Roll out the red carpet

One of the best plants for wildlife is red valerian, says Val

- Val Bourne

ONE wildlife plant that everyone should grow is the old cottage-garden favourite red valerian (Centranthus ruber). Each head is made up of hundreds of tiny flowers and each one has a long corolla tube that’s perfect for a long-tongued bee, butterfly or moth. It’s always full of life and some of it’s rather exotic. It’s the favourite plant of the hummingbird hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum) in my garden, and this day-flying moth, which does hover like a hummingbird, is rarely seen on anything else.

“Red valerian is easy to grow from seed”