The UK's history of collecting, breeding and growing plants means we have a treasure chest in our gardens
There are lots of organisations focused on the conservation of wild plants. Plant Heritage is unique in focusing on the conservation of cultivated plants (sometimes called garden plants although they can also be food, trees and houseplants).
Through our flagship conservation schemes - the National Plant Collections and the Plant Guardians - we're protecting around 100,000 different plants in a living library. This is a great resource for gardeners, garden designers, historians, botanists and researchers alike. It includes well-known varieties as well as rare and unusual specimens no longer for sale, or extinct in the wild.
Why conserve cultivated plants?
Plants are essential for all life on earth. Cultivated plants have been bred for a particular purpose, whether that's their beauty or edible, medicinal or other useful properties. The RHS estimates that there are around 308,000 different cultivated plants, compared to 73,000 species (RHS State of Gardening Report 2025).
Each plant has a unique genetic code, making it impossible to replace if lost. And they are under threat: more than half the named cultivars grown in the UK and Ireland in the past are no longer for sale. Plant Heritage was founded to protect these plants by growing and sharing them, and teaching people about them. We combine the passion of amateur gardeners with the expertise of professional growers and horticultural organisations.
Today, our work is more important than ever, because of the increasing risks from climate change and the nature crisis, as well as new pests and diseases. Protecting plant diversity is good for biodiversity and increases our resilience to future shocks, like extreme weather.
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Delphinium Collection at Temple Newsam, Leeds City Council
Cercidiphyllum collection, Sir Harold Hillier Gardens
Sir Harold Hillier Gardens
The value of our living library
Shared history
Cultivated plants are as much a part of our history as stately homes or priceless objects. They feature in stories, legends, works of art and songs. Protecting them maintains this link to previous generations and different cultures.
Reference and research
By bringing different plants in a group together, they can be compared and researched e.g. to identify climate resilient varieties. Our collection holders can become experts for their plant group, providing advice and inspiration to others. Some have been awarded scientific status to recognise their contribution, including published research.
Tracking down rare plants
Plants go in and out of fashion, and we can sometimes help people to track down plants they're looking for which aren't for sale any more. We also love to hear from people who've got rare plants, so we can add them to our records.
Skills and knowledge
By growing and sharing such a wide range of plants, we're keeping the skills to take care of them and knowledge about them alive too. We run lots of events like workshops, visits and talks.
Future Resource
We’re not all about the past. There are lots of new developments in plant breeding, and the best of these will enrich our gardens and the National Collections for years to come.
GENETIC DIVERSITY WITHIN POPULATIONS OF WILD AND DOMESTICATED SPECIES, IS MAINTAINED
Our global impact
The world of plant conservation is constantly changing and Plant Heritage has a role in supporting this in order to ensure resilience to environmental and societal change.
We were founded under the principle that we should '…conserve the unique gene pool of accumulated variation from centuries of selection and breeding, a resource of great economic potential and heritage value.' (Brickell, 1977).
This need has been strengthened through the Convention on Biological Diversity 2022 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Global leaders agreed on the need to maintain ‘genetic diversity within populations of wild and domesticated species’, with a target by 2030 ‘to maintain and restore the genetic diversity within and between populations of native, wild and domesticated species to maintain their adaptive potential, including through in situ and ex situ conservation’.
National Plant Collections are a great example of ex situ (off site) conservation, by keeping safe plants that are now extinct in the wild, or have become rare in the UK or elsewhere. In this way, they are contributing to global efforts to halt biodiversity loss.
Our partners
