Cardamine pratensis ‘Cuckoo Flower’

Cardamine pratensis is one of the most beautiful and one of the best loved of our wild flowers. It bears long narrow leaves and supremely elegant flowers in late spring/early summer. It flowers at the time the first cuckoo starts to call.

They flower two or three to each stem, in white or with pink tomes.

The Cuckoo Flower, sometimes spelt Cuckooflower, can be found in moist or wet habitats, including meadows, damp grasslands, roadsides, ditches and river banks. It is part of the Brassicaceae family and is native throughout most of Europe and western Asia.

In garden situations the plant can play a role in spring flowering lawns on heavy soils when a regular cutting programme is carried out after flowering or can be established in a range of wet grasslands, including sites waterlogged in the winter.

The Cuckoo Flower is noted for attracting wildlife. The flower is an important larval host plant and nectar source for the Orange-Tip and Green-Veined White butterflies, It makes a valuable addition to any garden which aims at attracting wildlife.

• Packet Size     55mg
• Average Seed Count     100 Seeds
• Family     Brassicaceae
• Genus     Cardamine
• Species     pratensis
• Cultivar     Wildflower of Britain and Ireland
• Common Name     Cuckoo Flower, Ladys flower, Ladys smock, Wildflower of Britain and Ireland
• Other Common Names     Bread and milk, Cuckoo bread, Milk Maid, Spinks, Spring cress
• Mayflower, Meadow cress, Cuckoo buds, Cuckoo spit.
• Other Language Names     IR. Biolar gréagháin
• Hardiness     Hardy Perennials
• Flowers     White or pale pink in April to June
• Foliage     Mid green, narrow long leaves
• Height     20-50 cm (8-20″)
• Position     Partial Shade, Full Shade
• Time to Sow     Late winter/late spring and late summer/autumn.