White melilot

How to recognise it

Growth habit

Biennial: in the first year a low, leafy plant, in the second year much-branched, upright stems of 1–2 m.

Leaf

Three-parted, like clover; the leaflets are oblong, 1–3 cm, with a finely toothed edge.

Flower

Small white pea flowers of 4–5 mm in long, slender spikes of 4–12 cm from the leaf axils. They smell sweet. From June to September.

Fruit/Seed

Small, hairless pods of 3–5 mm with a net-like pattern of veins, brown to greyish black when ripe, with 1–2 seeds.

Roots

A deep taproot with root nodules, in which bacteria fix nitrogen.

Confused with

Ribbed melilot and tall melilot have yellow flowers. White clover also has white flowers, but stays low, creeps and has round heads. Lucerne has purple flowers and coiled pods. White melilot is the only tall melilot with white flowers.

Flowering: June–September · Pruning: March and September

Why grow it?

• A top nectar plant: honeybees, bumblebees, many wild bees, wasps and hoverflies visit the flowers all summer.
• Flowers for a long time, from June to September, with hundreds of flowers per plant.
• As a legume it fixes nitrogen from the air: a true pioneer on bare, poor or disturbed ground.
• The tall, dry stems stay standing over winter and shelter small insects.
• When dried it smells of hay, because of coumarin; melilot used to be tucked in among the linen.

White melilot: where does it grow best?

• In the wild on railway land, docklands, in quarries, on verges, dykes, building sites and stony waste ground.
• Full sun; in shade it stays floppy and flowers little.
• Dry to moderately moist, well-drained soil, often chalky, sandy or stony; poor to moderately fertile.
• In the garden: at the back of a sunny wildflower meadow, in a patch of tall wild flowers, on a bank, a stony spot or in a bee garden.

Goes well with

• Ribbed melilot: Flowers at the same time in yellow; together they attract even more bees.
• Viper’s bugloss: Blue flowers next to the white spikes, on dry, stony ground.
• Wild marjoram: Also excellent for bees, on the same dry, chalky soil.
• Chicory: Sky-blue flowers in the same sunny patch.
• Hemp agrimony: Tall pink flower heads for a late meal for bees, in slightly moister spots.

White melilot: when and how to plant it?

1. Buy seed of native origin from a nursery or seed supplier for wild plants.
2. Sow in April–June or in September, thinly and shallowly, on loose, open soil in full sun.
3. The seed has a hard coat. If you sow in autumn, winter softens it; in spring it helps to rub it lightly first.
4. Thin out or plant 40–60 cm apart. In the first year you only see leaves; flowers follow in the second year.
5. Sow two years in a row, and you will have flowering plants every year.
6. Never dig up plants from the wild: because of the deep taproot they transplant badly.

Care

Water

Only when sowing and for young plants. After that it manages even in dry summers, thanks to its deep root.

Feeding

Don’t: it takes its own nitrogen from the air, and on rich soil it becomes floppy and falls over.

Mowing

In a wildflower meadow, mow in September, after the seed has set, and remove the cuttings.

Spreading

On open ground it can self-seed freely. Weed out surplus seedlings while young, before the taproot goes deep.

Letting it seed

Let some of the stems set seed: as a biennial it survives only through seed.

Tip: Sow white melilot on a stony, sunny spot where little else grows, such as a bank or an old driveway: there it stands sturdier than on rich soil and flowers most abundantly.

Pruning and mowing

Pruning months: March and September.

When: In March clear the old stems; in September mow if needed or cut off spent spikes.

How:

• After flowering, let some of the seed ripen and drop.
• If you want fewer seedlings, cut off some of the spent spikes in September before they ripen.
• Leave the dead stems until March: small insects overwinter in them.
• In March cut or mow the old stems down to just above the ground.

Caution: After flowering in its second year the plant dies: this is normal and not a disease.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Seed

In August–September strip off ripe pods, dry them and sow in autumn or the following spring. The seed stays viable in the soil for many years.

Self-seeding

Let the plant self-seed; the seedlings appear around the old plant.

White melilot: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy to −30 °C.

• First-year plants overwinter with a thick root and buds at the base; in spring they shoot up.
• Second-year plants die after flowering; the dry stems stay standing and give shelter.
• Fully hardy, to −30 °C; the seed survives for years in the soil.

Diseases and pests

• Falling over: On soil that is too rich or in shade, the tall stems become floppy. Choose a poor, sunny spot among other tall wild flowers.
• Disappearing after two years: Normal for a biennial. Let it drop seed or sow more.
• Too many seedlings: It can self-seed heavily on bare soil. Weed out unwanted seedlings while they are young.
• Pea leaf weevils: Small weevils bite half-moon notches out of the leaf edges. Harmless to the plant; leave them be.

Through the year

• March: Cut off old stems. Second-year plants start growing.
• April: Sow on open ground in the sun.
• May: Thin seedlings to 40–60 cm.
• June: First white spikes on second-year plants.
• July: Full flowering. Bees, wasps and hoverflies on the spikes.
• August: Flowering. First pods ripe. Collect seed.
• September: Last flowers. Mow the wildflower meadow. You can sow.
• December: Rest; first-year plants overwinter with buds at the base.

Did you know?

• In North America white melilot was sown on a large scale as a bee plant and green manure. There it is now an invasive species in the prairies.
• Around 1920, cattle in North America died of bleeding after eating mouldy melilot hay. Research into this led to the discovery of dicoumarol and later of warfarin.
• The name Melilotus comes from the Greek meli, ‘honey’, and lotos, a name for clover-like fodder plants; albus means ‘white’.