🇬🇧 The flowers of the United Kingdom
102 pages from the United Kingdom: its flowers, the things made with them and the places to see them, across 60 cities and regions.
Great Britain and Ireland host a rich mix of native and long-established non-native flowering plants, with over 1,390 native species recorded. Their flora is among the most thoroughly catalogued in the world. The region is known for its diversity of wildflowers, including many from the rose and daisy families.
- Over 1,390 native flowering plant species are recorded.
- More than 1,100 non-native species are well established.
- The flora includes many from the rose and daisy families.
- Extinct and introduced species are tracked in official lists.
The plant life of the United Kingdom
The plant life of Great Britain and Ireland is shaped by a temperate climate, which supports a wide range of vegetation. The islands are home to 1,390 native plant species, alongside more than 1,100 non-native species that have become well established. The flora includes ferns, conifers, and a vast array of flowering plants. This diversity is carefully documented, making the region's flora one of the best studied globally. The presence of both native and introduced species reflects centuries of natural and human influences.
From region to region in the United Kingdom
Floral diversity varies across the islands, with different groups of plants thriving in distinct habitats. Ferns and their relatives are common in damp, shaded areas, while conifers are found in woodlands. Flowering plants, including those from the rose and daisy families, are widespread and adapt to a range of environments, from meadows to coastal regions.
Flowers to know in the United Kingdom
The rose (family Rosaceae) and daisy (family Asteraceae) families are especially prominent among the flowering plants. The flora also includes many species of monocotyledons, such as orchids. Lists of species are maintained with English and scientific names, and extinct or introduced species are clearly marked in official records.
Threats and protection in the United Kingdom
Some species have become extinct, as noted in official catalogues. Conservation efforts include detailed record-keeping and monitoring by organizations like the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. The thorough documentation helps guide protection and study of rare or threatened plants.
Where this page comes from
The facts in this overview come from the Wikipedia article "Flora of Great Britain and Ireland", written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence. Phool rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.
Flower experiences in the United Kingdom
🇬🇧 London · All yearColumbia Road flower market on a SundayOne short East End street, packed every Sunday with plant and cut flower stalls and the calls of the traders.
🇬🇧 London · All yearNew Covent Garden Flower Market before sunriseLondon's wholesale flower market at Nine Elms, where the city's florists buy in the dark hours and the public may walk in.
🇬🇧 London · All yearA day at the Royal Botanic Gardens, KewOne of the world's great botanic gardens, with Victorian glasshouses, a huge tree collection and flowers in every month.
🇬🇧 Woking · Mar to OctRHS Garden Wisley through the seasonsThe Royal Horticultural Society's main garden in Surrey, where plants are tested, compared and shown at their best.
🇬🇧 Rye · Apr to OctGreat Dixter's long border and meadowsThe East Sussex home of the gardener Christopher Lloyd, famous for bold colour, dense planting and flowering meadows.
🇬🇧 London · All yearA floristry class at a London flower schoolA half day or full day learning to build a hand-tied bouquet with seasonal stems at one of London's flower schools.Cities and regions of the United Kingdom
London 8Gloucestershire 6Cornwall 4Devon 3Edinburgh 3Hampshire 3Hampton Court 3Kew 3Wales 3Cambridgeshire 2Carmarthenshire 2Chelsea 2Derbyshire 2Dorset 2Essex 2Great Britain 2Hertfordshire 2Kent 2Lancashire 2Lincolnshire 2Liverpool 2Northumberland 2North Yorkshire 2Oxford 2Oxfordshire 2Peebles 2Tetbury 2Wisley 2Abbotsbury 1Abney Park Cemetery 1Alnwick Castle 1Ambleside 1Anglesey Abbey 1Antony House 1Argyll and Bute 1Bakewell 1Barlow 1Barnsley 1Bedfordshire 1Bethnal Green 1Birmingham 1Bitton 1Boscobel House 1Brecknockshire 1Brighton 1Bristol 1British Isles 1Burton Agnes Hall 1Buxton 1Cairngorms 1Cambridge 1Castleton 1Chapel-en-le-Frith 1Cheddon Fitzpaine 1Chelmsford 1Cheshire 1Chesil Beach 1Chilton Foliat 1Chipping Campden 1Chiswick 1
Narcissus
Spring-flowering bulbs with trumpet-shaped blooms in white, yellow, and orange
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 7 more · Wildflower
HawthornCrataegus
A thorny shrub or tree with white or pink spring flowers and small edible fruits
🇮🇪 Ireland and 7 more · Wildflower
BlackthornPrunus spinosa
A spiny shrub with white spring flowers and tart blue-black fruit
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 7 more · Wildflower
Common poppyPapaver rhoeas
The vivid red wildflower of fields and remembrance
🇨🇳 China and 7 more · Wildflower
Forget-me-notMyosotis
Small blue wildflowers known for remembrance and love
🇳🇿 New Zealand and 7 more · Wildflower
PeonyPaeonia
Large spring flowers in pink, red, white, yellow and purple, grown in gardens worldwide
🇨🇳 China and 7 more · Wildflower
Common hawthornCrataegus monogyna
A thorny shrub or tree with white spring flowers and red fruit, native to Europe
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 more · Wildflower
Marsh-marigoldCaltha palustris
A bright yellow wildflower of marshes and wet woodlands in cool climates
🇨🇳 China and 7 more · Wildflower
Place
Inverewe Garden
A botanical garden on Scotland’s west coast with rare and exotic plants
Poolewe, 🇬🇧 United Kingdom · Botanical garden
Place
Exbury Gardens
A woodland garden in Hampshire with famous collections of flowering shrubs
New Forest, 🇬🇧 United Kingdom · Botanical garden
Place
Bodnant GardenGardd Bodnant
A hillside garden in Wales known for its Laburnum arch and rare plant collections
Tal-y-Cafn, 🇬🇧 United Kingdom · Flower garden
Genista
Shrubs and small trees with yellow, pea-like flowers called broom
🇬🇧 United Kingdom · Wildflower
Place
Westonbirt Arboretum
A vast tree collection and woodland park in Gloucestershire, England
Tetbury, 🇬🇧 United Kingdom · Botanical garden
Place
Eden ProjectEdenva
A vast garden and biome complex in a former clay pit in Cornwall
Cornwall, 🇬🇧 United Kingdom · Botanical garden
Bee orchidOphrys apifera
A wild orchid with flowers that mimic the look and scent of a female bee
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 7 more · Wildflower
Sea kaleCrambe maritima
Salt-loving coastal plant with edible white-flowered shoots
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 7 more · Wildflower
Decoration
Maypole
A tall decorated pole at the heart of spring and summer festivals in Europe
🇩🇪 Germany and 6 more · Custom
Decoration
Castleton Garland Day
A flower-covered procession and maypole dance in Castleton, Derbyshire each May
🇬🇧 United Kingdom · Custom, May
Decoration
Mothering Sunday
A British day for honouring mothers and the mother church, marked with violets and cake
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 more · Custom, Mar to Apr
Poppy
Bright-petalled flowers grown for gardens, seeds, and remembrance
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 7 more · Wildflower
Princess treePaulownia tomentosa
A fast-growing tree with large violet-blue flowers and broad leaves
🇨🇳 China and 7 more · Flowering tree
Snake's head fritillaryFritillaria meleagris
A spring bulb with chequered purple or white bell-shaped flowers
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 more · Wildflower
Place
University of Oxford Botanic Garden
A riverside garden in Oxford with thousands of plant species and historic glasshouses
Oxford, 🇬🇧 United Kingdom · Botanical garden
Spanish BluebellHyacinthoides hispanica
A spring bulb with upright blue, pink, or white bell-shaped flowers
🇪🇸 Spain and 3 more · Wildflower
Place
Birmingham Botanical Gardens
A 15-acre Victorian botanical garden with historic glasshouses in Birmingham, England
Birmingham, 🇬🇧 United Kingdom · Botanical garden
Place
Chelsea Flower Show
Britain’s most famous annual flower and garden show in London
London, 🇬🇧 United Kingdom · Festival or show, May
Place
International Garden Festival
Britain’s first major international garden festival, held in Liverpool in 1984
Liverpool, 🇬🇧 United Kingdom · Festival or show, May to Oct
Tulipa saxatilis
A wild pink tulip from the Aegean islands and western Turkey
🇹🇷 Turkey and 2 more · Wildflower
Protea eximia
A tall South African shrub with large, colourful cone-shaped flower heads
🇿🇦 South Africa and 1 more · Wildflower
LeekAllium ampeloprasum
A mild-flavoured onion relative and Welsh emblem with edible leaf sheaths
🇪🇬 Egypt and 7 more · Herb or useful flower
Wild daffodilNarcissus pseudonarcissus
A pale yellow spring flower and the national emblem of Wales
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 9 more · Wildflower
American skunkcabbageLysichiton americanus
Large yellow-flowered plant of Pacific Northwest wetlands with a strong skunky smell
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 more · Wildflower
Place
Benmore Botanic Garden
A hillside botanical garden with giant sequoias and rare ferns in western Scotland
Dunoon, 🇬🇧 United Kingdom · Botanical garden
Decoration
Conservatory
A glass-walled room or building for growing and displaying plants
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 more · Garden style
Garden rose
The classic ornamental flowering shrub of gardens worldwide
🇨🇳 China and 7 more · Garden flower
Place
Trentham Gardens
Restored Italianate gardens and parkland near Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent, 🇬🇧 United Kingdom · Flower garden
Hardy fuchsiaFuchsia magellanica
A South American shrub with drooping red and purple flowers
🇦🇷 Argentina and 5 more · Flowering shrub
Slipper orchidCypripedium
Hardy northern orchids with a pouch-shaped lower petal
🇨🇳 China and 7 more · Wildflower
Decoration
BeltaneBealtaine / Là Bealltainn / Boaltinn
The Gaelic May Day festival with bonfires and yellow flower decorations
🇮🇪 Ireland and 1 more · Custom, May
Place
RHS Garden Wisley
A major English garden with glasshouses, borders and plant trials in Surrey
Wisley, 🇬🇧 United Kingdom · Botanical garden
Place
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
London’s world-renowned botanical gardens and plant science centre
Kew, 🇬🇧 United Kingdom · Botanical garden
Place
RHS Garden Rosemoor
A public display garden in north Devon with woodland, roses and themed plantings
Great Torrington, 🇬🇧 United Kingdom · Flower garden
Place
Columbia Road Flower Market
London’s busy Sunday street market for fresh flowers and plants
London, 🇬🇧 United Kingdom · Flower market
Place
Cambridge University Botanic Garden
A 16-hectare botanic garden for research, teaching and public enjoyment in Cambridge
Cambridge, 🇬🇧 United Kingdom · Botanical garden
Scilla luciliae
A small blue-and-white spring bulb from western Turkey
🇹🇷 Turkey and 3 more · Wildflower
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Beltane: Stefan Schäfer, Lich, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- International Garden Festival: Frombowen, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: Daniel Case, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- RHS Garden Wisley: Colin Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- RHS Garden Rosemoor: Patche99z, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Columbia Road Flower Market: SunDawn, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Forget-me-not: Sedum Tauno Erik, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Wild daffodil: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Sea kale: Charlesdrakew, Public domain, source
- Blackthorn: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Hawthorn: Nadiatalent, Public domain, source
- Narcissus: Uberprutser, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Peony: Taken by Fanghong, CC BY 2.5, source
- Benmore Botanic Garden: E96an at English Wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Common hawthorn: Didier Descouens, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Marsh-marigold: W. Bulach, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Cambridge University Botanic Garden: temporalata, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Floristry: Joachimj, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Scilla luciliae: AnRo0002, CC0, source
- Inverewe Garden: Alexandre Dulaunoy, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Common poppy: Kieran Roy Powell, CC BY 4.0, source
- Eden Project: Jürgen Matern, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Bee orchid: Didier Descouens, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Hardy fuchsia: W. Bulach, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Exbury Gardens: Charlesdrakew at English Wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Bodnant Garden: Llywelyn2000, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Genista: Robert Flogaus-Faust, CC BY 4.0, source
- Westonbirt Arboretum: Photo taken by and copyright Stuz ., CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Maypole: Uploaded by Mikael Häggström, CC0, source
- Castleton Garland Day: Photographer: SiGarb, Public domain, source
- Mothering Sunday: Jonathunder, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Poppy: Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0, source
- Princess tree: Jean-Pol GRANDMONT, CC BY 2.5, source
- Snake's head fritillary: Yerpo, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- University of Oxford Botanic Garden: JMski, CC0, source
- Spanish Bluebell: Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Birmingham Botanical Gardens: Annette Randle, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Chelsea Flower Show: Nzfauna, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tulipa saxatilis: KENPEI, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Protea eximia: Saifunny, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Leek: WikiLucas00, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- American skunkcabbage: Martin Bravenboer, Public domain, source
- Conservatory: Lukáš Kalista, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Garden rose: Laitche, Public domain, source
- New Covent Garden Market: EG Focus, CC BY 2.0, source
- Trentham Gardens: Photograph by Mike Peel ( www.mikepeel.net )., CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Slipper orchid: Beatriz Moisset, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Great Dixter Garden: Miles Berry, CC BY-SA 2.0, source