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Achillea millefolium

Achillea millefolium
€3.00
Common Yarrow (Athair Thalún) This native wildflower is a strongly scented, downy perennial of pastures, roadsides and waste places throughout Ireland that flowers from June until November. Feathery foliage (‘millefolium’ means ‘a thousand leaves’) that is grey-green with creeping shoots. White, sometimes pinkish daisy-like flower heads. Site: T...

Armeria Maritima - Sea Thrift
€3.00
Sea Thrift (Rabhán) This charming native wildflower is sometimes known as Sea Pink or Cliff Rose and is indeed a common sight on cliffs in the west of Ireland. It tends to form little carpets on rocks and saltmarshes from April to July, with dense tufts of small, papery, pink flowers and grass-like grey-green leaves and slender, bare flowerstalk...

Caltha palustris - Marsh Marigold
€3.00
King cup or Marsh marigold (Lus buí Bealtaine) Once established, Caltha palustris or commonly known as the King cup or Marsh marigold produces a mass of bright yellow flowers very early in the spring. After flowering in March and April most foliage will gradually die back as the flowers fade, but sometimes it has a second flowering later in the ...

Echium vulgare - Viper’s-bugloss
€3.00
Viper’s-bugloss (Lus nathrach) Viper’s-bugloss seems as rather inscrutable common name - in that regard its other name ‘blueweed’ is more straightforward - until we learned that ‘bugloss’ comes from the Greek word for ‘ox-tongue’, which must be a reference to the shape and texture of the leaves: hairy, strap-shaped and with a pronounced vein in ...

Filipendula ulmaria - Meadowsweet
€3.00
Meadowsweet (Airgead luachra) Bees, butterflies, kids and adults alike will delight in the almond-like scent of this vigourous native perennial- it’s reminiscent of marzipan. Fluffy white candyfloss flowers borne on tall reddish stems of up to 1.2m will add height and texture to the border or hedgerow from June to September. The leaves are tooth...
Primula veris - Cowslip

Primula veris - Cowslip
€3.00
Common Cowslip (Bainne bó bleachtáin) Primula veris has been used for centuries as a ‘nervine’, said to have a tonic effect on the nervous system and producing a feeling of well-being. It was once so popular it was nearly picked to extinction. The Latin veris translates as ‘Spring’ and it is indeed an early flowering clump-forming native, bearin...

Succisa pratensis - Devil's Bit Scabious
€3.00
Devil’s bit Scabious (Coireán na gcuach) Folklore tells us that this native wildflower plant got its name due to the fact that the devil bit off some of the root in a fit of annoyance at its medicinal properties. In any case this is a low-maintenance plant, found wild in marshes and hedgerows, even bogs, with pretty violet-blue pincushion flowe...

Anthriscus sylvestris - Cow Parsley
€3.00
Cow Parsley A native wildflower (peirsil bhó), Anthriscus sylvestris is a familiar sight along country waysides in late spring. It’s a tall, vigorous, clump-forming, herbaceous perennial with an upright habit, and the pretty, fern-like, bright green leaves emerge very early, suppressing weeds. Flat, airy umbels of creamy-white flowers appear fro...

Campanula rotundifolia - Harebell
€3.00
Harebell (Méaracán Gorm) Native wildflower perennial of which folklore suggests that it either grew in places frequented by hares, or that witches used juices from this plant to transform themselves into hares. In any case, it is found in dry grassland, dunes and rock seams forming clumps of small round leaves, with elegant upright stems bearing...

Centaurea scabiosa - Greater Knapweed
€3.00
Greater Knapweed (Mínscoth Mór) A native perennial wildflower with striking large, thistle-like purple flowers from July to September. Found in scrub and on sea cliffs. This is a tall, upright plant which will be loved by bees and other pollinators alike. Great for a bee or butterfly garden or a colour bed. Site: Tolerates exposureSoil: Any we...
Daucus carota

Daucus carota
€3.00
Wild Carrot, Queen Anne’s Lace (Mealbhacán) This tall native is a regular in our hedgerows, grasslands and coastal areas. The tiny flowers and feathery leaves do give it a lace-like appearance, quite like the leaves of the carrot plant. Umbels of delicate creamy-white flowers, the central flower often red, appear in June and sit on tall, erect h...

Digitalis purpurea - Foxglove
€3.00
Common Foxglove (Lus mór) A well-known native of Ireland, the common name comes from the phrase ‘Folk's Gloves’, as in fairy folk. In the olden days, you were not supposed to bring Foxglove into the house as it was considered unlucky. This is a poisonous plant, and yet the digitoxin it contains is instrumental in commercial medicine treating hea...
Eryngium maritimum

Eryngium maritimum
€3.00
Sea Holly (Cuileann trá) In the 16th century, Eryngium maritimum was considered a strong aphrodisiac. We are sworn to secrecy, but in any case, Sea Holly is a widespread native, easily recognised due to its waxy, spiky appearance. Sitting happily in clumps on the sand of many an Irish beach or dune, it has leathery, silver-blue, holly-like leave...
Eupatorium cannabinum
Eupatorium cannabinum
€3.00
Hemp Agrimony (Cnáib uisce) Eupatorium cannabinum must be one of the most popular among bees and butterflies. Native throughout Ireland and found by ponds, rivers, on seacliffs and indeed in ditches, this is a big plant, with nice upright and reddish, branched stems carrying racemes of wide flat flowerheads with tiny pink flowers from July to S...
Hypericum tetrapterum

Hypericum tetrapterum
€3.00
Square-stalked St. John’s Wort (Beathnua fireann) This native perennial is easily recognizable by - you guessed it - its square stems with distinctive ‘wings’ at the corners. Its oval leaves have translucent dots and the flowers are yellow, blooming from June to September. It will happily inhabit the damper areas in your garden, along ponds for ...

Knautia arvensis - Field Scabious
€3.00
Field Scabious (Cab an ghasáin) This is a very attractive native wildflower, historically thought to treat scabies, hence the name, lat. ‘scabere’ meaning ‘to scratch’. It is a common sight in dry grassy places throughout the country, blooming from July to late September. It is a tall perennial, with hairy leaved base rosettes from which branche...
Leucanthemum vulgare

Leucanthemum vulgare
€3.00
Ox-eye Daisy, Marguerite (Nóinín mór) Everybody knows this native wildflower, indeed it is known to brighten up many a roadside. You may add the young leaves to your summer salads anytime from June to September, when this plant shows off its large white daisy flowers with yellow hearts, sitting on long upright stems springing from basal rosettes...

Lychnis flos-cuculi - Ragged Robin
€3.00
Ragged Robin (Nóinín mór) This native wildflower is abundant throughout Ireland, usually seen in marshes and damp meadows where it is one of the prettiest to inhabit these type of areas. Linear to oblong leaves on slender, upright stalks bear deep rose-pink flowers, the petals modified into delicately fringed blossoms to make it withstand the wi...

Pachyphragma macrophyllum
€4.50
Large-leaved Pachyphragma An attractive and useful little plant, perfect for a shady spot, Pachyphragma macrophyllum is a semi-evergreen perennial with a low, compact habit; it doesn’t spread. The basal leaves are round and scalloped, and mid-green, forming rosettes that may persist through winter. In spring, flat clusters of four-petalled, whit...

Primula vulgaris - Primrose
€3.00
Primrose (Sabhaircín) One of the earliest flowers to chase away the winter gloom. Folklore tells us to "Guard the house with a string of primroses on the first three days of May. The fairies are said not to be able to pass over or under this string". Traditionally a herald of spring and forthcoming summer, gathered on May Eve, nowadays a protect...