With the Coronation of King Charles III drawing ever closer, we can’t help but wonder how the King’s love of wildflowers may be interwoven into the proceedings of the day? Will any of the rare wildflowers from Highgrove feature?
It is no secret that our new King has a close affinity with nature. Indeed, these ties are reflected in the Coronation Emblem, unveiled last month. The design was inspired by King Charles’ love of the planet, nature, and his deep concern for the natural world. The emblem features flora from all the four nations that make up the United Kingdom – the rose of England, thistle of Scotland, daffodil of Wales and shamrock of Northern Ireland.
In 2012, the future King initiated a project to commemorate the 60th anniversary of HM The Queen’s Coronation. Having read Plantlife’s ‘Our Vanishing Flora’ report which highlighted the enormous loss of the UK’s wildflower meadows, the then HRH The Prince of Wales called for the creation of new wildflower meadows, at least one in every county, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Coronation.
“My Coronation Meadows idea came to me when I read Plantlife’s 2012 report and fully appreciated just how many wildflower meadows had been lost over the past 60 years.
This year, we are celebrating my mother’s coronation so surely there is no better moment to end this destruction and to stimulate a new mood to protect our remaining meadows and to use them as springboards for the restoration of other sites and the creation of new meadows right across the UK.”
– HRH The Prince of Wales, March 2013 –
The Wild Flower Meadow at Highgrove was named as the first of these 60 Coronation Meadows. Designed and developed by Miriam Rothschild in 1982 with a 32-species seed mix, more seed-rich green hay is added each year to introduce new species. The meadow is managed as a traditional hay meadow and is cut in summer for hay and in autumn is grazed by sheep which help to tread seeds back into the ground. Yellow rattle keeps grasses cropped and more than seven types of orchid thrive in the soil.
The Highgrove meadow now contains more than 70 varieties of plants, making it particularly species-rich.
We will need to wait until May to discover just which flowers will make the cut, but regardless of this, we hope that King Charles III will continue to honour his love of wildflowers and bring them into greater prominence.
Interested in taking a look at the Highgrove Wildflower Meadow this spring or summer? You can learn more here and read more about the Coronation Meadows project here.