Roy Lancaster opens Plant Heritage stand

Plant Heritage is delighted to announce that esteemed plantsman Roy Lancaster will officially launch the Plant Heritage Veitch display on Monday 21st May at 8.15am.

Roy Lancaster, who has been an inspiration to gardeners and plant collectors worldwide, will open the exhibit in the Great Pavilion, which celebrates the life of Sir Harry Veitch VMH.

Plantsman, writer, lecturer and broadcaster, Roy Lancaster, who has travelled all over the world exploring new plants, said that Sir Harry Veitch was one of his heroes.

“Without Sir Harry Veitch and the plant hunters his company employed, our gardens would be all the poorer,” he said. “He was a man for his time.”

The exhibit will tell the story of Sir Harry Veitch, the major contribution he made to horticulture, and display a selection of the plants introduced by the Veitch plant hunters.

Visitors to Chelsea will see some of the well known plants Veitch introduced including, trees and shrubs such as the Umbrella Pine, Monkey Puzzle, Myrtle, Beauty Bush and Chinese gooseberry, later known as the kiwi fruit. Herbaceous favourites including Lilium regale, Astilbes and Echinops ritro will also be featured.

Plant Heritage is indebted to our generous sponsors and thanks them for their financial support and huge interest in this exciting story.