Plant Heritage & National Hosta Plant Collections
- John Plant
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
Founded in 1978, Plant Heritage is a world leading cultivated plant conservation charity, for plants that have been collected, bred or grown in UK gardens.
The UK has a rich horticultural history and is home to a nation of gardeners, but this history doesn’t maintain itself. Plant Heritage aims to conserve and safeguard the UK’s horticultural heritage by keeping living examples of garden plants in the National Plant Collections scheme
Put simply, a National Plant Collection is a registered and documented collection of a group of plants. These can be linked botanically by plant group, or perhaps have a shared history or geography.
National Plant Collections are also made available for people to view, either by appointment, on special open days or as part of a garden open to the public.
They contain about 95,000 plants, held across over 700 collections. Together this represents a huge resource for gardeners, nurserymen, garden designers, researchers, plant breeders and those interested in historical gardens and landscapes. Having these plants part of a registered conservation scheme ensures that they will be a resource for generations to come.
As a fellow Hosta lover we thought we would share the details of one or two fantastic Hosta Collection holders.
The Lakeland Horticultural Society at Holehird Gardens Hold the Mouse Series National Collection
The Hosta Mouse Series was awarded National Collection status by Plant Heritage in September 2022.
This delightful collection of cultivated small and miniature Hosta, are displayed in pots in a purpose built plant theatre alongside other ‘little’ Hostas planted in a raised bed. It is located outside the walled garden, next to the Nicholson bed and can be enjoyed from April to September.
The first Hosta mouse in this series, Hosta ‘Blue Mouse Ears’ was introduced in 2002, a sport of Hosta ‘Blue Cadet’. Hosta ‘Blue Mouse Ears’ have thick, rubbery blue-green leaves on stout petioles that curl inward, a little bit like a mouse’s ear! There are over 70 cultivars in this series to collect, all with different leaf size, colour and characteristics.
Holehird Gardens have a historical link with Beatrix Potter as her family rented the mansion in 1889 and 1895. We think she would love our National Collection of mice as she kept a pet mouse named Xarifa and wrote her popular books about mice - Johnny Town Mouse, Mrs Tittlemouse, the Tailor of Gloucester and Two Bad Mice.
Benjamin Mathews holds the British hybridised introductions (1976-2016) National Collection
Benjamin Matthews has collected Hostas in Worcestershire for the last 20 years, having loved them from childhood. Upon meeting Una Dunnett, who lived just two miles away and had a collection of British Hostas, he began helping her in her garden. In 2019 Benjamin took on Una’s collection, and as a result he now has a growing collection, specialising in British hybridised introductions.
June Colley holds two Hosta National Collections: European & Asiatic + forms, vars. & interspecific hybrids
The garden includes two National Collections of over 1750 Hosta cultivars along with a NC of Hemerocallis spp. All displayed in several garden settings including an English Garden, a Waterfall and Stream Garden and an Islamic Garden. Note only open by Appointment.
James Davies from Leeds City Council holds the Large Leaved pre 2000 National Collection
Golden Acre Park is an incredible 179 acres of mature woodlands and gardens surrounding a beautiful lake.
Set between Leeds popular northern suburbs Adel and Bramhope. Golden Acre Park comes alive with nature's vibrant colours throughout the spring and autumn.
This is just a small selection of the Hosta National Collections, we will feature some more in our monthly newsletters.
There are plant 724 collections, for a whole host of genus, not just Hostas, all registered on the Plant Heritage site. There are 13 individual Hosta collections registered covering from Miniatures to British Introductions, amongst others.
You can even go so far as to support the Plant Heritage charity by donating or sponsoring. To find out more take a look and click the links.
You can see some of these collections as many of them are open to the public. Go to their website for more information. Search the National Plant Collections from Plant Heritage
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John Plant
Rewela Hostas
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