Great British Garden Revival episode 1

Great British Garden Revival episode 1: Monty Don is on the campaign trail for wildflowers. Ninety-eight per cent of wild flower meadows have been lost since the first part of the 20th century, a shocking statistic which he believes all gardeners can do something about. On his revival, he tries his hand at making hay the old-fashioned way in a coronation meadow, visits the largest biodiversity hotspot in the world – Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank – and shows how to grow wildflowers, even without a garden.

Meanwhile, Joe Swift is determined to return the nation’s front gardens to their former glory. He bases his campaign at the award-winning Rockcliffe Avenue in Whitley Bay and shares his tips on how to transform front gardens in a few simple steps. He also discovers that greener streets reduce pollution and hits the road to get the message across in his Great British Plant Giveaway.

Great British Garden Revival episode 1

A wildflower (or wild flower) is a flower that grows in the wild, meaning it was not intentionally seeded or planted. The term implies that the plant probably is neither a hybrid nor a selected cultivar that is in any way different from the way it appears in the wild as a native plant, even if it is growing where it would not naturally. The term can refer to the flowering plant as a whole, even when not in bloom, and not just the flower.

“Wildflower” is not an exact term. More precise terms include native species (naturally occurring in the area, see flora), exotic or, better, introduced species (not naturally occurring in the area), of which some are labelled invasive species (that out-compete other plants – whether native or not), imported (introduced to an area whether deliberately or accidentally) and naturalized (introduced to an area, but now considered by the public as native).

In the United Kingdom, the organization Plantlife International instituted the “County Flowers scheme” in 2002, see County flowers of the United Kingdom for which members of the public nominated and voted for a wildflower emblem for their county. The aim was to spread awareness of the heritage of native species and about the need for conservation, as some of these species are endangered. For example, Somerset has adopted the Cheddar Pink (Dianthus gratianopolitanus), London the Rosebay Willowherb (Chamerion angustifolium) and Denbighshire/Sir Ddinbych in Wales the rare Limestone Woundwort (Stachys Alpina).