Scott's Plant Conservation Project

Hello! Thanks for looking at my page.

My name's Scott and I'm a horticulturist based in Glasgow. I have been involved in horticulture for almost seven years now and have been very lucky to study and work with plants and meet likeminded passionate plants people across the UK and internationally.

Some of you may know that I'm a little obsessed with one genus in particular - Bergenia - a group of Central and East Asian plants that have been popular in gardens across the UK for about 150 years.

Background

For the last three years, I have been researching Bergenia in detail and have committed myself to the conservation and study of the genus. In that time, I have built the largest collection of Bergenia globally, with more than 200 plants growing in a horticultural facility in Glasgow. I have personally financed the collection so that I can record the diversity of the species and cultivars, create a digital plant library and conserve living and dried material for future morphological and molecular research, and education.

Bergenia have historically come in and out of fashion over the years. They were popular in the second half of the 20th century in Germany and the UK with many new plants introduced across Europe. These were bred by some of the most famous plants men and women of recent history, such as Rosemarie Eskuche, Karl Foerster and Eric Smith. Today, many of these plants are no longer available in cultivation or trade in the UK and are held only by a small number of specialist plant nurseries across Europe.

There is, however, a resurgence of interest in the genus taking place across the UK at the moment, with many nurseries stocking a wider range of Bergenia than ever before and articles spotlighting the wonderful range of uses of the plants in our gardens appearing in magazines such as Gardens Illustrated and Scotland Grows. I have even been asked to write two articles for the Royal Horticultural Society in 2025 for The Garden magazine and The Plant Review.

Climate Change Research

With rapid changes to our climate affecting how and what we grow across the UK, it is more important than ever to find climate adaptive and resilient plants that can cope with these fluctuating conditions. Bergenia have proven themselves worthy of this challenge. As alpine plants, the species are well adapted to the challenging conditions of the Himalayas and the mountains of Central and East Asia. They have been grown extensively in Beth Chatto's garden for more than 50 years where they have shown remarkable resilience to hot, dry summers in free draining soil in the south of England and have proven adaptable to the heavy clay soils and consistently wet weather in gardens of the West of Scotland.

Due to the range of eco-system services they offer, it is important to research the most well adapted species and cultivars for our gardens in this changing climate. I am committed to recording and experimenting with the widest range of Bergenia available today to find those plants with the traits that can best respond to this challenge. This work will support professional growers, landscapers and designers across the world to find the best Bergenia plants for their garden(s) and support plant trials at gardens here in the UK and Europe, with a new plant trial of Bergenia taking place in Germany from 2026-2029.

Goal

To conserve the broadest range of Bergenia plants available today, I will travel to Italy, Germany and the Netherlands in late April-early May to purchase 33 Bergenia cultivars that have either never entered UK cultivation before or have been lost. To ensure their survival and to distribute material to interested growers, I will bring back x2 of each cultivar (x3 for those requested by nurseries). In total, I expect to bring back circa 75 plants.

The Plant List

Bergenia 'Belvedere'

Bergenia 'Blickfang'

Bergenia 'Carina'

Bergenia 'Carmen'

Bergenia ciliata ssp. ciliata

Bergenia cyanea

Bergenia 'Doppergänger'

Bergenia emeiensis

Bergenia emeiensis hybrid

Bergenia 'Fairytale Romance'

Bergenia 'Flore Pleno'

Bergenia 'Frau Holle'

Bergenia 'Franziska'

Bergenia 'Glockenturm'

Bergenia 'Goldfisch'

Bergenia 'Jessica'

Bergenia 'Joker'

Bergenia 'Pink Frostwork'

Bergenia 'Pinneberg'

Bergenia 'Maikind'

Bergenia 'Monte Rosa'

Bergenia 'Nebellicht'

Bergenia 'Nora'

Bergenia 'Opal'

Bergenia pacumbis 'Piggy'

Bergenia 'Schneeglocke'

Bergenia 'Schneekuppe'

Bergenia 'Simply Sweet'

Bergenia sp. Nepal

Bergenia stracheyi 'Afghanica'

Bergenia 'Tim'

Bergenia 'Traum'

Bergenia 'Vorfrühling'

Import

Due to Brexit, I will need to prepare the plants for import, organise a plant health inspection and secure phytosanitary certificates before entering the UK. This process is lengthy and bureaucratic but if I don't follow the procedure, the plants may be seized and destroyed.

I will be growing the plants on in Glasgow and distributing divisions to nurseries and gardens who are interested in growing them. This will help to strengthen their reintroduction into UK cultivation. As well as growing them in my own collection, I will also include the plants in a forthcoming digital library, to be accessible online, and press cuttings for the herbarium (dried specimens) at RBGE.

Costs

On top of the cost of the plants (c.£350), I will have to pay for the inspections and certificates (£80), travel (c.£350) and accommodation (c.£250). The trip will cost around £1000 in total.

I have set up this page to ask for your support to help me part-fund some of the costs of this trip and bring these wonderful plants to the UK. Not only will your support help advance my research, it will strengthen plant cultivar conservation and allow me to share these rare and unusual plants with a much wider audience.

I greatly appreciate any support you can offer.

Thank-you!