- Botanical name: Linaria vulgaris
- Common name: Common toadflax
- Family: Plantaginaceae
- Plant Type: Perennial
Yellow
Green
- Key features:
- Attractive to wildlife
- Flowers
Common toadflax (Linaria vulgaris) is a pretty and colourful native wildflower that’s commonly seen growing on open sunny sites like verges, hedge banks and open meadows. In the garden, common toadflax is well suited to growing in a meadow, a naturalistic or cottage style of garden, or on a bank, where the blooms bring colour for months as well as providing an excellent food source for bees and other pollinators. Its leaves are eaten by caterpillars of the toadflax brocade moth.
Attractive flowers are borne on slender upright stems, tightly packed or in clusters, above slender green leaves. The individual blooms are similar in shape to snapdragons (though unrelated), with two-lipped flowers 20-35mm long that have deeper yellow or orange-yellow centres and pale-yellow petals – hence its other common name of ‘butter and eggs’.
Common toadflax needs plenty of sun and a free-draining soil that isn’t too fertile. This useful plant is hardy and needs little care once established, apart from cutting back dead or faded growth. Flowering may be sporadic, and cutting back the faded stems after the first flush of flowers helps encourage more later in the season.
Other species of Linaria, include purple toadflax (Linaria purpurea), as well as cultivated varieties of Linaria vulgaris. Note that ivy-leaved toadflax (Cymbalaria muralis) belongs to the same family as common toadflax but is distinctly different in looks, habit, and growing requirements.
Advice on buying common toadflax
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- Common toadflax is usually available to buy from seed or plug plants
Where to buy common toadflax
- Buy Linaria vulgaris from Crocus
- Buy Linaria vulgaris from Naturescape
- Buy Linaria vulgaris from Chiltern Seeds
How to grow Linaria vulgaris
-
Plant size
75cm height
40cm spread
-
Aspect
South facing, west facing
-
Position in border
Middle
- Sun exposure: Full shade
- Hardiness: Hardy
- Soil type: Well drained / light / sandy
Plant calendar
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sow | ||||||||||||
| Sow |
J
Do not Sow in January |
F
Do not Sow in February |
M
Do not Sow in March |
A
Do Sow in April |
M
Do Sow in May |
J
Do not Sow in June |
J
Do not Sow in July |
A
Do not Sow in August |
S
Do not Sow in September |
O
Do not Sow in October |
N
Do not Sow in November |
D
Do not Sow in December |
| Plant | ||||||||||||
| Plant |
J
Do not Plant in January |
F
Do not Plant in February |
M
Do not Plant in March |
A
Do not Plant in April |
M
Do not Plant in May |
J
Do Plant in June |
J
Do Plant in July |
A
Do not Plant in August |
S
Do not Plant in September |
O
Do not Plant in October |
N
Do not Plant in November |
D
Do not Plant in December |
| Flowers | ||||||||||||
| Flowers |
J
Plant does not flower in January |
F
Plant does not flower in February |
M
Plant does not flower in March |
A
Plant does not flower in April |
M
Plant does not flower in May |
J
Plant does flower in June |
J
Plant does flower in July |
A
Plant does flower in August |
S
Plant does flower in September |
O
Plant does flower in October |
N
Plant does flower in November |
D
Plant does not flower in December |
Linaria vulgaris and wildlife
Linaria vulgaris is known for attracting bees and beneficial insects. It is a caterpillar food plant.
Attractive to Bees
Attractive to Beneficial insects
Does not attract Birds
Does not attract Butterflies/Moths
Does not attract Other pollinators
Is Linaria vulgaris poisonous?
Linaria vulgaris has no toxic effects reported.
No reported toxicity to Birds
No reported toxicity to Cats
No reported toxicity to Dogs
No reported toxicity to Horses
No reported toxicity to Livestock
No reported toxicity to People
