Horticultural conservation charity Plant Heritage has awarded National Plant Collection status to the UK’s first pub and prison.

Pub owner Jemma Wiggins tending to her Crocosmia National Plant Collection.
Credit Jemma Wiggins

The White Hart, a village pub located between Bristol and Bath, and HMP Eastwood Park, a prison and young offender institution for women to the north of Bristol, hold prize collections of Crocosmia cvs and Tulbaghia respectively.

Both now join over 700 ‘living libraries’ located across the UK and Ireland, from gardens and greenhouses, to plant nurseries and public parks.

Plant Heritage says the pair’s accreditation shows that “anyone with a passion for plants can take an active role in plant conservation, and that National Plant Collections can be held anywhere.”

The White Hart pub is home to nearly 200 varieties of Crocosmia, including rare cultivars such as ‘Zeal remembrance.’ The now recognised collection is cared for by the Pub’s owners, Jemma Wiggins and her husband James Smith.

Miss Wiggins says the pair are “over the moon” to be the first pub in the UK to have a National Plant Collection.

She goes on to say the ever growing collection is “accessible to everyone” 365 days a year.

Prisoners at HMP Eastwood Park caring for the Tulbaghia National Plant Collection.
Credit HMP Eastwood Park

While HMP Eastwood Park’s collection of Tulbaghia is currently cared for by two female prisoners and the institution’s horticultural craftsman, Gary Stone.

The prisoners have learnt to care for the collection, which consists of 11 different species of Tulbaghia, including repotting, labelling and helping with the paperwork involved.

Stone says: “I always wanted to be the first UK prison to hold a National Plant Collection so I’m incredibly proud that together with our prisoners we have achieved this.

“We hope our achievement will encourage other prisons to take an active role in plant conservation too.”

To see the full list of National Plant Collections, visit: www.plantheritage.org.uk