That patch of nettles in the corner of the garden. The dandelions in the lawn. You might call these weeds and think they make your green space look untidy. But nature loves a mess, and to support our wildlife, it is best not to be too tidy in your garden and have some areas where these wild plants can grow. Many are food plants for the caterpillars of butterflies and other herbivorous insects. The flowers are an important source of nectar for our pollinators. Take a closer look, and you can see the beauty in these plants, and be amazed by the adaptations they have to survive, grow and spread their seed. Learn more here with our Curator of Insects, Dr Ed Turner.

Meet some of the insects that these wild plants support in other blog posts: Spot the Aristocrat Butterflies, White and Yellow Butterflies, and The Wonderful World of Bee-flies.

You can discover more about wild plants on the PlantLife website