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Digging for Victory by David Fenwick
Many of the older allotmenteers and leisure gardeners in the UK will remember the Second World War and with it, it's 'Dig for Victory Campaign' where both allotments and gardens were turned over solely for the production of food crops. A necessity during those times but one that caused immense problems for our floral heritage. It hasn't yet been established how damaging the 'Dig for Victory Campaign' was in terms of how many of our garden flowers were lost during this period but in estimation the number is probably in the tens of thousands of varieties.
Our affluent Victorian and Edwardian ancestors produced many fine varieties of plants, indeed this enthusiasm for breeding new plants increased during the 1920s and 30s to the extent that more and more better varieties were often produced for sale. Sadly for us plants that were produced during this latter period hadn't the chance to become established in our gardens before the outbreak of war in 1939. Further to this the neglect caused by the Dig for Victory Campaign, lead to the plants becoming more prone to both disease and the severity of our winter climate.
Many, many varieties of plants were once grown on allotments, many of them for cut flower. Chrysanthemums, Gladioli, Pinks, Carnations, Montbretia (Crocosmia), Iris, Phlox and Red Hot Poker (Kniphofia / Tritoma) are just some of the numerous varieties that were commonly grown. In the case of Montbretia some seventy-five percent, three-quarters of the varieties bred before 1939 can be considered either lost completely to gardens or optimistically lost within gardens. Some of these varieties may by chance be grown by individuals because of some charm or some distant reminder of the past. In a lot of cases plants have lost their names over the years, and mostly because of change in garden ownership or neglect. However, the potential and importance of these should not be neglected. Plants that are named, and that have some provenance are very important indeed as these aid not only research into our plant heritage but they give us the building blocks to establish and identify other similar varieties.
Both leisure gardeners and allotmenteers can play an enormous role in helping to conserve our unique Plant Heritage. In order to conserve we must propagate and distribute, but the most vital part of conservation is communication as without the help of the general public or those of a greater concern, many varieties could end up as past relics of a bygone age, and un-necessarily so.
Throughout the UK there are over 700 NCCPG National Plant CollectionsÒ specialising in specific varieties of plant genera. The NCCPG and its National Plant CollectionsÒ Scheme was set up twenty-two years ago as a county-wide drive 'through volunteer membership, to conserve, document, promote and make available Britain's great biodiversity of garden plants for the benefit of horticulture, education and science. Collections are held by private individuals, nurserymen, councils and botanical establishments across the UK. Not all have experienced problems because of the Dig for Victory Campaign for herbaceous and bulbous plant species have probably suffered the most. It is hoped that some of the readership may know of such older varieties or collections of older varieties that may be of great importance to those presently conserving them. Not only will they be conserved, but the potential, is that future generations may be able to enjoy them once more as they once did in the past.
If you can help, please contact NCCPG with the relevant information.
David Fenwick
(National Plant CollectionsÒ Crocosmia with Chasmanthe and Tulbaghia, member of the
Estover and District Allotment and Garden Association, Plymouth)
Address supplied.
NCCPG (National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens)
The Stable Courtyard
Wisley Garden
Woking
Surrey
GU23 6QP
Tel: (01483) 211465
Website: www.nccpg.org.uk
E-mail: collections@nccpg.org.uk
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