BLUE WILD FLOWER GALLERY
PAGE MENU
Site Map

Introduction

FLOWER COLOUR Comparison Page,
space,
Site Map page in its flower colour
NOTE Gallery
...Blue Note
...Brown Note
...Cream Note
...Green Note
...Mauve Note
...Multi-Cols Note
...Orange Note
...Pink A-G Note
...Pink H-Z Note
...Purple Note
...Red Note
...White A-D Note
...White E-P Note
...White Q-Z Note
...Yellow A-G Note
...Yellow H-Z Note
...Shrub/Tree Note

BLUE WILD FLOWER GALLERY
PAGE MENU
 

Lists of:-

Edible Plant Parts.

Flower Legend.

Food for
Butterfly/Moth.

Flowering plants of Chalk and Limestone Page 1
Page 2

Flowering plants of Acid Soil
Page 1

Pollinator.

Poisonous Parts.

Scented Flower, Foliage, Root.

Story of their Common Names.

Use for Flowering Plants

Use for Non-Flowering Plants

SEED COLOUR
Seed 1
Seed 2

BLUE WILD FLOWER GALLERY
PAGE MENU
 

Habitat Lists:-

Approaching the
Coast (Coastal).

Broad-leaved
Woods.

Grassland - Acid, Neutral, Chalk.

Heaths and Moors.

Hedgerows and Verges.

Lakes, Canals and Rivers.

Marshes, Fens,
Bogs.

Old Buildings and Walls.

Pinewoods.

River Banks and
other Freshwater Margins.

Saltmarshes.

Sandy Shores and Dunes.

Shingle Beaches, Rocks and
Cliff Tops.

Other.
 

BLUE WILD FLOWER GALLERY
PAGE MENU
 

Number of Petals List:-
Without Petals. Other plants
without flowers.
1 Petal or
Composite of
many 1 Petal Flowers as Disc
or Ray Floret .
2 Petals.
3 Petals.
4 Petals.
5 Petals.
6 Petals.
Over 6 Petals.

See Explanation of Structure of this Website with User Guidelines to aid your use of this website.

WILD FLOWER GALLERY
PAGE MENU
Site Map of pages with content (o)

Introduction

Poisonous Plants

INDEX LINK TO WILDFLOWER PLANT DESCRIPTION PAGE
a-h
i-p
q-z


FLOWER COLOUR
(o)Blue
(o)Brown
(o)Cream
(o)Green
(o)Mauve
(o)Multi-Coloured
Orange
(o)Pink 1
(o)Pink 2
(o)Purple
(o)Red
(o)White1
(o)White2
(o)White3
(o)Yelow1
(o)Yelow2
(o)Shrub or Small Tree

SEED COLOUR
(o)Seed 1
(o)Seed 2

BED PICTURES
(o)Bed

HABITAT TABLES
Flowers in
Acid Soil
Flowers in
Chalk Soil
Flowers in
Marine Soil
Flowers in
Neutral Soil
Ferns
Grasses
Rushes
Sedges
 

WILDFLOWER INDEX
Botanical Name
Common Name

WILD FLOWER FAMILY
PAGE MENU 1

(o)Adder's Tongue
Amaranth
(o)Arrow-Grass
(o)Arum
(o)Balsam
Bamboo
(o)Barberry
(o)Bedstraw
(o)Beech
(o)Bellflower
(o)Bindweed
(o)Birch
(o)Birds-Nest
(o)Birthwort
(o)Bogbean
(o)Bog Myrtle
(o)Borage
(o)Box
(o)Broomrape
(o)Buckthorn
(o)Buddleia
(o)Bur-reed
(o)Buttercup
(o)Butterwort
(o)Cornel (Dogwood)
(o)Crowberry
(o)Crucifer (Cabbage/Mustard) 1
(o)Crucifer (Cabbage/Mustard) 2
Cypress
(o)Daffodil
(o)Daisy
(o)Daisy Cudweeds
(o)Daisy Chamomiles
(o)Daisy Thistle
(o)Daisy Catsears (o)Daisy Hawkweeds
(o)Daisy Hawksbeards
(o)Daphne
(o)Diapensia
(o)Dock Bistorts
(o)Dock Sorrels

WILD FLOWER FAMILY
PAGE MENU 2

(o)Clubmoss
(o)Duckweed
(o)Eel-Grass
(o)Elm
(o)Filmy Fern
(o)Horsetail
(o)Polypody
Quillwort
(o)Royal Fern
(o)Figwort - Mulleins
(o)Figwort - Speedwells
(o)Flax
(o)Flowering-Rush
(o)Frog-bit
(o)Fumitory
(o)Gentian
(o)Geranium
(o)Glassworts
(o)Gooseberry
(o)Goosefoot
(o)Grass 1
(o)Grass 2
(o)Grass 3
(o)Grass Soft Bromes 1
(o)Grass Soft Bromes 2
(o)Grass Soft Bromes 3 (o)Hazel
(o)Heath
(o)Hemp
(o)Herb-Paris
(o)Holly
(o)Honeysuckle
(o)Horned-Pondweed
(o)Hornwort
(o)Iris
(o)Ivy
(o)Jacobs Ladder
(o)Lily
(o)Lily Garlic
(o)Lime
(o)Lobelia
(o)Loosestrife
(o)Mallow
(o)Maple
(o)Mares-tail
(o)Marsh Pennywort
(o)Melon (Gourd/Cucumber)
 

WILD FLOWER FAMILY
PAGE MENU 3

(o)Mesem-bryanthemum
(o)Mignonette
(o)Milkwort
(o)Mistletoe
(o)Moschatel
Naiad
(o)Nettle
(o)Nightshade
(o)Oleaster
(o)Olive
(o)Orchid 1
(o)Orchid 2
(o)Orchid 3
(o)Orchid 4
(o)Parnassus-Grass
(o)Peaflower
(o)Peaflower Clover 1
(o)Peaflower Clover 2
(o)Peaflower Clover 3
(o)Peaflower Vetches/Peas
Peony
(o)Periwinkle
Pillwort
Pine
(o)Pink 1
(o)Pink 2
Pipewort
(o)Pitcher-Plant
(o)Plantain
(o)Pondweed
(o)Poppy
(o)Primrose
(o)Purslane
Rannock Rush
(o)Reedmace
(o)Rockrose
(o)Rose 1
(o)Rose 2
(o)Rose 3
(o)Rose 4
(o)Rush
(o)Rush Woodrushes
(o)Saint Johns Wort
Saltmarsh Grasses
(o)Sandalwood
(o)Saxifrage
 

WILD FLOWER FAMILY
PAGE MENU 4

Seaheath
(o)Sea Lavender
(o)Sedge Rush-like
(o)Sedges Carex 1
(o)Sedges Carex 2
(o)Sedges Carex 3
(o)Sedges Carex 4
(o)Spindle-Tree
(o)Spurge
(o)Stonecrop
(o)Sundew
(o)Tamarisk
Tassel Pondweed
(o)Teasel
(o)Thyme 1
(o)Thyme 2
(o)Umbellifer 1
(o)Umbellifer 2
(o)Valerian
(o)Verbena
(o)Violet
(o)Water Fern
(o)Waterlily
(o)Water Milfoil
(o)Water Plantain
(o)Water Starwort
Waterwort
(o)Willow
(o)Willow-Herb
(o)Wintergreen
(o)Wood-Sorrel
(o)Yam
(o)Yew

Site design and content copyright ©July 2020. Chris Garnons-Williams.

DISCLAIMER: Links to external sites are provided as a courtesy to visitors. Ivydene Horticultural Services are not responsible for the content and/or quality of external web sites linked from this site.

The wild flowers in this book (Wild Flowers of Britain by Sarah Garland). Published in 1978 by ARTUS Publishing Company Limited for Marks and Spencer Ltd) have been grouped under chapter headings according to where they grow. Each plant is seen against its natural background and the influences that shape it: the weather, rich and poor soils, animals and man:-

• The history of British Flowers
• Chalk and limestone flowers
• Arable and wasteground flowers
• Flowers of the woods and hedgerows
• Grassland and roadside flowers
• Freshwater flowers
• Fen and marshland flowers
• Heath, moor and bogland flowers
• Mountain flowers
• Flowers of the sea coast

See current Wildflower Common Name Index link Table for more wildflower of the UK common names together with their names in languages from America, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.

See current Wildflower Botanical Name Index link table for wildflower of the United Kingdom (Great Britain) botanical names.

After clicking on the WILD FLOWER Common Name INDEX link to Wildflower Family Page; locate that Common name on that Wildflower Family Page, then

Click on Underlined Text in:-

Common Name to view that Plant Description Page
Botanical Name to link to Plant or Seed Supplier
Flowering Months to view photos
Habitat to view further Natural Habitat details and Botanical Society of the British Isles Distribution Map
 

Common Name

Botanical Name

Flower Family

Flower Colour

Form from
The Concise British Flora in Colour by W. Keble Martin, MA, FLS.
Designed and produced by George Rainbird Limited and Second Impression (with revisions) June 1965.

Alpine Clematis
Non-Wildflower Garden Escape

Blue Wildflower,

Clematis alpina

Flowers in Apr-May

Buttercup

Dark Blue

This early spring flowering clematis is ideal for a north- or east-facing site. Given suitable support it may be grown on its own or allowed to scramble through a strong shrub or tree.

Scrambling climber to 80 inches (200 cms) with twining leaf stalks.

Flower picture on Page 151 in Wild Flowers by Colour by Marjorie Blamey. Published in 2005 by A&C Black

Hairy Buttercup (Pale Hairy Buttercup)

Yellow Flowers .
Habitat - Approaching the Coast .

Ranunculus sardous

Flowers in May-July

Buttercup

Bright Yellow

An annual of damp coastal pastures, poached pond edges and wet hollows, road verges, farm tracks and gateways. It is generally restricted to thin turf or disturbed areas on damp, neutral, moderately fertile soils. Lowland.

Most often found near southern coasts; less frequently in the north.

From Plate 3 of
The Concise British Flora in Colour by W.E. Martin. Published by George Rainbird Limited in June 1965.

Alpine Squill

Blue Wildflower,

Scilla bifolia

Flowers in Mar-Jun.

Bright blue, rarely pink or white, starlike in a loose cluster

Lily

Bright Blue

Habitat in grassland, scrub, or woods, also on mountains.
Use in rock garden or edge of border and under deciduous trees/shrubs. Resistant to deer and rodents

See photo on Page 158 in Wild Flowers by Colour by Marjorie Blamey. Published in 2005 by A&C Black

Apple-of-Peru

Blue Wildflower,

Nicandra physalodes

Flowers in Jun-Oct

Night
shade

Blue or pale violet with white throat, bell-shaped, opening only for a few hours.

Habitat in bare and waste places, waysides.
Full Sun in open borders.

See illustration on Page 156 in Wild Flowers by Colour by Marjorie Blamey. Published in 2005 by A&C Black

Propagation: by seeds sown 0.125 inches (3mm) deep in pots or boxes of light soil in 55F (13C) in March, transplanting seedlings 36 inches (90cm) apart outdoors in ordinary soil in May; or by sowing seed in sunny position outdoors in April, transplanting seedlings in June.

Very poisonous.

Arctic Bellflower, Arctic harebell

It is distributed in arctic North America, including the Rocky Mountains and Greenland, in the Asian part of Beringia and in Iceland, Svalbard, the Scandes Mountains and Novaja Zemlja.

Blue Wildflower,

Campanula uniflora

Flowers in Jun-Oct

Bellflower

Nodding, solitary, bell-shaped, blue, purple

Habitat in Mountains, arctic heaths.
Occurring most often among other forbs, graminoids, and dwarf shrubs on slopes and ledges with meadow or heath vegetation. The growth sites are usually well drained with mixed soils and circumneutral or basic soil reaction (pH). Tends to occupy moderately exposed locations with slight to moderate snow cover. Not much grazed by reindeer or geese.

See illustration on Page 157 in Wild Flowers by Colour by Marjorie Blamey. Published in 2005 by A&C Black.

Used and attracted by hummingbirds - not sure there are many of those in the UK.

Bavarian Gentian (Gentiana bavarica) native to European Alps not the UK

Blue Wildflower,

Gentiana bavarica (Gentiana carpatica)

Flowers in Jul-Sep - See good photos

Gentian

4 x 4
(10 x 10 )

4 inches is the spacing between plants not the width of the plant

Deep Blue

Mat-forming in Damp Grass, Marshes, and the rock garden

See illustration on Page 153 in Wild Flowers by Colour by Marjorie Blamey. Published in 2005 by A&C Black.

Culture - Compost, 2 parts good loam, 1 part peat, 1 part grit or broken limestone and coarse sand. Position, sunny rock garden for dwarf kinds, borders for tall species. All should be kept fairly dry in winter, moist in summer. Plant, Sep, Oct, Mar or Apr, top-dress with rotted leaf-mould in March.

Propagation - By seeds sown 1 sixteenth inch deep (1.5 mm) in well-drained pots or pans of sandy soil in cold frame in March; division of plants in March. Seeds sometimes take 1 or 2 years to germinate and soil must be kept moderately moist.

Bearded Bellflower
(Bearded Hairbell)

Blue Wildflower,

Campanula barbata

Flowers in Jun-Aug

Bellflower

Pale blue, with long white hairs inside, in one-sided cluster; sepals in 2 rows.

Thrives in well-drained loam in the rock garden or in the mixed border

See illustration on Page 157 in Wild Flowers by Colour by Marjorie Blamey. Published in 2005 by A&C Black.

Bladder Gentian

Blue Wildflower,

Gentiana utricolosa

Narrow, petal tube, dark blue flowers in May-Aug

Gentian Family

Dark Blue.

Annual

Damp grass, bogs, heaths, stony slopes and hollows.

See illustration on Page 153 in Wild Flowers by Colour by Marjorie Blamey. Published in 2005 by A&C Black.

See photo

Blue Anemone
(Apennine Anemone, Windflower)

Blue Wildflower,

Anemone apennina

Blue flowers with 8-18 sepals in Mar-Apr

Buttercup Family

Blue

A rhizomatous perennial, found in woodland, open scrub, under park trees, in churchyards and near former habitations. Like the native A. nemorosa, it requires light shade.

See illustration on Page 151 in Wild Flowers by Colour by Marjorie Blamey. Published in 2005 by A&C Black.

Can also be grown in pots on your windowsill, balcony or garden table. The plant does well under deciduous trees, alongside hedges and in shady pots around ponds.

It is not a true UK native but comes from Italy. Scatter among the native Anemones in our woods, or making pictures with Daffodils, or running free among dwarf plants in groves. It is readily increased by division, and grows about 4-6 inches (10-15 cm) in height.

Culture - Soil, good ordinary, well enriched with decayed manure. Position, sunny or partly shady borders. Plant, autumn or spring.

Bluebell
(English Bluebell)

Used within lifecycles of
Butterfly Holly Blue,
Butterfly Pearl-bordered Fritillary,
Butterfly Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary,
Blue Wildflower,

Flower

Hyacinthoides
non-scripta (by 1946 this was renamed Scilla nutans)

Flowers in April-June

The flower stems, containing a sticky white juice, grow up to 12 or 18 inches (30-45cm) high, with the flowers borne on short stalks on one side. The 'bell' is formed by 6 perianth segments, and there are 3 long and 3 short stamens. Seeds are produced, but the plant also survives the winter as a bulb. It often makes a blue carpet in woods.

Flowers

Above 4 photos taken by BritishFlora

Lily Family

Foliage

Dark Blue

A bulbous perennial herb occurring, sometimes abundantly, in a wide variety of deciduous woodlands, in hedgerows, on shady banks and, especially in western and upland areas, in meadows, under Pteridium and on cliffs. It also occurs as a naturalised garden escape. It is sensitive to long-term grazing.

Form

See illustrations on Pages 64 for white flower and 158 for blue flower in Wild Flowers by Colour by Marjorie Blamey. Published in 2005 by A&C Black

Illustration of Scilla nutans Wild Hyacinth from Flowers of the Woods by E.J. Salisbury - Director, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published by Penguin Books Limited in 1946.

Scilla nutans Wild Hyacinth from Wild Flowers as They Grow- Photographed by H. Essenhigh Corke, text by G. Clark Nuttall. Published by Cassell and Company, Ltd in 1912:-

The Hyacinth dies down at the end of May. It forms a bulb which is a storehouse where the plants puts away reserve food-material for the time of flowering when a special drain is made upon its resources. Until that hour arrives the plant continues to "save up". It is the presence of this reserve nutriment that allows the bulb to throw up leaves and flowers when it is merely grown in water alone. When the leaves first begin to push upwards through the soil the leading one is transformed into an actual ground-augur for boring its wat, but when fully formed they are long and strap-shaped, their upper surfaces concave and forming deep channels. When the rain falls upon them it runs down them as down a watercourse, and is conducted straight to the bulb, overflowing just round the spot where the roots strike downwards. Root, stem and leaves are filled with a slimy mucilage. The flowering stalk is called the "scape", and when it first grows up in the centre of the leaves the flower buds all stand upright upon it. The lowest matures first, and as it does so falls over and hangs, the others follow in turn. Each flower has 6 coloured floral leaves, all alike, and though at a cursory glance, they all appear united into a bell, they are really quite separate almost to their base. At the tip each curls backwards, and this curling has led the poets to describe curly hair as "hyacinthian". Inside the blue bell the stamens are set, one on each segment, a long and a short one alternating. In the centre is the seed-case, divided into 3 chambers, each containing 2 columns of ovules. From the top of it a long column arises. Although the flower has scent, it has no real honey, just the sweet juices within. After fertilisation, the ovary swells and eventually becomes dry. The flower-stalk raises the capsule from its drooping position, and at the top an opening forms. The wind sways the whole spike; first from 1 capsule, then from another out jerk many little black seeds, and the flower's task is done.
 

Blue-eyed Grass

Blue Wildflower,

Blue-eyed Mary
See Common Name Extras 57
 

Blue Wildflower,

Blue Water-Speedwell
See Common Name Extras 57
 

Blue Wildflower,

Blue Woodruff
See Common Name Extras 57
 

Blue Wildflower,

Sisyrinchium angustifolium
(Sisyrinchium bermudiana, Sisyrinchium anceps)

2 terminal clusters of 2-4 dark blue starlike flowers with a yellow centre in Jun-Aug

Flower

Lily Family

Flowers

The above 3 small photos were taken by Ron or Christine Foord

Dark Blue

A cormous perennial herb found naturalised in meadows, pastures, amenity grasslands and on roadsides. It spreads vegetatively by means of rhizomes.

Form

Sisyrinchium angustifolium f. album taken in June 2013 in Bowes-Lyon Rose Garden in RHS Garden at Wisley by Chris Garnons-Williams

Culture - Soil, 2 parts sandy loam, 1 part peat. Position - sunny, sheltered rock garden. Plant - October or May.

Propagation - By offsets, removed and potted in March; seeds.

Blue-eyed Mary
(Creeping Forget-me-not)
 

Blue Wildflower,

Omphalodes verna

Bright blue, 10mm across, in a loose cluster, flowers in March-May

Borage

Bright Blue

Short, mat-forming, spreads with rooting runners.
This creeping perennial is a garden escape or outcast which has become naturalised in woodland and along lanes.

See illustration on Page 155 in Wild Flowers by Colour by Marjorie Blamey. Published in 2005 by A&C Black.
Often mistaken for Forget-me-not of which it is a relative.

Culture of Perennial Species - Soil, ordinary, rich, moist. Position - partially shaded, well-drained borders or rock gardens, or in Rhododendron beds. Plant - Oct, Nov, Mar or Apr. Water copiously in dry weather. Mulch with decayed cow manure annually in spring.

Propagation - By seeds sown 0.125 inches (3 mm) deep in light, rich soil in semi-shaded position in April, transplanting seedlings when 1 inch (2.5 cm) high; division of roots, March or April

Blue Pimpernel

Blue Wildflower,

Flower

Anagallis foemina
(Anagallis caerulea, Anagallis arvensis subsp. foemina)

Blue up to 0.5 inches in diameter in June-August followed by fruits 5-8-veined.

In arable fields in the South and West of England

Flowers

Primrose

Foliage

Dark Blue

Pointed oval dark green unstalked leaves, usually in pairs but sometimes, especially later in the year, in whorls.

Form

See illustration on Page 152 in Wild Flowers by Colour by Marjorie Blamey. Published in 2005 by A&C Black.

Culture - Soil, light, rich. Position - sunny, well-drained borders for annuals.

Propagation - Annuals by seeds sown 0.125 inches (3mm) deep in temperature of 65 F in March, transplanting seedlings outdoors in June.

Blue Woodruff

Distributed in Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark.

Blue Wildflower,

Asperula arvensis

Bright Blue flowers in Apr-Jun

Bedstraw

Bright Blue

Slender short annual, hairless. Weed of cultivation.

See illustration on Page 153 in Wild Flowers by Colour by Marjorie Blamey. Published in 2005 by A&C Black.

Culture - Soil, light, rich. Position - rock gardens or in open borders. Plant - Oct-Nov.

Propagation - seeds sown 0.125 inches (3mm) deep in open border in April.

Bur Forget-me-not

Blue Wildflower,

Lappula squarrosa

Leafy cluster of light blue flowers in Jun-Aug

Borage

Light Blue

Greyish annual/biennial, roughly hairy; well branched.

Dry bare places, dunes and it thrives in overgrazed pastures.

See illustration on Page 154 in Wild Flowers by Colour by Marjorie Blamey. Published in 2005 by A&C Black.

Well known as a noxious weed. The seeds are dispersed when the prickles get caught on animal coats and human clothing, and when they are moved by wind.

Bristly Bellflower

Blue Wildflower,

Campanula cervicaria

Pale Blue, bell-shaped flowers, grouped together

Bellflower

12-39 x
(30-100)

Pale Blue

Its natural habitat is woodland edges, hillside meadows, dry meadows and banks. It also flourishes in places where the soil has been disturbed such as after slash-and-burn, or after forest clearance or when coppicing has taken place.

See illustration on Page 157 in Wild Flowers by Colour by Marjorie Blamey. Published in 2005 by A&C Black.

Bristly bellflower is a biennial or short-lived perennial herbaceous plant.

Culture - Sow seeds in gentle heat in March, transp[lant seedlings into boxes, harden off in cold frame in May and plant out in sunny borders early in June.

Hairless Blue Sow Thistle, Cicerbita
 

Blue Wildflower,

Cicerbita plumieri

Flowers in Jul-Sep

Daisy Catsears

48 x 18
(120 x 45)

Daisy blue

This is a not too distant relative of the lettuce. It makes a rosette of long, basal leaves from which arises a tall, stout, branched stem carrying pretty blue daisy-like flowers. Where conditions suit it will self seed to the point of being a nuisance so it is advisable to cut off the spent flowers before the seed develops. Herbaceous perennial requires moist, acidic, sandy fertile soil.

Common globularia
(Common Blue Daisy)

Blue Wildflower,

Not a native of Great Britain, Ireland or Isle of Man. It has a very disjunct distribution: One population in the mountains of southern France and north-central and eastern Spain; and another population on the islands Öland and Gotland in the Baltic Sea.

Globularia vulgaris
(Globularia tricosantha)

Umbel of dark blue flowers 2-lipped, the upper lip very short, the lower 3-lobed in Apr-Jun

Bellflower Family

Oval, stalked basal leaves, narrower pointed unstalked stem leaves

Blue

Herbaceous Perennial in Dry grassy or stony places.

See illustration on Page 157 in Wild Flowers by Colour by Marjorie Blamey. Published in 2005 by A&C Black.

Culture - Soil, ordinary moist (light and peaty soil). Position - sunny rock gardens or margins of borders. Plant Oct-Nov, or Mar-Apr.

Propagation - By seeds sown on surface in boxes of light sandy soil in cold frame in March or April; division of plants, October or April.

Cross Gentian
 

Blue Wildflower,

Native to France, Belgium, Luxemburg, Channel Isles, Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark

Gentiana cruciata

Dull Blue, oblong, in tight clusters up the stem, petal-tube 4 lobed in Jun-Sep

Gentian Family

Leaves oval to broad lanceolate, rather leathery, the upper clasping the stem, the lower stalked.

Dull Blue

Perennial in dry grass places or open woods.

See illustration on Page 153 in Wild Flowers by Colour by Marjorie Blamey. Published in 2005 by A&C Black.
 

Culture of Hardy Perennial Species - Compost, 2 parts good loam, 1 part peat, 1 part grit or broken limestone and coarse sand. Position - sunny rock garden for dwarf kinds. All should be kept fairly dry in winter, moist in summer. Plant - Sep, Oct, Mar or Apr, top-dress with rotted leaf-mould in March.

Propagation - By seeds sown 0.0625 inches (1.5 mm) deep in well-drained pots or pans of sandy soil in cold frame in March; division of plants in March. Seeds sometimes take 1 or 2 years to germinate and soil must be kept moderately moist.

Cultivated Flax
(Linseed Oil Plant, Flax, Common Flax)

Blue Wildflower,

Flower

Linum usitatissimum

Bright Blue flowers an inch (2.5 cms) across, the sepals pointed and shorter than the globular fruit in June-July

Flowers

The above 4 small photos were taken by Ron or Christine Foord.

9-18 x
(22.5-45 x )

Flax Family

Narrow lanceolate 3-veined green leaves

Foliage

Bright Blue

A robust annual found on road verges, rubbish tips and waste ground and locally, rather surprisingly, on stone reservoir banks. It is also a moderately frequent bird-seed alien.

Form

See illustration of Flax on Page 152 in Wild Flowers by Colour by Marjorie Blamey. Published in 2005 by A&C Black.

Culture - Soil, ordinary. Position - sunny beds or borders. Sow seeds 0.125 inches (3mm) deep in April, in lines or masses where plants are required to flower.