Work to save Nottingham's flower from decline

A flower named for Nottingham is getting a helping hand to flourish after years of decline.

The Nottingham crocus is believed to have been introduced to the UK by medieval monks for either culinary or medicinal purposes.

It flourished in the Trent Valley, and fields of the blooms in the city's Meadows area became a Victorian tourist attraction, before development destroyed many of its natural habitats.

Now volunteers from the Green Guardians group have highlighted their work in spreading the flowers to maintain healthy populations.

The lilac-coloured flowers come in two varieties - spring and autumn - with the earlier variety being an important early food source for emerging insects and bees.

Helen Wildman, from the Green Guardians, said: "It's our county flower, so for example, Lancashire has the red rose, we have the crocus.

"They weren't brought here specifically but became so abundant they developed a real 'wow' factor.

"In Victorian times people came to view them, rather like the big fields of tulips in the Netherlands.

"They are culturally important - there have been paintings and poetry, they feature in World War One poetry talking about the battlefields of France."

But the flower has struggled with a changing environment.

Recent surveys, which record sightings in 1km (0.62 miles) squares, show that prior to 2003, the Nottingham Spring Crocus was recorded in 24 of these squares.

Between 2004-2013 this had decreased to 18 and then 10 from 2014-2023.

The flowers do not grow well in greenhouses so efforts to spread them must be done in the natural environment.

Green Guardian volunteers are clearing dead bracken to help the crocus flourish, encouraging it to spread naturally.

Ms Wildman said: "Part of the project is to identify what we call donor sites where we can take a few and not affect the population negatively.

"Over the past few years we have taken them from these select sites and replanted them in suitable areas."

The Nottingham crocus can be seen on the University of Nottingham's Park campus, the General Cemetery, the Arboretum, Wollaton deer park and - in small patches - in its most famous home of The Meadows housing estate.

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