Fox & Cubs (Pilosella aurantiaca/ Orange Hawkweed)

I thought I’d share one of my favourite wild flowers I have in my garden with you this Wildflower Wednesday - Fox & Cubs, it is an absolute ray of sunshine, I have it in quite a dark working corner between a gate to the pond & another gate to the polytunnel where many other plants get trampled on by the dogs & where my husband often sticks his spade /fork in the ground, so I’ve given up planting it with prize specimens. I wanted something that wasn’t a thug but that would cover the soil, not grow too high but also give me some brightness there. Well this has proven to be the perfect plant!

In Australia they class it as invasive, RHS don’t, & when I’ve seen it naturally on verges, it appears more in clumps rather than overtaking an area. But I feel I will need to keep my eye on it, it does spread quickly in my very dry / free draining soil (thinking Australia, & ahead to our climate changes too) also on the verges it is competing with grass…not in my border though.

Nevertheless, it doesn’t take a minute or two to pull it up to keep it in check as it spreads by stolons. Stolons are above-ground stems that grow horizontally (as opposed to rhizomes which are horizontal underground stems) and on balance, I believe the benefits to the pollinators outweigh its power to overtake my border as it is nectar rich so bees & other pollinators love it.

 It is a perennial with basal rosettes of leaves, & about 20cm stems that hold the flower heads. These are initially a deep russet colour bud, opening to orange with a lighter golden centre.

 I probably choose to use the colloquial name fox & cubs because of the foxes that visit the garden, the plant gets this name from the fully opened flower resembling a fox & the bristly buds underneath representing the cubs - but I think you can tell from the range of colloquial names given to Orange Hawkweed: Flora's Paintbrush, Devil's Paintbrush, Red Daisy, Golden Mouse Ear, Missionary Weed, Grim-the-Collier; people seem to either love it or hate it… what do you think?

What do you call it?

@just.me.in.my.garden