Plants! They feed us, cloth us, produce the oxygen we breath, the medicines we use and the shelters we live in. Where would we be without them....Well, it looks as if we are about to find out. At present, a third of the planet's 320,000 flowering species is under threat and we are likely to lose a quarter of these within the next 50 years.
At present in the UK places like Kew Garden and Wakehurst Place are busily collecting species of plant to preserve them against extinction... rather like a Noah's Ark for plant species. Obviously, I would not suggest that you go out into the countryside and pull up wild plants or collect seeds from them. That would only add to the problems these flowers are already suffering. However, there is something you can do...
Collecting Seeds
Every garden suffers from 'weeds' ie flowers in the wrong place. These may be as common as dandelions or some of the more uncommon varieties. Most people who are concerned about the environment have already set aside a small part of their garden to grow wild, so there will be a number of these wild flowers in this area. However, even in reasonably well tended lawns, flower borders and vegetable gardens, such plants spring up. In this article I want to encourage you to collect your own wild flower seeds.
So, how do you go about this? Well, if you notice a flowering weed in your garden, rather than pulling it up immediately, I want you to allow if to go to seed. This will not create huge problems for you if you pay attention to which of these plants are coming into seed and carefully collect these these seeds before they fall. Once collected these seeds should be stored away in separate containers. (The little plastic containers for film work well, as do baby food jars, carefully washed out.) Keep each species separate and then you can decide which you would like to grow.
Remember never collect these seeds from the wild, only from your own garden.
Growing Seeds
Most of the native species of plant are pretty hardy. It is not the fact that they are not good survivors that is causing their extinction. Instead, they are being squeezed out by garden plants, roads, buildings and other man-made habitat. In order to grow, they need soil (use the soil straight from your garden rather than the potting compost you can find in shops), occasional watering and sunlight.
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