Growing wildflowers at home is becoming more and more popular while we encourage wildlife to our gardens. Wildflowers are perfect to use for all sorts of things. And if they don’t have a known medical, cosmetic or culinary use, you could always enjoy the sight and smell of them!

Lawn daisies are said to relieve stress and a few daisy flowers infused with your favourite herbal tea will take the edge off stress and tension and will help you relax and maybe even get a good night’s sleep. 🙂

Dandelion flowers not only make a wonderful jam, see below for recipe idea, but every other part of the plant can be used as well…

*The young leaves can be used in salads or cooked as spinach
*The milky sap found in the stem could help get rid of warts and verucas.
*The root can be roasted and used as a substitute for coffee. No good if you’re after the caffeine hit but much healthier!

Growing wildflowers isn’t always an annual chore either as many will arrive in your garden unannounced if you have a little wild space available for them:

* Wild Violets
* Wild rose
* and even wild strawberries turn up occasionally!

If you have a large enough garden, you could always let part of it go natural!

Find out more about natural gardens on this page…… Natural Garden  

Oh and before I go any further, try some Bee Bombs. I grew some last year so successfully that I had bees visiting every day and I only had a small-ish tub available to plant them in!

When you get into growing wildflowers at home, there are so many to discover, and also of course they will attract the good bugs to your garden.

Some garden wild flowers have healing properties, others are wonderful to cook with! Here are a couple of garden wild flower ‘recipes’ to try…

Dandelion Jam
A traditional French wild flower jam recipe is made every year on the first day you see miles of dandelions on the fields! The idea is you collect 365 only – no there doesn’t seem to be a logical reason for this, but it works! And then use your dandelions as you would a fruit in a favourite jam recipe. Very delicious!

A good combination uses
365 dandelion flower heads
1 kilo preserving sugar
2 oranges
2 lemons
Water to cover
Simmer in a preserving pan until the mixture reaches setting point. Strain and pour into warm sterilized jars.
Label and store – if you can!

Growing wildflowers – the meadow:

With specially designed seeds you can create your own wildflower meadow or just let a few wild flowers pop up here and there. If you have a patch in your garden that doesn’t get cultivated to within an inch of its life, the wildflowers will have a better chance! Otherwise check out the seeds available at your local garden suppliers or online and follow their instructions, as different plants can have different needs.

Use young nettle leaves in soups or cook as spinach. Nettles are just as high in nutrients, and definitely cheaper.

Wild violets can be crystalized and used as cake decorations, and are absolutely beautiful when they come up in little bunches early in the year. If you have enough, collect a few with the children and make posies, or press them. Violets are also edible.

Find out more about edible flowers here.. Edible Flowers  

Many wildflowers get mown down just as they are coming up, so we never get a chance to enjoy them. Growing wildflowers could turn you into a wild garden expert! For an in-depth study you’ll need a good book on the subject. There are lots available on Amazon of course, but in many different regions and styles – some drawings, some historic etc; – check out the descriptions before you buy.

Happy Gardening!
Linda x