Rising temperatures in the spring and unpredictable autumns are making the huge task of restoring the UK’s lost meadows even more challenging, the National Wildflower Centre (NWC) has warned.
The centre, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary next month, champions projects aimed at reviving wildflower-rich meadows, 97% of which have been lost in the past 80 years.
But Juliet Rose, the head of development at the Eden Project, where the NWC is based, said changing weather patterns due to the climate emergency were making it harder to find a slot to sow wildflower seed.
She said: “We have seen sowings fail or plants showing increasing signs of distress when planted in spring – especially through those hot springs we had in the pandemic and this year. If you sow in spring the plants can fry.
“When the National Wildflower Centre started, they would have had two clear windows in which to sow seed: early autumn and spring. What we have seen is an increase in the risk for spring plantings to fail, especially if you can’t control the watering regime.”
This year has been particularly difficult after the Met Office said the UK had experienced an unprecedented season of warmth and sunshine in spring 2025.
But Rose said: “Autumn is also becoming unreliable as more unpredictable weather patterns have led to very wet periods, which can make it hard to get seed in the ground. The growing window is being squeezed at both ends.
“Species that we see that are particularly vulnerable to climate change include primrose, cowslip and yellow rattle, all of which require cold periods in order to trigger germination. Through conversations with other growers we know that several of them have seen lower yields of perennial harvests this year as a result of the very hot spring.
“We need more research to help us better understand and account for the impacts of climate change on wildflower habitat creation, in particular the impact of temperature rise and shifts in rainfall patterns.”
The Guardian was invited to the NWC greenhouses – set on high ground above Eden’s giant biomes – to mark the 25th anniversary.
They are currently drying seed harvested from a farm on the Cornish coast. Once dried, a machine is used to separate the wildflower seed from unwanted material. The seeds are sorted into sacks, with cornflower, corncockle, corn marigold and ribwort plantain ready to be planted out this autumn.
Though the climate change warnings are sobering, Rose remains optimistic. The key aim of the NWC, founded as a millennium project, was to involve more people, from a wide variety of backgrounds, in restoration projects.
Rose said there was a huge joy in broadcasting seed. “Anyone can sow seeds. It’s a way of connecting with other people around you and connecting with your ancestors. In the news, everything is going to hell in a handcart but this is something meaningful we can do. I’ve not met someone who doesn’t like sowing seed.”
Individuals, communities, businesses, local authorities and non-governmental organisations are helped to sow wildflowers in fields, churchyards, roundabouts, business parks, housing estates.
Projects in Cornwall include planting more than 10,000 devil’s-bit scabious along one of the main roads to help boost the population of the threatened marsh fritillary butterfly.
It has sowed wildflowers in inner-city Liverpool wards including Toxteth, Sefton and Anfield and has worked with the Canary Wharf Partnership to take wildflowers to London Docklands. During a session in Dundee, parkrun participants stopped to grab handfuls of seed and scattered seed as they jogged.
Sam Alford, the head of nature connections at the Eden Project, works with a wide variety of people on planting projects including military veterans and people suffering from physical and mental illnesses. “You can see slumped shoulders rising, you can see confidence building and the excitement of seeing something grow. It’s wonderful.”
