Bulbmania until end of year

Bulbmania - Flowers from the Kew Collection

The Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art
until 3 January

The shimmering azure haze of an English bluebell wood, Wordsworth's host of golden daffodils or the intense purple hues of Kew Garden's own crocus carpet - few sights are more evocative of spring. And when individual bulb flowers are examined more closely, they have their own delicate charms - chequered nodding fritillaries,
highly scented lilies or intricately furled irises.

The beauty of 'bulbs' is celebrated in a new exhibition at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew's Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art. Comprising over seventy paintings, the exhibition focuses on the different forms
of one of the most useful yet stunning groups of plant. From onions and asparagus to tulips and lilies, we eat 'bulbs', admire them, and use them for medicine
(snowdrops, Galanthus species, are used in the treatment of Alzheimer's), but rarely appreciate just how diverse and important they are. This is a timely exhibition aimed
to inspire and inform those looking to plant ready for next Spring.

Artists featured in the collection include the renowned Georg Dionysius Ehret who, born in 1708, was the most highly regarded botanical artist of his time, the
prolific botanical artist Lilian Snelling, and, on a more contemporary note, the award winning Pandora Sellars.

Complementing these works are treasures from The Shirley Sherwood collection, Bulbmaniafififgirf 'Bulbmania -Hidden Treasure', which will include paintings by Carol Guest.

Back in the 17th century, bulbmania took the form of extravagant prices paid for highly prized individual tulips in Europe. Until the middle of the 20th century, some wild bulbs were collected on an enormous scale, with entire populations of relatively common snowdrops (Galanthus species) and Cyclamen species being wiped out.

Today, there are tens of thousands of bulb species around the world, some of which have only been recently discovered, such as Gagea calcicola, from the lily family, identified by Kew and it's partners in Iran. They
are widely threatened by international trade for horticulture, agriculture, tourism, and urban spread.

Areas particularly at risk are those with Mediterranean or strongly seasonal climates, such as the Mediterranean itself, California, the Middle East, or Central Asia.
Some bulbs, such as Snowdrops and Sternbergia, are protected by international laws such as CITES, and there have been steps to make their trade sustainable.

Kew itself is working hard to contribute to the conservation of bulbs, with a new post dedicated to researching their diversity and sustainability.

Professor Stephen Hopper, Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, says, "This exhibition will allow visitors to see the splendour and richness of one of our most well loved plant groups. In the UN's International Year of Biodiversity, Kew's scientists, conservationists and
horticulturists continue to combine forces to understand and conserve the remarkable diversity of bulbs and other plants."

Accompanying Bulbmania will be an exhibition from the work of the Brooklyn Florilegium Society. Celebrating the 10th anniversary of the group, which includes some of America's most respected botanical artists, the exhibition will show some of the many paintings created to document the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's living collections.