Crocosmia X Crocosmiiflora Montbretia Crocosmia Aurea X Crocosmia Pottsii – Naturally Occurring Hybrid
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Top 40 Far Flung Flora A selection of the best plants for pollinators from the Southern Hemisphere List Curated by Thomas McBride From research data collected and collated at the National Botanic Garden of Wales NB: Butterflies and Moths are not studied at the NBGW so any data on nectar plants beneficial for them is taken from Butterfly Conservation The Southern Hemisphere Verbena bonariensis The Southern Hemisphere includes all countries below the equator. As such, those countries are the furthest from the UK and tend to have more exotic and unusual native species. Many of these species cannot be grown in the UK, but in slightly more temperate regions, some species will thrive here and be of great benefit to our native pollinators. One such example is Verbena bonariensis, native to South America, which is a big hit with our native butterfly and bumblebee species. The Southern Hemisphere contains a lower percentage of land than the northern Hemisphere so the areas included are most of South America (particularly Chile, Argentina, Ecuador and Peru), Southern Africa (particularly South Africa) and Oceania (Particularly Australia and New Zealand). A large proportion of the plants in this list are fully hardy in the UK but some are only half-hardy. Half-hardy annuals may be planted out in the spring and will flourish. Half-hardy perennials or shrubs may need to be grown in pots and moved indoors during the winter months or grown in a very sheltered location. The plants are grouped by Tropaeolum majus Continent rather than a full alphabetical list. Map Maps depict the native area of the plant (in green) Guide to using these pages: They also show areas the plant is naturalised (in purple) Latin Binomial All maps shown Name are derived from ‘Plants of the Common World Online’; English courtesy of Kew Name Gardens Flowering Period Photograph (this is when it is good of the plant for pollinators!) in flower Plant Family Insect groups known to Growing habit favour the and mature size nectar of this of the plant plant Useful knowledge or warnings about the plant RHS AGM cultivars of this species (or a related species occasionally) i Key to these Pages Warnings Additional information on these garden plants This plant would The flowers only be suitable for and/or leaves meadow-style have a Pleasant Plant tissue is highly planting scent toxic if ingested The plant has edible parts that are Sap may cause irritation Plant is often used in commonly eaten or (Wash hands after touching traditional Herbal Remedies used in cooking or avoid touching) ii Temperature RHS Hardiness Scale Some of the plants listed in our Top 200 are not fully H1a - Above 15ºC hardy in all or some parts of the United Kingdom. H1b - Minimum 10ºC Plants without a thermometer symbol are fully hardy in the severest UK Winter; equating to H5 or hardier. H1c - Minimum 5ºC Plants with a coloured thermometer symbol are hardy to varying degrees as follows: H2 - Minimum 1ºC H3 - Minimum -5ºC H4 - Minimum -10ºC H5 - Minimum -15ºC Almost Hardy Half-Hardy Not Frost Hardy Not Hardy (H4) (H3) (H2) (H1) iii Pollinators Our data on pollinators has been collected from studies spanning over a decade. Pollinator symbols appear when plants are proven to be good nectar (a) (b) plants for certain insects. It should be noted that all bee and hoverfly data is ours but lepidoptera data is taken from Butterfly Conservation. Our data spans a wide range of different insect species. For simplicity, these species have been condensed into six easy icons to represent them: (c) (d) a) Honeybees c) Bumblebees e) Moths b) Hoverflies d) Butterflies f) Solitary Bees (Includes Moths) (e) (f) iv Agapanthus praecox African-lily South Africa ‘Royal Blue’ Midsummer - Early Autumn ‘Sandy’ Amaryllidaceae Daffodil Family 4ft Bulbous Photograph from Flickr (CC) Alejandro Bayer Tamayo 1 Carpobrotus edulis South Africa Hottentot-fig, Ice Plant None Summer . Aizoaceae Ice Plant Family 1ft Perennial Photograph from Wikipedia (CC) Alves Gaspar 2 Crocosmia x crocosmiiflora Montbretia Crocosmia aurea x Crocosmia pottsii – naturally occurring hybrid South Africa ‘Star of the East’ Summer . ‘Lucifer’ Iridaceae Iris Family 4ft Cormous Photograph from Flickr (CC) Gabrielle Ludlow 3 Delosperma lavisiae Drakensberg Ice Plant South Africa - Species - Summer . Aizoaceae Ice Plant Family 1ft Perennial Photograph from Wikipedia (CC) Alexander Klink 4 Dierama pulcherrimum Angel’s Fishing Rod South Africa None Summer . Iridaceae Iris Family 5ft Cormous Photograph from Flickr (CC) Nick Kenrick 5 Eucomis autumnalis Autumn Pineapple-lily S. Africa -Species- Late Summer - Mid Autumn Asparagaceae Asparagus Family 1ft Bulbous Photograph from Flickr (CC) Thistle Garden 6 Eucomis comosa Common Pineapple-lily South Africa ‘Sparkling Early Summer - Early Autumn Burgundy’ Asparagaceae Asparagus Family 2ft Bulbous Photograph from Flickr (CC) Yew Chan 7 Gerbera jamesonii Barberton Daisy South Africa None Late Spring - Early Autumn Asteraceae Daisy Family 2ft Perennial Photograph from Flickr (CC) Dinesh Valke * This plant can only be grown outside during the summer (above 5’c night temperatures) 8 Leucadendron salignum Common Sunshine Conebush South Africa ‘Safari Sunset’ Midsummer (Hybrid with L. laureolum) - Mid Autumn Proteaceae Protea Family Small Shrub * This plant should be grown in a sheltered location (cannot survive below -5’c night temperatures) Photograph from Flickr (CC) Eric Hunt 9 Lobelia erinus Garden Lobelia Africa ‘Cambridge Blue’ Midsummer - Early Autumn ‘Purple Star’ Campanulaceae Bellflower Family 1ft Trailing Annual Photograph from Flickr (CC) Tatiana Gerus 10 Ornithogalum dubium Orange Star-of-Bethlehem South Africa -Species- Midwinter - Mid Spring Asparagaceae Asparagus Family 1ft Bulbous * This plant will cannot survive below -2’c night Photograph from Flickr (CC) Manuel Martin Vicente temperatures so grow in a pot, bring outside during warmer days and keep in a sheltered, sunny11 position Oxalis versicolor Candy-cane Sorrel South Africa - Species - Late Summer - Early Winter Oxalidaceae Wood-sorrel Family 1ft Bulbous Photograph from Wikipedia (CC) NZFauna * This plant will cannot survive below -5’c night temperatures so bring indoors during the winter12 period. Pelargonium capitatum Rose Geranium South Africa ‘Attar of Roses’ Summer . Geraniaceae Cranesbill Family Small Shrub Photograph from Flickr (CC) Arthur Chapman * This plant can only be grown outside during the summer (above 5’c night temperatures) 13 Pelargonium citronellum Lemon Geranium South Africa ‘Mabel Grey’ Summer . Geraniaceae Cranesbill Family Small Shrub * This plant can only be grown outside during the summer (above 5’c night temperatures) 14 Pelargonium tomentosum Peppermint Geranium South Africa - Species - Summer . Geraniaceae Cranesbill Family Small Shrub * Will not survive a frost, only half-hardy, Photograph from Flickr (CC) FarOutFlora bring indoors in winter. Recommended pot15 plant. Alstroemeria aurea Orange Peruvian-lily S. America None Summer . Alstroemeriaceae Peruvian-lily Family 3ft Tuberous * This plant will not survive below -10’c night Photograph from Flickr (CC) Jon Sullivan temperatures, protect from very harsh winter16 nights Alstroemeria x hybrida S. America Garden Peruvian-lily Complex group of hybrids of unknown parentage Alstroemeria genus ‘Apollo’ ‘Sirius’ Late Summer - Mid Autumn ‘Spitfire’ ‘Tessa’ Alstroemeriaceae Peruvian-lily Family 3ft Tuberous Photograph from Flickr (CC) Terry D Lucas 17 Amaranthus caudatus S. America Love-lies-bleeding None Midsummer - Early Autumn Amaranthaceae Amaranth Family 2ft Annual * Will not survive a frost, only half-hardy Photograph from Flickr (CC) Alwyn Ladell 18 Berberis darwinii S. America Darwin’s Barberry - Species - Spring . x media (Hybrid with B. empetrifolia) Berberidaceae Barberry Family Medium Shrub Photograph from Flickr (CC) Harry McGregor 19 Buddleja globosa S. America Orange-ball Butterfly Bush -Species- Summer . ‘Sungold’ (Hybrid) Scrophulariaceae Figwort Family Large Shrub Photograph from Flickr (CC) Margrit 20 Cleome hassleriana S. America Common Spiderflower ‘Helen Campbell’ Midsummer - Early Autumn Cleomaceae Spiderflower Family 5ft Annual Photograph from Wikipedia (CC) Anon. 21 Francoa sonchifolia Chile Common Bridalwreath Potentially ‘Pink Bouquet’ Summer . Francoaceae Bridalwreath Family 3ft Perennial Photograph from Flickr (CC) Eric Hunt 22 Nicandra physalodes S. America Shoo-fly Plant None Late Spring - Mid Autumn Solanaceae Potato Family 4ft Perennial Photograph from Flickr (CC) Maja Dumat 23 Nicotiana alata S. America Jasmine Tobacco ‘Lime Green’ Summer . Solanaceae Potato Family 2ft Annual * Will not survive a frost, only half-hardy Photograph from Flickr (CC) Carl Lewis 24 Oenothera versicolor Red Evening-Primrose S. America Probable ‘Sunset Early Summer - Early Autumn Boulevard’ Onagraceae Willowherb Family 3ft Perennial Photograph from Flickr (CC) University of California; Davis Arboretum 25 Oxalis adenophylla Chilean Sour-clover S. America - Species - Late Spring - Early Summer Oxalidaceae Wood-sorrel Family 1ft Bulbous Photograph from Flickr (CC) Diego Patillas 26 Passiflora caerulea S. America Blue Passionflower - Species - Midsummer - Early Autumn ‘Constance Eliott’ Passifloraceae Passion Fruit Family 10ft+ Vine * This plant will not survive below -10’c night temperatures, protect from very harsh winter nights Photograph from Flickr (CC) bvi4092 ** The fruit and flowers are edible but 27not commonly consumed. The leaves are poisonous when raw; containing