More than half of garden plants previously grown in the UK are no longer offered for sale, as flower fashions and modern gardening trends have reduced the diversity of blooms, according to Plant Heritage. The charity is urging the public to choose unusual plants for their gardens and even start national collections of rare blooms to prevent cultivated plants from dying out.
Plant Heritage is exhibiting its first show garden at the Chelsea Flower Show in May to raise awareness of at-risk plants and encourage a wider variety of flowers. The homogenisation of gardens, with people choosing the same generic varieties from garden centres, could negatively impact nature and biodiversity, the charity warned.
Of more than 133,000 cultivated plants assessed by Plant Heritage, over half are no longer reliably offered for sale in the UK, and one in six are recorded in only one or two locations. A spokesperson said: “Nurseries only stock a limited range and what’s in fashion changes, so keeping plants safe relies on people valuing what they have in their garden or public parks. We don’t treat plants as precious heritage in the same way we do objects.”
Gardens are getting smaller and increasingly paved over, and many people do not know how to propagate plants, leading them to buy easy-to-grow varieties. A diversity of plants is important for garden wildlife, as many cultivated flowers provide shelter and food, such as berries and seeds. The charity runs national collections that safeguard certain species, some of which are extinct in their home countries, like Brugmansia (Angel trumpets) at Kew Gardens.
The Chelsea garden will feature examples of “living libraries” from national plant collections, alongside plants still needing a “missing collector,” such as Aquilegia and Verbascum. Gwen Hines, Plant Heritage’s chief executive, said: “We hope to inspire more people to join our growing community in safeguarding our nation’s favourite plants. Whilst plants in your garden may appear safer than those in the wild, they can still be at risk, so it’s crucial that we protect our garden plants.”
