The popular wildflower meadow is back in York Museum Gardens for 2025.
The meadow, originally planted for the 2024 National Treasures exhibition at York Art Gallery, has been rejuvenated for the 2025 summer season.
The team at York Museum Gardens have continued to draw inspiration from York Art Gallery, blending art and nature, and transforming the gardens into an immersive visual experience for all to enjoy.
Its popularity with visitors – including insects, birds, and pollinators – meant it had to become a recurring feature of the garden’s landscape.
It’s planted with 27 native species including corn cockle, field poppies, and corn camomile (a daisy-like plant) and the meadow has provided a wealth of habitat for wildlife – both whilst in bloom and into the winter months with the dried grasses used as nesting material for birds and small mammals.
It also provided opportunities for the Gardens Team to get to grips with heritage farming techniques such as scything (aided by St Nick’s Nature).
Once cut, the grasses were used throughout the gardens and the wildflower seeds were sold in the York Art Gallery and Yorkshire Museum gift shops, with all proceeds reinvested into the gardens.
The investment into green spaces for wellbeing has also been reflected down at the riverside, where a serpentine path has slowly been cultivated for the past three years to provide a new route for visitors to enjoy.
Steve Williams, Garden Manager at York Museums Trust said, “Due to the flood risk in this area of the garden, the plants chosen are very hardy to be able to withstand extreme changes to their environment.
“The rejuvenation of these areas of the garden help to create a diverse ecosystem to be enjoyed by wildlife and visitors throughout the seasons.”
The wildflower meadow is located behind York Art Gallery in the Artists’ Garden.
Gallery
