The Plant Heritage Missing Collector Garden

The garden

Plant Heritage’s Missing Collections campaign inspired the concept of ‘The Missing Collector’: a mysterious plant enthusiast who has left behind an extraordinary collection. Vignettes of jewel-toned plants nestled within lush green foliage offer visitors a rare glimpse of this treasured botanical archive. Here, intriguing cultivars of Thalictrum, Polypodium and Aspidistra await discovery alongside “missing” plants such as Verbascum, Deschampsia, and Aquilegia.

Inspired by museum display cases, stone drawers within a raised platform create unusual planting opportunities, while stone pillars frame the space, resembling stacked reference books. An unoccupied chair invites visitors to imagine themselves as collector and guardian, posing the question: “Could you be The Missing Collector?”

Key plants

The planting scheme features jewel coloured plants set against lush and structural green foliage.

• Acer buergerianum – an underused and climate resilient Acer with trident shaped leaves
• Boehmeria tricuspis – unusual variety with red stems that will enhance the colour palette
• Aquilegia vulgaris var. stellata ‘Ruby Port’ – dark red flowers in late spring to early summer with yellow stamens, carried on dark stems
• Geum ‘Blazing Sunset’ – tall and long flowering cultivar
• Athryium otophorum var. okanum – beautiful adaptable fern, which should be more widely grown

Plants supplier: How Green Nursery Ltd, New Wood Trees, Collendoorn, together with plants donated by National Collection Holders.

Sustainability notes

The platform, drawers and pillars are made from reclaimed sandstone sourced locally to the relocation site. The garden also features English oak from sustainably managed woodland within the Grosvenor Estate, just ten miles from the relocation site. Crushed gravel will be used for jointing between oak setts and sub-bases will be created using recycled crushed masonry. The garden will also be cement-free.

The designers – The Planting Design Collective: Sally-Anne Rees, Kate Campbell and William Murray

The Planting Design Collective brings together three garden and planting designers – Sally-Anne Rees, Kate Campbell and William Murray. The trio met while studying planting design at the London College of Garden Design and formally joined forces in 2024, debuting with a collaborative planted border at the RHS Hampton Court Garden Festival.

Working together allows the Collective to combine different creative approaches and individual expertise. Their shared aim is to champion the art of planting design and to highlight its vital role in creating gardens and planting schemes that are both beautiful and enduring.

About the charity – Plant Heritage

Their mission is to protect special garden plants across the UK so they can be enjoyed today and by future generations. Together with their members, they are safeguarding nearly 100,000 different plants through flagship conservation schemes: the National Plant Collections® and the Plant Guardians®

Garden legacy

The garden will be relocated to Chester Zoo.