Perennials

 Nettle Leaved Bellflower (Bats In The Belfry)

"Campanula trachelium"

The large, bell-shaped, pale blue or violet flowers of the nettle-leaved bellflower grow into a tall leafy spike in woodlands. This tall, perennial plant has bristly hairs all over its angled stem. The leaves are broad and unevenly toothed. It is found in wood-edges, hedges and scrub, and flowers in the summer. Local names for this plant include throatwort and huskwort. Both of these reflect a belief that the plant could cure sore throats or tonsillitis, based on the perceived similarity between the shape of the flower and the human throat - a classic example of the 'doctrine of signatures' at work. This held that God had provided clues about healing plants by making parts of them resemble parts of the human body. This is another plant which is good for bees. In the wild, some specialist bellflower beetles, Miarus spp, are dependent on this and other related species, as is the campanula pug moth.

Foliage	Green
Flower	Blue, July to September
Moisture	(Dry)
Sunlight	(Full sun)
Origin	Native

Chicory

"Cichorium intybus"

This is a tall upright plant with unmistakable and very attractive blue, star-like flowers borne in the leaf axils. These open at sunrise but close by midday. It has a tough, grooved stem, and small, rather crinkly leaves. Chicory grows wild on roadsides, field margins and waste ground on a wide range of soils, and tolerates dry, infertile conditions. It is easy to grow but does particularly well on chalky soils. It has a long tap root, which brings up nutrients from deep in the soil making it a useful companion plant. Chicory is attractive to bees.

Cultivated varieties of chicory grown as a winter salad vegetable can be equally supportive of wildlife if a few are allowed to flower. Chicory is a reasonable nectar source and provides food for generalist caterpillars.

Foliage	Green
Flower	Blue, July to October
Moisture	(Dry)
Sunlight	(Full sun)
Origin	Native

Tufted vetch

Vicia cracca

The branched tendrils of tufted vetch can be found scrambling up and over vegetation in hedges and rough grassland almost anywhere in Britain. The deep bluish-violet and very copious flowers are in dense clusters and carried on long stalks in leaf axils. The linear leaflets are arranged in 8-12 pairs. The ripened seed pods are slightly downy and brown. The tufted vetch is one of our most attractive common native wildflowers - it can easily hold its own in a mixed border.

Foliage	Green
Flower	Blue, June to August
Moisture	(Average)
Sunlight	(Full sun)
Origin	Native

Betony

Stachys officinalis

The bright reddish purple, tubular flowers of betony are found in whorled spikes at the end of sparsely leaved stems. The oblong, bluntly-toothed leaves are heart-shaped at the base and rounded at the tip, and are mainly found in a basal rosette. The leaves have been used to make a tea in the past. In the wild it is usually found in meadows, heaths, cliff-top grassland and grassy banks. It will make a good border plant, although it does tend to straggle if planted alone. Like other members of the dead-nettle family, it is attractive to bumble bees.

Foliage	Green
Flower	Pink, June to September
Moisture	(Dry)
Sunlight	(Full sun)
Origin	Native