National Plant Collections – Plant Heritage

National Plant Collections began as recently as the 1970s and attempt to conserve endangered garden plants. These collections are co-ordinated by Plant Heritage – formerly known as the National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens (NCCPG) throughout the UK.

Plant Heritage was founded as a registered charity in 1978 to combine the talents of botanists, horticulturalists and conservationists with the dedication of keen amateur and professional gardeners. Its aims are to: encourage the propagation and conservation of cultivated plants in the British Isles; encourage and conduct research into cultivated plants, their origins, their historical and cultural importance and their environments; help to educate the public in cultivated plant conservation.

Through its membership and the National Collection Holders, Plant Heritage seeks to rediscover and reintroduce cultivated plants by encouraging their propagation and distribution so that they are grown as widely as possible.

Plant Heritage has a membership of around 8,500 amateurs and professionals, organised into 41 county-based groups under the leadership of a Council comprising distinguished scientists, horticulturists and amateur gardeners. There are currently over 620 National Collections in the British Isles, involving some 320 genera and 100,000 plants.

Some collections are very large; for example 2,500 Narcissus and 1,800 Dahlias, whilst others are small; 6 Malmaison Carnations and 30 Photinia. We come across many of the National Plant Collections on our tours.

Plant Heritage