Wildflower Wednesday: Fox and Cubs

Fox and cubs flowers on my my front lawn

As promised last month, here's the latest wildflower addition I've found here at VP Gardens. We don't need to go far to see it because it's popped up at the edge of the front lawn, just a few feet away from our front door. There aren't that many orange wildflowers here in the UK in my experience*, so this time a simple Google of 'orange wildflower UK' came up with the instant answer. We're looking at Pilosella aurantiaca aka fox and cubs, the latter name is so much easier to remember! **  

I guess it was only a matter of time before this plant arrived in my garden, as I've admired quite a few broad swathes of it on the grassed areas on our estate here in Chippenham. I now have a dilemma; whether to leave or not as it's invasive. The site linked to above has dire warnings about it, despite its attractive appearance:

"This attractive member of the daisy family makes a wonderful display in summer when it appears on roadside verges and banks, but do not be tempted to encourage this plant to grow in the garden: it is a tenacious weed that spreads and is very difficult to eradicate once it has got a hold."

The site goes on to say its ability to spread by seed, runners and rhizomes is why this plant is so successful and tenacious in its conquest of our land. It hails originally from the alpine regions of central and southern Europe and is another of our garden escapees after its introduction in the seventeenth century. The RHS adds it "... is visited by bees for nectar and pollen." That last comment adds to my dilemma.

Potentilla reptans covers my front lawn

I have a laissez faire track record as far as the front lawn is concerned. As you can see it's mainly creeping cinquefoil (Potentilla reptans), which is actively spread by runners. The RHS website also warns this one's invasive; I've found it's fairly easy to keep within the bounds of the lawn by weeding out the shallow rooted runners as and when needed. It certainly saves on lawn mowing and keeps a greener colour than grass during the summer months. 

Whether the fox and cubs remains with it is yet to be seen... 

 * = I wrote about another orange wildflower find last year, Jewelweed.

** = it took me several attempts to get that latin name right while I wrote this blog post 😉

It's great to have another opportunity to join Gail's Wildflower Wednesday, having made so many new floral discoveries locally this year whilst under Lockdown. I missed seeing Gail and my other Fling pals from across the pond a few months ago due to our Covid-19 shenanigans, and the opportunity to join her with this post makes me feel much closer to her and the others somehow.

Comments

  1. Karin / Southern Meadows26 August 2020 at 22:22

    Orange is one of my favorite colors and I love the common name! It's a tricky decision with invasive plants. In my garden, I have opted to eliminate invasive plants to save myself lots of work trying to eradicate later on. It's hard when the flower is attractive and pollinators like it too. Good luck with this one!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Gail28 August 2020 at 14:19

    That is a gorgeous color. I agree with Karin, especially regarding super aggressive invasives. Thanks for joining. I was looking forward to visiting with you, too. xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  3. Diana Studer28 August 2020 at 21:53

    It looks like an orange cousin to hawkweed. I'm sure the bees love it. I leave my dandelions in peace for the bees.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP3 September 2020 at 08:57

      Spot on Diana! It is indeed one of the hawkweeds :) I do the same with my dandelions, then carefully harvest all their clocks before the seeds disperse.

      Delete
  4. RobinL2 September 2020 at 14:33

    It looks quite cheerful and sunny, but I’d be nervous about that invasive designation! I’m forever trying to remove ground covers that I foolishly let go crazy here.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP3 September 2020 at 08:59

      Same here Robin, I suspect it'll go. I've been lucky with the other invasives here as they've been relatively easy to keep under control.

      Delete
  5. Shirley3 September 2020 at 17:40

    Hello Michelle, I keep meaning to come back with a comment here but I'm hit and miss with phone and tablets just now and time is flying by. I can understand your dilemma here. It was roadside along motorways, that my eye was drawn to the vibrant rust orange of foxes and cubs. I loved its colour. It was a few years before I worked out an ID and I (dare I say this) introduced it to my garden along with other wild flowers. I do that from time to time.

    The question now lies, did I regret it? No. Is it invasive? Yes. How much of a problem has it been? Annoying rather than a nightmare. What do I do when it chokes round other plants? I lift the whole plant up and tug it away. The leaves are robust and the roots not that deep rooted, more string like. Does it still remain? Yes, I let odd bits flower before removing them as that colour is so worth it. Is there any place it is a nightmare? Yes, the grass edges - beware there, Michelle. Please post back on how you get on ����

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP4 September 2020 at 15:23

      Excellent information, thanks Shirley. They've established themselves on the edge of our lawn, so I guess that means it's curtains for them ;)

      Delete

Post a Comment

I love hearing from you and welcome thoughtful conversations :)

Comments aiming to link back and give credence to commercial websites will be composted!

Your essential reads

That blue flower: A spring spotter's guide

Image
Spring is a prime time for blue flowers and my daily walks currently have several from the same plant family* lining the local footpaths. As I walked past the Donkey Field the other day, I overheard some children ask their parents** what the pictured blue flower was. It reminded me it's often mistaken for those other familial blues and this time was no different, as they said it was forget-me-not, instead of the green alkanet it actually is. As well as similar flowers, most of these plants are hairy in their nature, flower around the same time, and favour damp, shady places. Many of them are great for pollinators too, especially bees and this week's warm weather has certainly drawn them to these flowers. This makes it even more likely for these plants to be mistaken for each other and it's a great opportunity for me to put together a spotter's guide in case you find the same flowers on your outings. Staying with green alkanet, the key features which set it
Read more

Jack Go To Bed At Noon

Image
Last year this rather exotic looking flower appeared on mine and several other allotments for the first time. Having been stumped (again) by Mr Allotment Warden as to its identity, I rushed home to find out what it was. It's salsify, aka the marvellous Jack Go To Bed At Noon - named as such because its flowers always close by midday. Here you can see both open and closed flowers - making it seem even more exotic and alien than in the first picture. I think this must be the cultivated version because the flower in my Francis Rose Wild Flower Key looks exactly the same in form, but is bright yellow in colour and called meadow salsify . Its other common name is Goatsbeard, which must be a nod to the fantastic dandelion-like clock which forms the seed head. With 'parachutes' like those shown above, who knows how far our plotted plants came from. I rather like the photographic dissection of the seedhead found in this link . Salsify is edible: its lateral shoots and fl
Read more

Red Nose Day - Gardening Jokes Anyone?

Image
The nation goes ever so slightly bonkers on Red Nose Day - hurrah! Previously, it's been very easy to join in - usually via a dress down day at work plus lots of people up to mad things at the station and in the office. Everyone smiling for once - it's a real feel good day and all in a good cause. This year's different - every day's a dress down day for me now - my friend L suggested yesterday that perhaps I could have a dress up day instead and whilst that's a good idea, I confess that ballgowns and tiaras don't really feature in my wardrobe: scruffy student's always been my favourite look. So my Red Nose Day contribution for this year is to compile a list of gardening related jokes. For each one (clean ones only please) you leave in the comments below, I'll make a donation of 50p to the cause. Here's a few for starters just to get you warmed up: Q Why do potatoes make good detectives? A Because they keep their eyes peeled. Q What did the grape
Read more

Salad Days: Mastering Lettuce

Image
I've decided one of my salad challenges for this year is to grow as many lettuce varieties as I can, ready for the publication of my planned Factsheet* later on. The idea is to grow as many of the Tried and Trusted lettuce varieties last year's Salad Challengers helped compile, then provide a visual guide and as many lettuce facts as I can muster. So far I've found around half of those listed**. Then naturally whilst I was out searching - because such is the way with seeds - a number of other varieties found their way home too ;) A couple of weeks ago I sowed 22 varieties***. Just the simple act of sowing them has me intrigued. Why are some lettuce seeds black and others white****? They split into about half white to half black in my sample and as far as I can tell it's nothing to do with whether they're a type of cos, iceberg, or whatever. I sowed them indoors and popped them into a propagator on the windowsill. The soil's too cold outside for sowing
Read more

VPs VIPs: Derry Watkins of Special Plants

Image
Last week I had the pleasure of visiting Derry Watkins at her home, garden and nursery - the acclaimed Special Plants - just a few miles along the road from me. I first met Derry at one of her open garden days last year and was keen to find out more about her wonderful garden and running an independent nursery. She specialises in tender perennials and regularly goes on plant hunting trips to find new treasures, particularly in South Africa. As well as running Special Plants and opening her garden under the NGS scheme , Derry holds day courses at her nursery, hosts Special Tuesdays from April until September, lectures and has written a couple of books. How did you find your way from Connecticut to the UK? I'd started a biodynamic vegetable garden in Connecticut and we used to have people come along at weekends to help out. A particular young man turned up: he returned many times and at the end of the summer I married him. So it was all down to love? Isn't that the
Read more

#mygardenrightnow: heading into summer with the Chelsea Fringe

Image
Ahhhhhh, that's better! I love walking through dewy grass in bare feet, not that there's much in the way of grass on my back lawn this weekend. My wild and woolly lawn has morphed into meadow of sorts this month, which even NAH admits looks attractive*. It's also proved a great source for my Flowers for mum project so far, yielding self-sown perennial cornflowers, lamb's ears, and lemon balm in addition to the blooms you can see. These originated from elsewhere in the garden, the ox-eye daisies must have blown in from the A350 nearby. * = he got very stroppy about the weeds aka self-sown foxgloves in the lawn one year, so he's come along a bit since then. Skimble's demanding to say hello to you too. He does enjoy the patio when it warms up. If the embedded video doesn't work try this link instead. The Nectaroscordum are a revelation. I planted the bulbs around 2 years ago, but it's only this year they've bloomed properly. The bee
Read more

The Resilient Garden

Image
  Part of Tom Massey's Resilient Garden at RHS Hampton Court I've been pondering VP Gardens a lot lately. Last year's drought conditions set me off initially, then our harsher than usual winter combined with this summer's flip and flop weather means the thinking continues. It's a huge topic which I freely admit I'm struggling to get my head around. Tom Massey's Resilient Garden  at Hampton Court recently  tackled this topic brilliantly and was a timely interlude which gave me much food for thought. There he encapsulated the detailed research he'd found which informed both his show garden and book of the same name. I think it's one of the most important show gardens I've ever seen. It's clear the way I garden needs to change so that I have my own resilient garden. I haven't worked out the exact details yet, but Tom's book plus a couple of others (see below), alongside the rainwater management handout from the show garden's  sponso
Read more

Testing Times: Tomatoes

Image
  I've run a couple of tomato trials this year. The first is a revisit of the biochar trial with Oxford University I attempted some years ago (with a different organisation this time), and the second is a trial of a water gadget called Plantsurge which I was given to try at Malvern Spring Show earlier this year. Most of you have probably heard of biochar already and the claim that this inert, carbon-rich material can help soil fertility and plant health. The RHS information in the above link says results can be mixed, with reduced effects found in alkaline soils. This may help to explain the lack of difference I found in my previous trial as VP Gardens is on a lime-rich soil. Plantsurge is a different beast altogether. It's a strong magnet which is attached to a hosepipe as shown in the photo above. It's claimed that it softens water, with the result more like watering with rainwater. The higher nitrogen found in rainwater is thought to be beneficial to plants. Gardener
Read more

Chelsea Fringe 2014: Shows of Hands - Episode I

Image
The gloves NAH used to build the raised bed . The effects are L to R, top to bottom:  Original photo, Warhol, HDR, Green tint, B&W, Posterize, Boost, Cross process and Sepia Welcome to Shows of Hands - my Chelsea Fringe project for 2014! As you can see I've been having a bit of a play around in Pic Monkey for my first contribution. You're welcome to join in between now and 8th June 2014. The idea behind this year's project is to highlight the tool most precious to a gardener: their hands. How do I take part? It's simple. All you need to do is take a photo of hand(s) in a gardening context and then share it via your blog or other social media (such as Twitter or Facebook), then make sure I know you've done so. I've set up Mr Linky below for your blog contributions. The Chelsea Fringe photo on the right sidebar links to this post, so you can easily find it again when you're ready to add your contribution. If you share your photo on Twitter,
Read more

Make Use of Mildew

Image
On my garden patrol this morning I spotted some powdery mildew on a couple of my new Verbena bonariensis plants. I suppose it was almost inevitable as I prefer to grow my plants hard - this means no water for them unless they look absolutely desperate. This approach means plants root themselves more deeply and have a better chance of survival during spells of dry weather like we've had lately. However, it also means I run the risk of problems like today's, especially with any garden newbies planted late in the season. We've had a good drop of rain overnight, so this should help my plants survive. I'll mulch them later today to help lock in the moisture as it's water stress which encourages the mildew to take hold. I've also removed the infected leaves and sprayed the rest with a milky drink.* I'm also pleased to find there's a use for my infected leaves. Oliver Ellingham at Reading University has started a PhD - sponsored by the RHS - researchi
Read more