They can be things of joy. Glimpsed from a car window or seen from a bike, the flowers on Scotland’s roadside verges can bring a smile to the face of the weariest traveller. The delicate blues and purples of knapweed, harebells and marsh orchids. The subtle whites of meadowsweet and the grass of Parnassus. Even the brash yellow of ragwort.

However, environmentalists are warning local authorities that they must do more to protect our roadside plantlife and are urging the public to celebrate it in all its glory.

The conservation group, Plantlife, has launched a campaign to save nature on road verges. It is asking members of the public to photograph their favourite kerbside arrays, and share them on social media.

Campaigners are also asking councils to delay cutting verges until August or later, to allow plants to seed. Grass clippings should also be removed, they say, because if left to lie they damage plant diversity.

According to Plantlife, there are over 550 different species of wild flowers growing on nearly 10,000 hectares of verges in Scotland. As well as looking beautiful, they provide nectar and pollen for bees, butterflies and other insects.

Dr Deborah Long, head of Plantlife Scotland, thinks that the flowers on verges are “stunning”. They are seen by millions everyday, often as they commute to school or work.

She urged people to celebrate the astonishing diversity of flowers on verges. “But there is also something we can do for their future,” she told the Sunday Herald.

“Road verges can act as refuges for wild flowers where plants are left long enough to set seed before cutting. This has double benefits: we conserve those flowers for future generations and it saves councils money by delaying cutting.”

Many road verges didn’t need to be cut, Long said. “Heathers are just coming out now across the Highlands and grow from the road verge right up the mountains and they don’t need any management.”

Catherine Lloyd, co-ordinator of the council-backed Tayside Biodiversity Partnership, stressed that councils were getting better at managing their verges, though there were still problems. “In Perthshire, loss of flowering plants is one of the key causes of declining bee and butterfly populations,” she said. “In many places the verge management does not take this into consideration,” she added. “The all-important consideration is to find funding to help the local authorities manage the verges for biodiversity: they cannot do this alone with the current budget cuts.”

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in Scotland described verges as “massively unappreciated”. According to the society’s species officer, James Silvey, “when tended and cared for properly they should really be seen as wildlife highways that can attract a rich diversity of wildlife.”

He added: “With the right management verges can provide homes for small mammals – food for the kestrels and owls that feed on them – and nectar rich highways for our native pollinators.”

Iain Macdonald, a plant specialist with the government wildlife agency, Scottish Natural Heritage, said: “Where safe to do so, there are benefits to allowing plants to flower on roadside verges.”

Argyll and Bute Council, however, pointed out that there were important safety issues involved. “In the interest of the safety of road users we cut our verges earlier in the year – around May – and again at this time of year,” said a council spokesman.

“We do take the utmost care to protect wild flowers and other fauna as we know they make a valuable contribution to the stunning scenery of our area.”

TABLE: 10 plants you can spot now on road verges

Meadowsweet

Harebells

Knapweed

Meadow cranesbill

Ragwort

Red clover

Willow herb

Poppies

Heather

Devil’s bit scabious