For the 2025 RHS Chelsea Flower Show, Plant Heritage will launch their Missing Collection of 12 pollinator friendly plant groups as a call for passionate gardeners to consider starting a National Plant Collection for their long-term protection.
According to the charity, new Collection Holders will not only play an active, much-needed role in plant conservation, but also join a vibrant community of fellow gardeners – united by a love for growing, sharing and saving plants.
The 12 plant groups in need of a home, include; Armeria, Arbutus, Campanula, Erysimum, Festuca, Osteospermum, Paeonia (tree), Pittosporum, Silene, Trollius, Vinca and Zantedeschia.
“The National Plant Collections are an amazing way to protect the UK’s favourite garden plants for the future. Through our network of passionate members and dedicated volunteers, we are safeguarding 95,000 different plants, but we need to do more and to adapt to climate change. We hope to inspire new Collection Holders to come forward this year and give a new plant group a home,” said Gwen Hines, CEO of Plant Heritage.
At the show, the charity will also celebrate the beauty of the National Plant Collections with National Collection holders, showcasing the coveted Sir Cedric Morris irises to colourful Cosmos. Iris ‘Benton Olive’ (pictured), Paeonia ‘Lemon Chiffon’ and the ‘Ben’ series of azaleas will be on display.
The National Plant Collections can be found in the Plant Heritage zone at in the Floral Marquee (stand GPB 020).
National Plant Collection holder exhibits at RHS Chelsea 2025
Representing Plant Collections, first-time RHS Chelsea exhibitors, Newby Hall will be presenting their Cornus collection, with a Cornus kousa tree as a centrepiece. Glendoick Gardens will feature their Rhododendron collection, showing new varieties bred for colour foliage, and a series of evergreen and deciduous azaleas. A selection of Sarah Cook’s Iris Collection (Sir Cedric Morris Introductions) will be on display, alongside prints of the watercolour paintings from the Florilegium, showing the relationship between art and gardening. In March this year, Cook was awarded a VMH for her outstanding contribution to horticulture.
Other collections on display include 25 bearded irises from Clare Austin Hardy Plants, showcasing the development of flower form and colour over the past 100 years. Alongside them sits a selection of Austin’s early flowering peonie. Jonathan Sheppard will launch new Cosmos cultivars such as ‘Fondant Fancy’, and a range of foxgloves from the Botanical Nursery, the unique collection by Terry and Mary Baker.
After RHS Chelsea, the Plant Heritage Missing Collections 2025 campaign will also be featured at RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival in July.
