Founded in 1978, Plant Heritage works to conserve and safeguard the UK’s horticultural heritage and diversity of garden plants by keeping living examples of rare plants in the National Plant Collections scheme, or with Plant Guardians.
With a distinguished barrister and judge, Sir Roderick Newton was appointed to the High Court in 2024 – a position he held until his retirement in 2023. Presently, with more time on his hands, he has returned to his childhood passion: horticulture.
From a young age, Newton was fascinated by plants and gardening, and he fondly remembers planting the nasturtium Tropaeolum majus ‘Empress of India’ with his grandmother. He never lost the wonder of growing and collecting plants.
At the age of 18 he was offered a place to study horticulture at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, but turned it down to pursue his legal studies and eventual career. Whilst his professional career took a different path, his love and passion for horticultural has remained throughout his life, providing a tonic to his legal career. His personal garden has been a labour of love for over 40 years, derelict when he arrived but now filled with plants, hedges and trees.
Newton has a recognised National Plant Collection® of Iris in his garden, and further back up collections of Iris and historic daffodils. In addition to his plants, he also has an array of animals including numerous Lusitano horses, Deerhound Lurchers and one of the oldest flocks of Norfolk Horn Sheep, for which he played a crucial role in bringing back from the brink of extinction.
A keen supporter of Plant Heritage, Newton is enthusiastic about raising awareness of National Plant Collections® particularly with younger gardeners across the country. He learnt from some of the best gardeners of the day from Valerie Finnis to Christopher Lloyd, all of whom were so generous with their time and encouragement, knowledge and expertise, and hopes that today’s young growers will have the same opportunities.
“I am excited to be the next Chairman of Plant Heritage. I’ve always had a passion for and an interest in plants, never losing the wonder of growing and collecting. I’m honoured to be leading Plant Heritage into our next chapter in safeguarding the existing National Collections and building more. I’m particularly keen to inspire younger growers and gardeners from communities across the country to access the work of Plant Heritage,” said Newton.
During her time as Chairman, Cecilia Bufton has led many transformations for the charity, including the change of name from The National Council for the Conservation of Plants & Gardens to Plant Heritage; supporting an increase in the number of new National Plant Collections to over 730, including the first in a pub and a women’s prison; the launch of the Plant Guardian scheme which encourages people to look after a small number of rare plants; the launch of the Persephone plant recording system which was awarded IT sector charity project of the year in 2023; leading the 45th anniversary celebrations with President Alan Titchmarsh in 2023; and returning to RHS Chelsea in 2024 with a stunning display including the National Collection of Iris bred by Cedric Morris, held by Sarah Cook, alongside florilegium artwork.
Gwen Hines, CEO of Plant Heritage, added: “We’re thrilled to have Roderick take on the chairman role for Plant Heritage, following Cecilia’s excellent leadership. He has a real passion for plants and a lot of knowledge about growing and conserving them. This, combined with his wealth of experience on leadership and governance, makes him the perfect person to lead the charity as we implement our exciting plans for the future.”
