Back When | History Podcast27 Aug 2025

Plant Hunters | A Botanical Quest Down Under

In 2018 a team of intrepid explorers came in to the possession of a treasure map - one which would see them venture half way around the world to the Australian island of Tasmania. Those explorers were a team of garden experts from across the UK and Ireland who were now on a historic mission to save and catalogue plants for the benefit of people and the planet.

Following in the footsteps of the historic plant hunters, find out what was in store for the team of modern-day collectors and how natural history has helped to shape gardens around the world.

Production
Host: James Grasby
Producer: Jack Glover
Sound Design: Jesus Gomez

Contributors
Charlie Bancroft and team BIBET
Caroline Ikin

Images courtesy and with thanks from the Royal Botanic Gardens of Tasmania. All Rights Reserved.

Discover More
Explore a garden lovers home at Nymans in West Sussex where some of the collected species are now flourishing https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/sussex/nymans

Read Charlie’s report here: https://merlin-trust.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/718-Charlie-Bancroft-compressed.pdf

Find out more about historic plant hunters from our friends at Kew Gardens https://www.kew.org/read-and-watch/adventure-and-discovery-around-the-world-with-plant-hunters

BIBET Botantic Gardens
Republic of Ireland https://www.botanicgardens.ie/kilmacurragh/
Northern Ireland https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/northern-ireland/mount-stewart Wales https://botanicgarden.wales/
Tasmania https://gardens.tas.gov.au/

If you'd like to get in touch with feedback, or have a story connected with the National Trust, you can contact us at podcasts@nationaltrust.org.uk

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