Living library

An important element of National Plant Collections is the role they play in conserving different plant species. Some collections contain plants that would no longer be able to thrive in the wild due to loss of habitat or climate change, for example. But in a collection, these plants are cultivated and nurtured, so they’re protected from eradication. Sometimes it’s the case that an organisation will have a cultivated plant collection with the intention to return them to the wild as part of a conservation programme.

Collections are also a brilliant educational tool. Plant scientists, horticultural specialists and members of the public can all come and see these plants to learn from them. Knowledge sharing between collection holders and specialists within the industry is very common, as well as even sharing specimens and cultivars. This might happen if a collection holder is unable to propagate or find a particular plant for their collection.

Where collections of inanimate objects might require locking items away to preserve them, a plant collection is tended to and nurtured. The impulse behind a plant collection is rarely to simply have the most of a single plant, it’s about making sure every specimen is the best it can possible be and building the reputation of the collection as a whole. Plants are organic and unique – they tell stories of the lands they originated in and the lives they lead wherever they take root. A plant collection is a living monument to legacy, past, present and future.