Our Plant Guardian scheme is a vital part of our work to conserve living, garden plants.Anyone who has a place to grow a plant - indoors or outdoors - using a back garden, greenhouse, allotment or windowsill can be actively involved in the conservation of cultivated plants as a Plant Guardian. This means our members can take part in active conservation without needing to hold a National Collection.
How do Plant Guardians keep rare plants from being lost?
Our plant guardians are doing vital work by growing rare and unusual plants in gardens, greenhouses, allotments and on windowsills across the UK. These plants are defined as 'rare' because they are not readily available from commercial suppliers. This means they can easily disappear - and once a plant has gone, it's gone forever as its genetic code is unique.
It is important to have these rare plants recorded at a known location, which is why we record them in our plant records system Persephone. For conservation purposes, it's also important to duplicate rare plants and to have them growing in more than one location, so if they are lost in one place there is a back up. That’s why we encourage our Plant Guardians to make more of their plants and share them (perhaps through the Plant Exchange and through plant fairs organised by our local groups).
Potentilla 'Velours Pourpre'
V Lloyd-Owen
Francoa sonchifolia 'Doctor Tom Smith'
© Plant Heritage
Suitable plants
You may have a suitable plant already in your care that you’d like to conserve through the scheme, or you might be able to get one from friends or family, or through your local Plant Heritage group or our Plant Exchange. Find out more.
Even if you don't think the plant you are growing is rare, it could be an unfashionable variety that has disappeared from the trade, or be at risk for a number of reasons. It may also be wanted by a National Collection holder (see the list of 'desiderata' plants).
Once you've got your plant, you can record it with us. Our experts will take a look, including to confirm if your plant is rare in cultivation, and get back in touch with you. We record all Plant Guardian plants in our database and publish information about them via our website (with the agreement of their guardian). This helps to spread knowledge about these plants and helps other people who might be looking for special plants. We also share stories through our rare plant blog.
If you have a National Collection, you cannot also register the plants in your collection as Plant Guardian plants, as they are already kept safe in a registered location by being in a collection. Any plants that fall outside of the scope of your National Collection can be registered under the Plant Guardian scheme.
Persephone
Plant Guardians can add information and pictures about their plants to the Persephone plant records system. This helps build a picture of how these plants perform across the country and may be used on the main plant search page.
Watch the short video to show you how.
