Wealden Times | WT230 | July 2021 | Education supplement inside

White bush vetch
Silene dioica
Salsify
You never know where it is going
to appear the following year.
So what seeds to collect in late
summer? I think that red campions
would be one thing. They are so
evocative of our childhood memories
of the countryside. Campions (Silene
dioica) provide food for butterflies,
moths and bees and can be found in
all manner of habitats but sadly there
are fewer these days. Let’s hope that
campaigns to delay the early cutting of
verges gains strength so that plants like
these have a chance to set seed before
having their heads chopped off. If you
are lucky enough to find a plant which
has developed its papery seeds, snip
the seed heads off and shake the seeds
into an envelope or brown paper bag
(never a plastic bag) and store them
until the spring when they can be sown.
If you cut long stems, the heads look
good in a dried flower arrangement.
Another silene or Lychnis coronaria is
the perfect plant for a start up gardener
and like the hesperus is a self seeder. No
effort needed here. The idea is to let
the plant throw its own seeds around
and then move the seedlings to where
you want them – or just leave them
where they have found themselves. It is
such a pretty thing with silver woolly
foliage and shocking magenta flowers.
I love it. Once it flowers in its second
year it’ll die away but cleverly it always
replaces itself and saves you the bother.
It is exceedingly hardy and you’ll get the
best colour if you grow it in full sun.
It’s usually pretty obvious when large,
hard and greasy coated seeds are ready
to be harvested. Those of plants like
peonies can be collected and sown as
soon as they are ripe. I particularly like
and covet Peony delavayi, a Chinese
form of tree peony with single, deep
red flowers and very attractive dissected
foliage. Its black shiny seeds take time to
germinate but they are easy to grow.
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