Galium verum
lady's bedstraw
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- Standard £5.95
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: Moderately fertile, moist, well-drained 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'.
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.
Sow in seed trays, or directly into a sunny, well prepared bed in spring, or from late summer to early autumn. When sown in seed trays, just cover the seed and keep well watered but not wet. Pot on when large enough to handle and harden off before planting at 30cm intervals outside in late spring or early summer.