Garden centre plants can be very expensive and seeds aren’t always easy to grow. So as well as having normal garden centre flowers in your garden, why not mix in local wildflower seeds you’ve collected yourself? They’re free, they grow without any attention from you, they’re perfectly suited to your soil and many wild flowers are surprisingly pretty. Best of all, they’re good for local insect life, bird life and other indigenous creatures.

Obviously it isn’t a good idea to rampage around the British countryside digging stuff up willy nilly! But gathering a few seeds from plant dead heads – as long as you leave rare and protected species well alone – should be fine.

Here’s a few suggestions. 

  • wild poppies: these days scarlet field borders full of wild poppies are a common sight. They also grow by the roadside, in hedgerows, on waste ground and – especially – on recently disturbed ground. They self-seed so you get more every year. The colour, a rich, clear postbox red, is just gorgeous. And they grow happily in even the worst soil. Perfect for a sunny area of your garden where the soil’s awful. Don’t worry – they also like good soil! 
  • vetch: common purple vetch climbs using tiny but extremely strong tendrils. It has small, delicate leaves and the flowers are delicious, a lush pinky purple. Local insects love it and it self seeds too. Once the flowers have gone seed pods like miniature pea pods develop, turn black and pop open (you can hear them pop) violently to spread the seeds far and wide. Again, perfect for poor soil. Just pull them up if they get in the way or spread too far 
  • lavateria: a sturdy plant that looks a bit like a hollyhock, there are several types of lavateria. One type actually grows on beaches, in the pebbles, but if you bring the seeds inland out of the wind, they grow huge. It has a woody stem, big furry leaves and masses of medium sized magenta flowers. Insects absolutely love it. Walk past a lavateria and it buzzes with bees! It’s another wild plant that doesn’t mind poor soil, but the better the soil the bigger it’ll grow. Last year we had an eight footer and it flowered for a full three months. Completely free!

Gardening discount codes are a brilliant way to save cash on all those gardening essentials. Saving money by growing wildflower seeds leaves you plenty of cash spare to spend kitting yourself out for a summer of gardening heaven!