17 June 2020

Watch: Our amazing American Prairie

See what our new American Prairie at Wakehurst will look like in this beautiful animation.

By Katie Avis-Riordan

Echinacea purpurea

Only 1% of the iconic sweeping prairies of North America remains today.

To help conserve these diverse, beautiful, and endangered grasslands we are creating a new American Prairie at Wakehurst.

We are collecting native wild seeds, like rough blazing star (Liatris aspera) pale purple coneflower (Echinacea pallida) and little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), to grow in this incredible conservation landscape.

A rich diversity of grasses and wildflowers will immerse you in waves of gentle movement and colour, as twisting pathways will transport you through Atlantic coastal plains to the central tallgrass prairies and the grasslands of the Pacific Northwest.

As a living laboratory for our scientists, it will help them research and understand one of the world’s most threatened ecosystems.

Watch our animation below to see how our American Prairie will transform…

Yellow coneflower (Echinacea) in prairie

Our American Prairie flourishing soon…

Exciting changes are afoot. We are creating a six-acre North American landscape inspired by the country’s sweeping prairies and vibrant grasslands.

Read & watch

    North American prairie wildflowers
    18 April 2020

    11 reasons to create our American Prairie

    Katie Avis-Riordan
    Schulenberg Prairie in The Morton Arboretum, USA
    Play
    20 March 2020

    Watch: Creating our American Prairie from scratch

    Katie Avis-Riordan
    Germinated seed on a petri dish
    1 July 2019

    In Pictures: Plant propagation at Wakehurst

    Meryl Westlake, Sandra Howard, Joanna Wenham