Here’s something I came across the other day when I was trying to identify a weed that I keep seeing around the Commons in South London. Why was I trying to identify a weed in the middle of Winter? Well don’t go there, but let’s just say that my investigations were the result of a heated debate (arguing the toss actually) about whether it is best to have native species to attract wildlife or whether impost will do just as well.

This Southern Marsh Orchid is native to Wandsworth and suitable for gardens!

As it so happens, it seems that from a wildlife point of view it doesn’t really matter whether the plants are native or imported (I was wrong!) In my efforts to prove the point however, I came across a postcode plant database on the Natural History Museum website, and would be very useful to gardeners because not only is it possible generate lists of plants by postcode, but also there are pictures for many of the plants and also states whether a plant is suitable for a garden or not.

Best of all it’s FREE!  Happy hunting

The postcode plant database can be found here.