Wealden Times | WT233 | October 2021 | Kitchen & Bathroom supplement inside

Fruits of Malus hupehensis
Dog Rose (Rosa canina)
Flowers of Tilea davidii
added to gin to make the eponymous
sloe gin. They are pretty sour but full
of Vitamin C and as they remain on
the plant for a long time they are ideal
food for both mammals and birds.
The plant also provides prickly, dense
thickets which are perfect for protecting
both nesting birds from predators
and provides small mammals such as
hedgehogs a secure place to overwinter.
The foliage is a food plant for moth
caterpillars including the Magpie moth,
one of which made its way into the porch
the other day or should I say, night.
Crab Apple (Malus sylvestris) You’ll see
these trees on woodland edges and in
hedgerows. They’re the wild ancestor of
our cultivated apples and are particularly
long lived, You can recognise them by
their habit as their branches become
twisted and gnarled as they mature. Their
blossom is sweetly scented and is a good
source of early pollen for bees. Growing
crab apples provides a host for the
hemiparasitic mistletoe, and their branches
provide a host for any number of lichens.
Both birds (the blackbird and thrushes
in particular) and mammals disperse the
seeds once they’ve eaten the fruit and
the leaves provide food for all manner
of moth caterpillars including green
pug, the extraordinary looking Chinese
Character moth and the eyed hawkmoth.
The Chinese Character moth’s
markings are intended to deter predators
and are said to resemble bird droppings,
which is a novel way to appear invisible.
Dog Rose (Rosa canina) You’ll have
all seen this climbing plant weaving its
way through hedgerows and binding
everything together. Pretty pale pink,
sometimes deep pink, its flowers are
scented and are part of the countryside’s
most welcome sights in May. We have
fourteen native species of rose in the
UK and this is the one we see the most.
Unlike many rose cultivars the plant
doesn’t suffer from black spot and will
grow in sun or shade. The autumn hips
are red and full of Vitamin C; blackbirds
love them and the flowers provide nectar
for insects. Why the ‘dog rose’? It seems
that the roots were thought to help if you
had been bitten by a rabid dog. I wonder.
Elder (Sambucus nigra) It was said that
an elder planted near your home would
keep the devil away. I’m not sure that
the elder with its rather scraggy form
and strangely unpleasant smelling twigs
is a thing of beauty so I might plant it
a little further away than that. Even the
buds are raggedy. However those huge
umbels of creamy, fragrant flowers that
appear in the spring more than make
up for that. Once pollinated, the flower
develops into a late maturing dark berry
which is eaten by both small mammals
like dormice and voles as well as birds.
The foliage is appetising too to all manner
of moth caterpillars like the dot moth
and buff ermine. A large group of elder
often advertises a badger sett or large
rabbit warren, as the seeds are distributed
by the animals around and near their
homes. The plant has so many uses but
I like the thought of bundles of elder
foliage being used in dairies to keep flies
away. That’s worth a try. It was also used
in the making of dyes – purple from the
berries, grey and black from the bark
and yellow and green from the foliage.
Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna)
This is a star. The hawthorn’s
wonderful pinky white blossom – May
blossom – was known as the ‘herald
of the winter and the beginning of
summer’. A hawthorn really buzzes
with wildlife and it seems can support
more than 300 species of insects so
maybe if you can only fit one new
native plant in, this should be the one.
The flowers sustain rare little critters
such as dormice and provide pollen
and nectar for pollinators and the
haws (fruits) are rich in antioxidants
and are a perfect food for migrating
birds such as the redwing. These little
thrushes come south from Scandinavia
to the UK to feast on apples and
our heavily berried hawthorns.
Spindle (Euonymus europaeus) The
combination of autumn colours and
bright pink capsules which contain the
bold orange fruits is pretty dramatic
and so spindle makes a good hedging
plant or individually planted beautiful
large shrub. It would look lovely in a
winter border added to which, it is so
accommodating in that it can cope with
sun, partial shade and slightly more
difficult sites like coastal positions and
damp places. Pollinators are drawn to
the plant but aphids are too – perfect
for birds but perhaps not ideal if you are
growing vegetables in a limited space.
Hopes Grove Nurseries
hopesgrovenurseries.co.uk. Sue
Whigham can be contacted on
07810 457948 for gardening advice
and help in the sourcing and supply
of interesting garden plants.
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