This perennial dies back to below ground level each year in autumn, then fresh new growth appears again in spring.

• Position: full sun or partial shade
• Soil: any but the poorest soil
• Rate of growth: average
• Flowering period: July and August
• Hardiness: fully hardy
  
  Honey-scented, golden-yellow flowers and whorls of slender, dark-green leaves. Lady's bedstraw has a pleasant smell of new mown hay when dried which explains why it was once used as a mattress filler. Ideal for a sunny wildflower or perennial border, it's an important food-source for caterpillars of the 'broad-bordered bee hawk moth'.
  
  
• Garden care: Do not use a fertiliser since wildflowers prefer poor soils. In autumn after flowering cut the faded flower- heads down to the ground and compost the dead stems