'He is the heartbeat of this place' - I meet Sefton Park Palm House’s gardener

Gardner Colin Hughes has planted every plant in the Palm House except the 125-year-old palm tree.

Sefton Park Palm House's 'Meet the Gardener Tour' is led by Colin Hughes, who has worked as the botanic gardener in the building for 30 years.

Louise Reynolds from the Palm House told LiverpoolWorld: "He's kind of out of sight a lot of the time, but really, he is the heartbeat of this place and has been for many, many years."

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She continued, "He originally put these plants in over 30 years ago, but he has been gardening or in horticulture for about 40 years for the council, so he has a wealth of knowledge. He knows everything about everything within this building. He is the man you need to talk to if you want to know anything about any of the plants."

Colin is one of only four skilled gardeners looking after the Liverpool Botanical Collectionplaceholder image
Colin is one of only four skilled gardeners looking after the Liverpool Botanical Collection | Local TV

Colin has planted every plant in the Palm House except the 125-year-old palm tree, which miraculously survived a raging storm, even when there were no glass panes in the Palm House to protect it!

Colin is one of the city's only four skilled botanical gardeners looking after the Liverpool Botanical Collection. Some of the plants growing here today are part of the historic Liverpool Botanical Collection, one of the oldest in Britain. It was founded in 1802 by William Roscoe with the aim of furthering scientific knowledge and discovering plants that could benefit Britain's developing industries and population. Roscoe had over 4,000 plants shipped to Liverpool's docks by Victorian plant hunters.

First opened to the public in 1896, people who had never set foot outside of Liverpool could stroll under its glass domes and marvel at exotic plants from far-away lands.

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