Cowslip
Broadleaf Flowers or Weeds in Your Lawn?
Common Name: Cowslip
Botanical Name: Primula veris (perennial)
Description: Part of the Primrose family
Height: 20cm.
Position: Full Sun, Partial shade
Habit: Normally seen individually or in small clumps
Time to full growth:
Plant type:
Areas affected: Gardens, Meadows, allotments adjacent to woodland, heathland, common land wasteland.
Main Causes Sreading:
Soil: Moist, humus-rich, neutral to acid and chalky soil.
Invasive: No
Timing: Seen spring. April to June
Flower or Broadleaf Weed in Your Lawn: Mostly a wild flower.
Danger: No
It’s not the most elegant of plant names as it is thought to derive from the old English for cow dung - but its delicate nodding yellow flowers are still a welcome sight in open grassland, and increasingly on roadsides, where it's been reintroduced.
A really and interesting and pretty addition to the late spring and early summer garden, this variable, semi-evergreen perennial looks wonderful when planted in drifts or swathes.
The foliage forms a basal rosette from which softly hairy stems arise bearing clusters of bell shaped, soft yellow flowers. Wonderful in a woodland garden or other naturalised setting.
Primrose
Broadleaf Flowers or Weeds in Your Lawn?
Common Name: Primrose
Botanical Name: Primerose-Primula_vulgaris
Description: Part of the Primrose family, The Foliage is Semi Evergreen, Often seen with a White flower with a Yellow Centre. Although Primroses can come in many colours (Red, Yellow, Purple, Cerise Pink, Mauve, Off White with Yellow/Green tinge).
Height: 5-20cm.
Position: Full sun, Partial shade, full shade
Habit: Clump Forming
Time to full growth: 2 to 5 years
Plant type: Herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the primrose family
Areas: Gardens adjacent to hedges Lawns, woodland edges, common land wasteland.
Main Causes Sreading:
Soil: Grows well in almost any soil.
Invasive: No.
Timing: Flowers April, May, June
Flower or Broadleaf Weed in Your Lawn: Flower
Danger: No
Primula vulgaris is the common primrose. The Latin specific epithet 'vulgaris' means ‘common’, in the sense of ‘widespread’. But, don’t let that put you off. This looks great ANYWHERE…by hedge, in a pot, in a border, on its own, in a wall, in a drift, with other primulas, in the middle of a lawn… you get it. Should be in every garden. Normally flowers a lovely lime yellow.
Daffodils
Broadleaf Flowers or Weeds in Your Lawn?
Common Name: Daffodils
Botanical Name: Narcissi, is the common Daffodil. (Although there is a wide variety of this species).
Description: Orange, White, Yellow, Pink Flowers Head on a tall stem with long leaf stems.
Height: 15-40cm.
Position: Full sun, Partial shade.
Habit: Individual or Clump Forming
Time to full growth: Plant the bulbs in Autumn for next years crop.
Plant type: Predominantly spring flowering perennial plants of the amaryllis family.
Areas: Gardens verges, adjacent to hedges Lawns, woodland edges, common land wasteland.
Main Causes Sreading:
Soil: Grows well in almost any soil, but they do like moist soil. Best planted in the Autumn.
Invasive: No.
Timing: Flowers early to Mid Spring
Flower or Broadleaf Weed in Your Lawn: Flower
Danger: The bulbs can be poisonous to animals.
When they are not in flower they still become a distraction from the lawn you might be struggling to achieve. Daffodils are a prime example of this. Everyone love to see them in Spring. But when the flower head has gone you are left with the long dark green leaf stems.
For the plant these leaf stems are important as they are being used to recharge to Daffodil bulb for next years display. After flowering the leaf stems should be left for 6x weeks or more.
The problem then comes in at what point do you cut them down to get back to having the lawn you desire?
The answer is when they have totally wilted. But they do tend to look very unsightly.
Daffodils have become a National Emblem of Wales alongside the leek. They are traditionally worn on St David's Day as this tends to be the time of year daffodils start to appear.
If the conditions are right, a successful daffodil field can bloom for decade. They need an area with good drainage and sunlight. They also like areas where the grass can be left unmown which is why hillsides and open spaces are popular daffodil spots.
There is a wide and interesting variety of Daffodils. Here are some of the main types of Daffodils:
Trumpet
Large Cupped
Small Cupped
Doubles
Triandrus
Cyclamineus
Jonquils
Tazattas
Poeticus
Bulbocodium
Split-Cupped
Cuckoo Flower
Broadleaf Flowers or Weeds in Your Lawn?
Common Name: Cuckoo Flower
Botanical Name: Narcissi, is the common Daffodil. (Although there is a wide variety of this species).
Description: Cuckooflower has a rosette of leaves at its base and an upright stem that bears the delicate, small, pale pink, white or mauve flowers. Each flower has four petals, although double-flowered varieties do appear..
Height: Up to 50cm.
Position: Full sun, Partial shade.
Habit: Individual or Clump Forming
Time to full growth:
Plant type: Predominantly spring flowering perennial plant.
Areas: Gardens, Meadows, common land.
Main Causes Sreading:
Soil: Grows well in almost any soil, but they do like moist soil.
Invasive: No.
Timing: Flowers early to April to June
Flower or Broadleaf Weed in Your Lawn: Wild Flower
Danger: No
The Cuckooflower, is also commonly known as 'Lady's-smock'. It is a pretty, springtime perennial of damp, grassy places like wet meadows, ditches and riverbanks, as well as roadside verges. Its pale pink flowers bloom from April to June and are thought to coincide with the arrival of the first Cuckoo. - It is a sure sign that spring has arrived.