Are you ready to start a National Plant Collection?

The missing collections campaign asks people with a passion for plants to start a National Plant Collection of their own, and join Plant Heritage in growing, sharing and saving plants.

Every year we highlight much-loved plant groups that are currently not represented by an accredited National Plant Collection and this year we are focussing on pollinator-friendly plant groups. Thanks to this campaign, in recent years we have seen new collections coming through for Eryngium, Verbena, Alcea, Ginkgo, Thalictrum, Tradescantia and Aeonium. 

In addition to this year's choice, there are actually several groups of garden plants grown in the UK that are not showcased in a collection. So, whether you're curious about plants, big or small, we are confident that there will be a plant group to suit your passion.

The 15 missing collections highlighted for 2024:

Agastache: Relatives of sage and mint, these up-and-coming plants are best suited to sunny, well drained borders and are magnet for larger pollinators such as bees and hoverflies.

Argyranthemum: Often grown in pots, their large daisy shaped flowers add bursts of colour from late spring to the first frosts. Their long blooming season attracts a range of pollinators too, including honeybees.

Baptisia: These sumptuous, upright blooms are relatively easy to grow, with some drought tolerance. A favourite with bees, large hoverflies and other insects.

Caryopteris: Best in a sunny border or gravel garden with free-draining soil, these fluffy blue-purple flowers are striking in late summer and early autumn, providing late-season nectar for butterflies and bees.

Clethra: Also known as Summersweet, these fragrant flowers and their nectar attract a wide variety of butterflies and songbirds in the summer, and seeds in winter.

Coreopsis: This low maintenance plant is suitable in beds, borders and containers. Its aster-like flowers add yellow, pink, cream and red tones, attracting an array of insects.

Gaillardia: Known as Blanket Flowers for their masses of richly coloured, daisy-like flowers in vivid shades of red, yellow and orange. Perfect for a wildlife garden, they bloom from late spring to early autumn and appeal to butterflies, bees, beetles and birds for their seeds.

Ligularia: Another daisy-like flower, these imposing herbaceous perennials are ideal in boggy areas and alongside water features, and cater well for butterflies, bees and hoverflies.

Lysimachia: Related to Primula and Lythrum, they thrive in full sun if the soil remains moist. They form upright dense spikes with yellow or white flowers, and their pollen and nectar attracts many species. Some types also produce floral oils which attract loosestrife bees.

Origanum: Native to the Mediterranean these aromatic plants are perfect in a drought tolerant garden or rock garden, or in a sunny border. They are an outstanding source of nectar and pollen and are often covered in an array of butterflies and the tiny mint moth.

Osteospermum: Also known as Cape Daisy or African Daisy, these long-lasting colourful flowers are beautiful from summer to autumn. Another favourite with pollinators.

Phlomis: These herbaceous perennials and evergreen shrubs are tolerant of dry soils and thrive in sunshine. Their seed heads provide food for birds and make an interesting winter garden feature, too.

Philadelphus: Mock Orange are tall shrubs with rich citrus-scented flowers in early summer. Perfect as a bountiful backdrop to roses with its masses of white flowers, they not only look beautiful but are very easy to grow as they adapt well to most soil types.

Potentilla (herbaceous): This huge but recognisable genus flowers from late spring through to autumn. It’s a favourite of many pollinators and is one of the known food sources for the larvae of the rare grizzled skipper butterfly.

Verbascum: With their distinctive, upright spires of flowers, these pretty perennials (or biennials) – which come in white, yellow, orange, blue or purple – are great for bees, hoverflies and moths.

Interested? Take a look at how to start a National Plant Collection,

or find out more about other collections ideas here.

Contact Us