Making contact with Plant Heritage

@PH spring prop meeting 2017

On Wednesday I attended the Hampshire Group Meeting of Plant Heritage. It was a lovely social event where Rosie Yeoman taught us about spring propagation at Lynsey Pinks' House. I definitely crashed the average age by far as all other members were 60+ and I felt like the black sheep at first. But everyone made me feel welcome and it turned out a very nice afternoon with new friends.

Very fortunately our Hampshire chairman Doug Smith also joined us so I found myself surrounded by quite a few committee members. I breached the subject of Tricyrtis and was able to ask a few questions. Rosie pointed me towards Sophie Leguil and was delighted to hear about my interest of Tricyrtis as there is indeed a lack of conservation on that front.

After contacting Sophie I found out there have been previous National Collections of Tricyrtis in the past, one in Gloucestershire and one in Carmarthenshire, both no longer exist, yet there might be a small chance of exchanging knowledge perhaps. As mentioned before, Crûg Farm is also a good place to enquire about more details on Tricyrtis, as well as Beeches Nursery in Essex seem to have a good range of Tricyrtis on offer, some of which seem unavailable otherwise.

Sophie also mentioned a French nursery which offers an extensive range of Tricyrtis. I had only a brief look at their online catalogue so far and I found some new names which are not on any of the RHS lists or Plant Lists. I think I will focus on British sources first and will look at French or German growers when I am more familiar within the Tricyrtis subject. At the moment it feels overwhelming as my brain is trying to sort the flood of information into a more structural system.

I have sent emails to varies people, hoping they are happy to answer some of my many questions. Of course, I would much prefer talking to them in person. I am impatiently waiting until May when I head towards Wales, however, at present I am unable to make it to Essex.

With Plant Heritage being contacted and informed about my intend to collect Tricyrtis I feel the pressure is now on and no turning back. This whole project is very thrilling. I am excited to meet professional colleagues and make new friends.

Plant Guardian Scheme

When considering to start a National Plant Collection, sometimes people may already own a few specimen. More often than not, however, people would like to start a collection without any previous accumulation of specimen and the thought of holding an official National Collection is only vague (or daunting). Quite often the first thought is just to collect for the joy of it, rather than with a purely scientific aim.

So not surprisingly I fall into that same category. I would like to start a Tricyrtis collection mostly for the fun of it, so that I can enjoy their diverse beauty in my own private garden. As I would love to learn more about this genus I would then be able to study specimen more in depth right in my backgarden. The thought of making that a National Collection is more a long term goal, thinking years ahead. Although of course, I am very interested in how this whole Collection business works, hence my research so far.

Since 2013 Plant Heritage offers a small scale conservation scheme, where members can register as Plant Guardians. This scheme appeals to those that are not able (or simply do not wish) to cultivate an extensive range of plants within a genus and merely focus on just one ore two species (or cultivars). The only requirement here is that the plant has to be rare of course, so it supports the conservation of that particular plant.

There is a list published on the Plant Heritage Website with entries of all the rare plants which have been added under the Plant Guardian scheme. Interestingly there is not a single Tricyrtis entry to be found.

My thought process takes me towards this scheme at the moment, since I don't own a collection as such yet and only have a couple of rare species in my garden, I am considering registering as Plant Guardian.... I will keep you posted.

Detailled Requirements to Consider

Apart from the passion for a specific plant and a keen willingness to research information about that plant, there is a little bit more required if you want to pursuit registering a National Plant Collection.

First of all you should become a member of Plant Heritage, that really goes without saying. Make yourself familiar with your local group within the organisation and perhaps start talking to fellow collectors and committee members. They usually have lots of passion for their own collection, but most of all can share their experience first hand as they went through the same process.

If you are still determined to make your plant collection official, then follow these steps as stated on the NCCPG website:

1. Fill in a simple Proposal form and send it back to Plant Heritage. At this stage you do not need to have a large collection of plants. Do have a look at our detailed Information sheet.
2. Get in touch with your local coordinator who will be able to help you through the process, or with our friendly Conservation team.
3. The Proposal is passed on to our Plant Conservation Committee who will provide advice, direction and contacts.
4. Once the collection is ready you will be able to fill an Application form, which gives a full picture of the collection: types of labels and records, local climate, facilities, contacts with other growers, research undertaken, etc.
5. Your local coordinator will visit and review your collection so that it can be presented a second time to the Plant Conservation Committee, who will decide to award you National Collection status.

(I would imagine that sounds more scary than it really is. I will happily share my personal experience on that matter when it comes to that. For now I am still researching... so please read on.)

From the NCCPG twitter

OK, so now we know what to do in what order. But still not quite sure what exactly is involved to run a National Collection. I will enlighten you. These detailled requirements have been copied from the application form which can be found on the Plant Heritage Website.

• The applicant must check that they have chosen the most appropriate Category for the Collection, a Collection may cover more than one category, but one must be selected as the primary one.
• A substantial number of the available taxa within the agreed scope should be held in the Collection, as determined by prior agreement with the Plant Conservation Committee.*
• Applicants and Collection Holders are encouraged to ensure that their Collection is as complete as possible within the agreed scope.
• There is no minimum number of taxa to be held in a Collection but for species where there is limited taxonomic diversity, a greater level of genotypic or geographic diversity would be expected.*
• In most cases the Collection should include at least 3 plants of each taxon for annuals, tender and hardy perennials, and at least 1 for trees & shrubs, with evidence of on-going propagation.*
• The plants should be, within reason, free from pests & diseases and physiological disorders.
• The site should be weed free and allow sufficient space for the development of the Collection.
• Cultural practices should be appropriate to the Collection and the area.
• The plants should be in a permanent position and the Collection needs to have been established for a certain amount of time before it can be considered by the Plant Conservation Committee.
Guideline establishment periods:
• 2-5 flowering seasons – annuals, herbaceous plants;
• 3-5 growing seasons – fast growing trees & shrubs;
• 5-10 growing seasons – slow growing trees and shrubs.
• Labelling must be permanent and visible to visitors, including name and accession number as a minimum. A robust back-up labelling system is required in case of the loss of labels. If security is a problem, plants may be numbered in conjunction with interpretative material for visitors.
• The minimum amount of information held in the Collection records should be the full name of the plant, accession number, date of acquisition and source. Collector’s numbers and changes in nomenclature should also be included if appropriate.
• A written succession plan detailing what will happen to both plants and records should the Collection Holder be unable to maintain them.

Also to consider:

• A Collection Holder agrees to grant reasonable access (paying or not) at relevant times of year through open days or by appointment; and access at any time of year for authorised officers of Plant Heritage by prior agreement.
• Within reason and in accordance with national and international legislation, the Collection Holder agrees to provide material, either plants or propagules to Plant Heritage or bona fide individuals, commercially, by exchange or as a gift.

What it takes to start a National Plant Collection?

You may wonder what it actually involves to start a National Plant Collection (NPC). Is it enough to simply add new species or cultivars to your garden? Well, it is a little more scientific than that. Equally, it is not overwhelmingly technical either.

The Plant Heritage website unfortunately is not too informative on that subject until you dig deeper. The application form for a NPC gives a lot more detail, although many would not necessarily look here when they are only at the very beginning of 'maybe having a NPC'. So for those that may not pursuit this idea with full steam but are generally interested in the subject will not find comprehensive information without more in depth research.

'This conservation scheme relies largely on your research.'

And that is already the essence of preparing for a NPC. This conservation scheme relies largely on research. How else would you know what to collect and which plants are rare or endangered? In depth research is required at all times and therefore also the knowledge of how to acquire genuine information.

Nowadays research could not be easier. The internet enables us to access everybody and everything. Countless amounts of files and data is stored on online servers to provide the whole globe with shared knowledge, historical facts and personal experience.

I dare to imagine what research must have been like 50 years ago. Computers were not available to the general public. Only libraries collected knowledge in form of books and magazines, yet most libraries would only have very limited if any information on specific topics such as rare and endangered plants. Even today libraries are poorly stocked on that matter as it is far too specific and rarely demanded by library general users.

Specific scientific knowledge on rare topics requires specific libraries which offer such information. I only know of one library in England that would fulfill such expectations: the library at Kew Gardens in London.

Library at Kew Gardens, London, UK

It is indeed one of the most important botanical reference sources in the world. Not only books are available, this library also stores botanical illustrations, photographs, letters, manuscripts, periodicals, many of which are many decades old and origin from the colonialistic age when botanic expeditions frequently set out to explore the world. Letters and journals tell stories about incredible adventures and how botanists saw the plant world in those days. Many descriptions and most of all plant names have been revised (and potentially changed) since, so a lot of the information might be difficult to match up with knowledge we know today.

So despite the internet being a fantastic tool when it comes to research, some written knowledge is still on paper the 'old fashioned' way. In any case, research is time consuming, not only to find relevant information but also to filter out genuine information amongst the junk which is cluttering the internet, as well as books.

And so it begins... research!

So last night I have done an initial research of Tricyrtis. Rather than just having a dreamy idea I want to determine what it really involves. What is out there? How many Tricyrtis are we talking?

As National Plant Collections (NPC) are heavily relying on the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) and their annually published plant finder, I looked up how many entries of Tricyrtis the RHS lists. 163 results for Tricyrtis, that includes species, hybrids, varieties or cultivars which have been grown for ornamental purposes and have been or still are commercially available.

163 sounds a lot to start with (although nothing in comparison to other genera, thinking of the endless Iris or Rose cultivars out there), but at a closer look it is actually much less. Many entries refer to a synonym which means in fact several entries are copies of each other.

I copied every single entry into my Excel file, where I will start collating all the information. Now I will compare those entries with a search on The Plant List, a collaboration of all major botanic gardens which lists every known latin plant name. For lazy reasons I will refer to that as the 'Kew list'.

So this is Kew's list for Tricyrtis. It basically includes every single species of Tricyrtis ever known, discovered or described and also includes all synonyms and name changes. That should enable me to cross out synonyms and filter relevant names and species. But the Kew list does not count garden varieties and cultivars. Therefore Kew 'only' provides a comprehensive list of Tricyrtis species ever known to us, whereas the RHS gives an indication of cultivars ever known to us.

Screenshot of Tricyrtis Search on the Plant List

After that I will look back at the RHS search to determine which of those entries are still available on the market (supplied). In the end I should have quite a good idea of the current Tricyrtis situation. Which species and cultivars exist, which ones are readily available and which ones are rare or only growing in the wild and not in cultivation at all. Wish me luck.

I need 48hr days...

Conservation through Cultivation

Plants as we know them today will be very different tomorrow. As plant breeding continues, fashions come and go, as well as habitat loss in the wild, many plant species and their bred varieties will quietly disappear over time. To collect species and hybrids within a chosen genera in British gardens, those plants and their genes will be kept safe from extinction.
 

" We keep rare plants growing… "

Much like an art collector is accumulating original oil paintings to preserve their superb condition. Or much like a zoo keeps endangered species to ensure their survival.

So with this idea the National Council for the Conservation of Plants & Gardens (NCCPG), or short Plant Heritage, has been founded as a registered charity in 1978. It was "to combine the talents of botanists, horticulturalists and conservationists with the dedication of keen amateur and professional gardeners 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; and encourage the education of the public in cultivated plant conservation."

There are many ways of supporting this scheme. 

One of the easiest ways is probably to sign up and become a member. Just by being a member and joining Plant Heritage in the promotion of plant conservation already helps a lot and comes with a few perks. Once a member one could set up their own NPC by starting to research and collect plants leading towards the application of NPC status. Although this is time consuming and requires a fair amount of passion and space to grow your favourite plants. The more special the plant the better. Or become a plant guardian, where instead of growing many specimen within a genera only one or two rare species or varities are enough for the application. Or simply donate without any further comittments.

More information can be found on the Plant Heritage Website here.