The flowers we grow in our gardens all originated from wild plants that, over the years, evolved to produce more vibrant colours, a stronger scent and bigger blooms. Lovely though these cultivated plants are, wild flowers have a unique charm and beauty and help provide a natural habitat for insects and birds, while many have medicinal powers. Meadowsweet, for instance, is a natural source of aspirin, while camomile is well known for its therapeutic and relaxing properties. Make the most of nature's untamed beauties and plant seeds among your flower beds and vegetable patches for a pretty, traditional cottage feel. For cut flowers, a jug of sky-blue cornflowers gathered from your garden, the delicate paper-thin petals of the scarlet poppy, and the white lacey umbels of wild carrot have a wonderful nostalgic quality.

SOWING SEEDS
Although it is illegal to gather the wild flowers you see in the countryside, they can be grown from seed so you can create your own small meadow, delicately carpeted woodland floor or billowing country-style borders in your garden. Set one area aside for wild flowers or mix them with your existing borders. For maximum impact, sow combinations of seeds that all thrive in similar conditions and, for inspiration, take a look at the surrounding countryside to see what flowers are native to your local area.

SUNNY SITE WITH RICH SOIL Try a mixture of cornfield annuals, such as corncockle, cornflowers, marigolds and field poppies to add informality to summer borders. Sew 5-10 g of seed per square metre. For a more traditional cottage-garden look, sow 1 g of seed per square metre and blend with foxgloves, ox-eye daisies and evening primroses, which are all perennials and will flower in their second year. In all cases, sow seed into prepared beds in early spring or late autumn and keep them well watered in dry weather. Leave flowers to ripen their seed and then either allow them to self-seed naturally in the surrounding area or gather seeds by hand to be sown the following year.

DAPPLED SHADE Brighten shadier corners of your garden with wild flowers that have adapted to these conditions. Many naturally wild woodland plants flower in spring before the overhead canopy of branches blocks all the sunlight. While many can be grown from seed in a garden, buying bulbs or ready-grown plants speeds up the flowering process. Plants to include are primroses, bugle, lesser celandine and greater stitchwort. Try snowdrops, bluebells and wood anemones, which are all bulb plants; and sow foxgloves and red campion as seed. To prepare the site for planting, remove unwanted vegetation, grasses and weeds and cover the area with black plastic sheets or matting for a season to stifle further weed growth. Hoe the site to prepare a fine surface soil and sow seeds in spring or autumn at a rate of 1 g per square metre. Rake and firm down the soil, then water well to get germination underway.

SUNNY SITE WITH POOR SOIL This is the ideal spot to create a tall meadow. Do not sow into existing grassland; instead, you need to clear your chosen site and sow the wildflower seed in autumn or spring at a rate of 1 g per square metre. Leave to flourish and then mow the whole site after all flowers have scattered seed at the end of the summer. Grass will naturally seed itself among your flowers so don't introduce it as seed as it will rapidly take over. Try growing field scabious, teasel, greater knapweed, musk mallow, wild carrot, cranesbill, betony and lady's bedstraw from seed. For a short meadow that flowers early in the year, sow wildflowers and grasses into bare, prepared earth in either early spring or autumn and keep low and neat with a strimmer after flowering. Good flowers to sow are cowslips, meadow buttercup, self-heal and clover for a charming end to spring.

GARDENS TO VISIT
Be inspired by wild flowers grown in beautiful surroundings
• National Wild Flower Centre, Court Hey Park, Liverpool L16 3NA, (0151) 737 1819, where this feature was shot, includes a visitor centre, demonstration areas, shop and cafe, plus wild flower seeds and plants to buy.
• Great Dixter, Northiam, Rye, East Sussex TN31 6PH, (01797) 252878. Throughout this wonderful maze of gardens are delightful pockets of wild flowers, including several areas of developed meadow.
• Acorn Bank Garden and Watermill, Temple Sowerby, Penrith, Cumbria CA10 1SP, (01768) 361893. This delightful sheltered National Trust garden has a wonderful combination of wild flowers in the orchard as well as an extensive collection of medicinal and culinary herbs in the walled garden. It is also renowned for its herbs and orchards growing old English fruit varieties.
• Lytes Cary Manor, Charlton Mackrell, Somerton, Somerset TA11 7HU, (01985) 843600. In 1558 Henry Lyte created a botanic garden at the manor, and today it is a wonderful place to see early summer meadow flowers, including a collection of orchids.
To find wild flower meadows in your area, log on to the website www.meadowmania.co.uk, which lists meadows to visit by county. The site also supplies wild flower seeds.

WHERE TO BUY SEEDS
John Chambers, 15 Westleigh Road, Barton Seagrave, Kettering, Northamptonshire NN15 5AJ, (01933) 652562, specialises in wild flower seeds, bulbs and plants.

WORDS JACKY HOBBS
PHOTOGRAPHS MICHELLE GARRETT
JULY 2005