Red Campion, is a very common native plant across the islands. It is also known locally as Soldiers’ Fleas. It can be seen in flower over the winter but really comes into its own during the spring and early summer when it lights up the earth banks along the lanes which are so typical of Guernsey. They also mix well with Bluebells and Sea Campion on the cliff paths – the mix of colours makes them sing out. The colour of the flowers is variable, from white (uncommon) through to dark pink
Where sour fig has been cleared, particularly around Les Tielles (where the Conservation Volunteers and others have done a great job), Red Campion seeds are among the first to take advantage of the disturbed soil, germinating quickly and flowering in the following season. Some of the seed has been deliberately scattered in the area, but also seeds that had lain dormant under the sour fig have come to life and helped to restore native growth and associated biodiversity.
I have seen plants on sale for £7 in one local garden centre, but it is free to collect seed and let it do its job if you want to attract pollinators into your garden. It self-seeds very easily, but if a plant comes up it where it isn’t wanted, it is very easy to pull up.
Red Campion has male and female plants. When in flower, the dark pink capsule behind the petals is thin in the male plants, but much fuller in the female plants as this is where the seeds develop. At the end of the season, they look like little baskets holding the seeds. They simply blow out in the wind ready to start the next generation.
As part of our native biodiversity, Red Campion doesn’t grow in isolation. It has at least three species of aphid that feed on the shoots or at the base of the plant. (There’s a lot more to greenfly than meets the eye!) In turn, the aphids are a food source for birds and ants to name but two. There are plenty of ant ‘foraging runs’ across the cliff path between their nest and food source. The photograph below was taken near Le Prevôté and clearly shows Black-backed Meadow Ants farming the aphids. Unlike the birds, they do not eat the aphids themselves, but stroke them. This encourages them to excrete a sweet-tasting waste liquid called honeydew and it is this that the ants feed on.
Natural history of the Bailiwick of Guernsey 