a l t e r n a t i v e s Plant
List 2002
L
# denotes name of plant which, to the best of our knowledge, is new to cultivation in the period 2001/2002 or which has not been offered before commercially under any other valid name.
*
means that seed may be available.
+
denotes species beneficial to butterflies and/or moths.
Please note double-flowered forms are of little or no benefit as they
lack nectar.
A large number of the plants listed are of native provenance and many are local.
LAMIUM
DEADNETTLES
L. album.
White Deadnettle. A plant believed to have been introduced by the
Romans.
L. album 'Friday'
- Hooded white flowers loved by bees and superb variegated leaves with pale
green and lime centres. A lovely
plant. Repeats if cut down. £2.50.
L. maculatum.
Spotted Deadnettle.
L. maculatum
‘Annecy’ - Vigorous form of this introduced plant with
relatively large, grey-green, jagged leaves (no silver stripe) and pure white
flowers. Very ‘wild’-looking,
simple and lovely, repeating if cut back. A
good bee plant. Found by Kathleen Inman in France. £2.50
LAPSANA NIPPLEWORTS
L. communis. Nipplewort. Upright-growing annual with small heads of yellow composite flowers.
L.
communis ‘Inky’* – Martin
Cragg-Barber’s intriguing form has leaves splashed and spattered with dark
purple. Comes largely true from seed. £2.50.
LEONTODON
HAWKBITS
L. autumnalis. Autumn Hawkbit.
+
L. autumnalis, pale-yellow
- Many heads of paler than usual yellow flowers over fine, dandelion-like leaves
from summer to autumn. NOT true
from seed, sadly, although I strongly suspect that backcrossing will
produce a proportion of pale-flowered plants. £2.50
LEUCANTHEMUM
OX-EYE
DAISIES
L. vulgare. Ox-eye Daisy.
+
L. vulgare ‘Avondale’
- A form with variable creamy-yellow variegation. Striking, but reverting shoots
should be cut out. Found by Brian
Ellis of Avondale Nursery. £3.50
L. vulgare 'Sunny' - A
cheerful form with very short white rays - the ox-eye equivalent of Bellis
perennis 'Miniskirt'. Found by
Jennifer Bousfield. £2.50
LINARIA
TOADFLAXES
L. vulgaris. Common Toadflax.
Butter and Eggs. The
usual form has spikes of yellow snapdragon-type flowers.
L.
vulgaris ‘Peloria’ –
(Formerly listed as ‘peloric form’), in which radial symmetry replaces
bilateral. The extra-terrestrial
flowers, in pale and deep yellow, resemble little sucker-like mouths, with a
starry base. Only the leaves, which are thin and glaucous, look somewhat
familiar. Invasive! £2.50
LOTUS
BIRD’S
FOOT TREFOILS
L. corniculatus.
Common Bird's Foot
Trefoil. Bacon and Eggs.
+
L. corniculatus 'Plenus' - Heads of rich yellow, double pea-flowers above a carpet of delicate foliage in summer. Unlike the single-flowered form, these double flowers contain no nectar but the leaves may benefit the caterpillars of certain butterflies and moths. Bumble bees love the flowers. £2.50
LYSIMACHIA
LOOSESTRIFES
L. nemorum. Yellow Pimpernel.
Woodland
carpeter producing small starry yellow flowers on slender stalks over a very
long period in spring and summer. The following local forms are easy and
delightful:
L. nemorum 'Little
Sun' - A plant of
rotund persuasion producing large, rich yellow flowers up to 2 cm across, with
the petals rounded at the apex. Leaves
much more broadly ovate than those of 'Pale Star'. £2.50
L. nemorum 'Pale
Star' - A lovely
form with pale yellow flowers. Ovate, pointed leaves.
Combines beautifully with bugle. £2.50