the lilac flowers appear through July and August.
8. Fritillaria meleagris
Snakeshead fritillary has lovely nodding flowers
Image: Fritillaria meleagris from Thompson & Morgan
The captivating, bell-shaped flowers of Fritillaria meleagris are instantly recognizable by their distinctive snake-skin markings. Snake head fritillaries look best planted in drifts, and prefer damp shady areas and informal areas of grass. Sow these rare native flowers between March and May for flowers in the same months the following year.
9. Butterfly mixture
Butterfly mix is colourful and very attractive to pollinators
Image: Garden World Images
Excellent for creating bold and varied drifts of colour in your garden, Butterfly mixture has been specifically designed to attract butterflies and other beneficial insects. Turn a section of your garden or allotment into a haven for wildlife by sowing the seeds onto prepared soil in the spring. Your flowers will appear between June and September.
10. Wildflower ‘Woodland shade mix’
Our woodland shade mix comes with vermiculite to aid even dispersal
Image: Wildflowers ‘Woodland Shade Mix’ from Thompson & Morgan
To brighten up darker corners of the garden, Woodland shade mix contains native foxgloves, sweet peas, forget-me-nots and more shade-loving woodland species. Scatter the mix straight from the box and rake into the soil wherever you want your colourful wildflower mix to grow. If you sow the seeds in spring and autumn, expect to see some species flower the same year, and some the following year, between April and September.
Share your wildflower patch or containers with us on Instagram or Twitter using the hashtag #YourTMGarden. For even more advice and inspiration, head over to our wildflower hub page.
The Thompson & Morgan horticultural team produces a wealth of content around gardening and food production. Since the first seed catalogue was published in 1855, Thompson & Morgan has grown to become one of the UK’s largest Mail Order Seed and Plant companies. Through the publication of our catalogues and the operation of our award-winning website, Thompson & Morgan is able to provide home gardeners with the very best quality products money can buy.