National Wildflower Centre
Part of the Eden Project, the National Wildflower Centre brings biodiversity and delight into lives across the UK.
We are closed Mon 18 – Thu 21 Nov while we sprinkle Christmas magic across Eden. See our fun-filled festive programme here.
Pollinating insects are essential for healthy ecosystems, but they’ve been in dramatic decline over the last 40 years.
Create a Buzz, a pollinator project funded by the Garfield Weston Foundation, raises awareness of the plight of pollinators and helps pollinating insects and their habitats to thrive.
Pollinator Pathmaker is a living sculpture made of plants, designed by Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg for pollinators’ tastes, rather than ours. A custom computer algorithm was used to design the planting pattern. It will be in full bloom from June 2022.
“ I hope we can create the largest ever climate positive artwork together, by planting living artworks for pollinators around the world ”
Check out the map and follow the multimedia trail in the Outdoor Gardens to discover fascinating stories about plants and pollinators.
Wildflowers were once a significant part of the British landscape until WWII when huge amounts of meadow were ploughed for arable farming. Today, they account for less than 1% of the British countryside.
As part of the Create a Buzz project, seven hectares of annual and perennial wildflower meadows have been sown in our Outer Estate by the National Wildflower Centre, based at Eden.
This collaboration, with the Applied Network Ecology group at the University of Exeter, is investigating plant-pollinator interactions on a range of new wildflower habitats grown on different types of waste materials.
During the pandemic, Eden Project Communities and People & Gardens worked with local communities based in Treverbyn, Roche, and St Blazey. Pollinator-friendly plants were distributed via food banks along with instructions on how to create a ‘Buzz Stop’ at home. Eden Project apprentices also transformed local bus stops by installing pollinator friendly plants.
Following a successful trial at Roche Community Primary School, the Eden Schools Team launched Paradise Pastures: a set of creative, pollinator-friendly science lesson plans that can be downloaded for free.