Golden banks of common rock-rose make a spectacular sight on our chalk and limestone grasslands in summer. A creeping shrub, it is good for bees, moths and butterflies.

Buddleia is a familiar shrub, well-known for its attractiveness to butterflies. It is actually an introduced species, however, that has become naturalised on waste ground, railway cuttings and in…

In May, our hedgerows burst into life as common hawthorn erupts with creamy-white blossom, colouring the landscape and giving this thorny shrub its other name of 'May-tree'.

Broom is a large shrub of heaths, open woodlands and coastal habitats. Like gorse, it has bright yellow flowers, but it doesn't have any spines and smells of vanilla.

Living up to its name, the common blue damselfly is both very common and very blue. It regularly visits gardens - try digging a wildlife-friendly pond to attract damselflies and dragonflies.

The downlooker snipefly gets its name from its habit of sitting on posts or sunny trees with its head facing down to the ground, waiting for passing prey. It prefers grassland, scrub and woodland…

The striking red twigs and crimson, autumnal leaves of dogwood make this small shrub an attractive ornamental plant. It can be seen growing wild along woodland edges and hedgerows.

Sea-buckthorn is a spiny, thicket-forming shrub of sand dunes. It's native to the east coast of England but considered an invasive species elsewhere. It is most obvious in autumn when it is…

The common prawn is a familiar sight to anyone who has spent time exploring rockpools - particularly their characteristic quick dart into the darkness just as you spot them!