Plant Guardian scheme- upright Ivies.

Our Plant Guardians play an important role in conserving rare and unusual plants. Their support in growing hard-to-find plants and recording them on the Plant Guardian scheme enriches our knowledge and encourages the sharing of plant material through our annual plant exchange. We are delighted to hear the stories about the rare and unusual plants …

Plant Guardian scheme – Backhouse Lilies.

To aid the conservation of cultivated plants it is important that we keep them growing in gardens (and on windowsills!), this is where our plant guardians offer such valuable support to Plant Heritage.  By growing plants that are not readily available in commerce and recording these plants with our Plant Guardian scheme our members are …

A Camellia’s Connections

Several recent registrations onto the Plant Guardian scheme have served as a reminder that often cultivars are named in recognition, or remembrance of, significant individuals in the lives of those engaged in breeding and raising plants. One such example is Camellia × williamsii ‘Elizabeth Anderson’ raised by Dr Hazley Anderson of Cobley Camellias, Birmingham and …

Members Day 2023 in Bristol

The Plant Heritage Members Day for 2023 was at the Wills Hall Conference Centre, in Bristol, just across from Bristol Botanic Gardens. The Centre was large enough for the talks, food and refreshments, and the annual plant exchange too, which also spilled out onto the terrace. Some passing students were lucky to be given a …

Rare Plant of the Month: Salvia ‘Rodbaston Red’.

One of the benefits of the Plant Guardian scheme is that it often draws our attention to other hard-to-find plants.   Through the research we undertake when registering plants onto the scheme we often discover other, equally rare cultivars that are at risk to being lost in cultivation. Currently registered onto the scheme is Salvia ‘Rodbaston …

Plant Guardians – Conservation in action.

A recent registration by one of our Plant Guardians has showcased good practice in the conservation of cultivated plants. Gary Firth, and Gill Mathers of The Mathers Foundation, share with us their recent experience of conservation in action. ‘The first time that Maria and I came across flowering orchids in cultivation was during our honeymoon …

Collection Holder’s Conference 2022

We held our fourth National Collection Holders’ Conference at Chester Zoo on the 3rd and 4th November 2022. Feedback from previous conferences had requested more talks from Collection Holders, so this year the floor was handed over to them entirely. There were presentations from 12 National Plant Collections, covering a broad range of topics and …

Historic Irises

It has been pleasing to see a number of historic irises recently registered onto the Plant Guardian scheme. Many of these are so rarely grown now, that the only evidence we currently hold of them being grown in the UK or Ireland at all, is an Award Iris Nurseries catalogue from 1949.  This ‘first known …

Plant Guardians – rare plant of the month.

It is always a delight to see new Plant Guardian plants registered from our annual members’ Plant Exchange.  If you have received rare or unusual plants through the plant exchange,  we would appreciate you taking a moment to record your eligible Plant Guardian plants onto the scheme: http://bit.ly/PlantGuardians.  The number of plants now registered from …

Rare plant of the month – Tropaeolum majus ‘Hermine Grashoff’ & ‘Margaret Long’

It was a delight to see two double-flowered trailing nasturtiums registered onto the Plant Guardian® scheme in 2021.  Having grown these for container use in the past, it was a joy to have the opportunity to discover more of their origins. The earliest citation we have been able to locate for Tropaeolum majus ‘Hermine Grashoff’ is …