Britain’s rarest flower will be closely guarded by security personnel when it goes on display at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show next week. The Lady’s Slipper orchid was thought to be extinct until the 1930s when it was found by chance growing in Yorkshire.
The rare flower has now been brought back from the brink of extinction by experts and is now strictly protected by wildlife laws. It even has its own committee of volunteers (known as the Cypripedium Committee) whose aim it is to look after and protect the species.
The orchid will be included in the Le Jardin de Yorkshire exhibition, promoted by tourism body Welcome to Yorkshire and will be on display all week- but with a cutting reportedly being worth £5,000, the flower will be closely guarded. Talking to the BBC the chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire Gary Verity said: “When you have the UK’s rarest orchid on your garden you need to take every precaution to protect it and we are having those conversations,” chief executive Gary Verity said.
“I’m sure people will flock to see this rare specimen and to learn more about its successful conservation programme.”
The Le Jardin de Yorkshire exhibition celebrates the centenary of both the Chelsea Flower Show and the Tour De France, which is due to run through Yorkshire for the first time in July 2014.
Source: Interflora – Rare Flower to have Own Security at Chelsea Flower Show
