Wildflowers for the Queen
Royal Photographer Hugo Rittson Thomas has just published a beautiful book called Wildflowers for the Queen. We are very proud to be in it – with some illustrious and Royal neighbours!
Celebrating the Jubilee
Regular visitors will remember that we were invited to join the Coronation Meadows Project in 2013. This was a 3 year project. The idea to reverse the terrible decline of British wild flower meadows came from His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. This project would honour Her Majesty The Queen on the occasion of her Diamond Jubilee.
Protecting wildflower meadows
Plantlife managed the Coronation Meadows Project. It is a charity working nationally and internationally. Their aim to conserve and save wild flowers, plants and fungi. Prince Charles is their Patron.
The Haunn field was chosen as Argyll’s Coronation Meadow. I was so excited attending the launch at Highgrove! Plantlife selected meadows, with an abundance of wild flowers, to be donor meadows. And then went about selecting suitable fields to receive seed to create new, or improve existing, meadows. Sadly I don’t think the project has been as successful in Scotland, in increasing the number of meadows, as in England. But it has raised awareness of their vulnerability.
The Book
Wildflowers for the Queen is a stunning book featuring 20 wildflower meadows across the UK. We are the only Scottish meadow in the book.
Hugo Rittson Thomas is a renowned photographer and his stunning images reflect his considerable visual skill and a deep enjoyment of his subjects. In addition to creating an individual portrait of each meadow, he focusses on one plant from each. The book has a rhythm taking us from one place to another and from one plant to another. Each as important as the other.
Prince Charles wrote the Foreword, with essays from Julian Fellows, Philip Mould, Alan Titchmarsh and others. This is not just a beautiful coffee table book but an important record of a project with a vital message.
Looking at this lovely book on a wet and windy winters day, I am reminded of why we do what we do.
Support Plantlife
You can buy the book direct from Hugo Rittson Thomas here, you can glimpse some of the page layouts too. He is donating profits from the book to Plantlife. Or you can get it direct from Plantlife here.
