Highgrove Florilegium donated to Canterbury Museum

A generous group of donors will be able to see their gift to Canterbury Museum for the first time on Thursday night. The group has donated the Highgrove Florilegium to the Museum collection and the small function will be held to thank the donors and allow them to view the substantial work.

Highgrove is the country estate of the HRH Prince Charles, Prince of Wales. The garden of the Gloucestershire estate is one of the best known organic gardens in the United Kingdom and is greatly admired for its combination of planting and thoughtful design. The Highgrove Florilegium is a two-volume work completed in 2008 to record a selection of the plants in the estate’s garden. This is England’s first Royal Florilegium and each copy is personally signed by Prince Charles. Leading international botanical artists created this collection of one hundred and twenty original pieces of art over a five-year period.

Canterbury Museum Director, Anthony Wright said, “These two beautiful volumes are an exciting addition to our collection. Not only are they of significant historical and artistic importance - their attraction extends across many disciplines. We are deeply grateful for the generosity of the donors in ensuring a copy of the Florilegium is available for the people of Canterbury.”

The second volume of the Highgrove Florilegium will be on display in the Museum foyer from Friday 31 July until Thursday 3 September.

A florilegium is a botanical record of a specific garden, scientific voyage or geographic area. One of the most well-known florilegia ever produced was Banks’ Florilegium, a record of Captain Cook’s voyage.

Canterbury Museum is located on Rolleston Avenue, in Christchurch’s Cultural Precinct. General admission is free; donations are appreciated.

ENDS

© Scoop Media