Stachys sylvatica | hedge woundwort
Vile smelling if touched, yet beautiful for wildlife
In the first spring of moving to Yorkshire, I noticed a beautiful plant in the herb bed outside the house. Having never set eyes on it before, I assumed this rich purple flower must be an ornamental lamium, herb or salvia that had been planted by a previous owner. When I asked on social media what it was, everyone laughed and pointed out that, not only is it a wildflower, it’s considered a weed, and I really should have known better.
That’s what I love about nature, you can never know everything and there is always something new to discover. I must have seen Stachys sylvatica, or hedge woundwort, many a time in gardens and the wild but I’d never seen it growing in any of the gardens I’ve worked in down south. It grows everywhere in our Yorkshire garden and over the last few years I’ve come to know it very well indeed.