Adding your seeds to our national collection

Over the last year, seeds have arrived in a variety of ways, through the post or handed over at seed swaps - but each has something in common: a story. These are seeds that have been lovingly grown, enjoyed and saved by an individual, family or group who wants to see them enjoyed by more people now and in the future. 

The first step of the testing process is to research the seed’s origin. We speak to the donor and do online searches, trawling through old seed catalogues to form a background history for the variety. Only seeds that are not available commercially (and therefore not being propagated by seed companies already) and those that have a proven record of performing well from seed-to-seed in the Midlands, will be grown by the HSL.  

In 2025, we saw the first 19 varieties grown on site at HSL. This included 10 varieties kindly shared by the UK Vegetable Gene Bank (UKVGB) at Warwick University. Longtime collaborators with the HSL, the Bank holds 14,000 samples of vegetable crop seeds for use by plant breeders and researchers. Over the course of the project, it will contribute 20 varieties to potentially join the HSL living collection. 

From sowing the first lettuce in January to picking the last pod from radishes in October, the Sowing Your Seeds varieties were tended, inspected, accessed and characterised by the horticultural team at HSL. Beans were hand pollinated using tiny paintbrushes, beautiful seedheads were collected from the alliums, flies were reared from maggots - and the red orach grew to the polytunnel roof!

Each variety was checked for germination, vigour and susceptibility to pests and disease. They were measured and recorded to ensure a strong, successful variety, unique to the collection and consistent across the plants grown. All the information collected was reviewed at the end of the season and successful varieties were officially added to the HSL permanent collection where they will be conserved and, in the future, made available to HSL members. 

From the original 19 varieties selected for trial, five were rejected due to poor germination, growth or variability. Two varieties were also biennials, a beetroot and a carrot, which meant that at the end of the 2025 season these were lifted from the ground. We chose the best 40-50 plants for overwintering and will replant in spring for a second year of growth.

Other successful varieties include broad bean ‘Grandfather’s Bean’ nurtured by the same family since 1875, a dwarf French bean called ‘Weller’s Blue’ handed on by a soldier in France at the end of the second world war, and a 16th century salad leaf  ‘Golden Purslane’.
 
All in all, 11 varieties were successfully added to the HSL collection at the end of 2025, and these unique varieties - all at risk of extinction - will be protected and shared by the library for generations to come.   

Bumpsteed Bean

A particularly tricky time was had with runner bean Bumpsteed Black, which will be added to the collection next year. Donated by Roy Bumpsteed, this variety was originally a ‘sport’ of a commercial variety i.e a naturally occurring genetic variation producing different characteristics. In this case the variation was producing all black seeds. This characteristic was nurtured and propagated by Roy for more than 20 years.  

This unusual variety grew vigorously at HSL, but a few plants still produced the traditional purple and black speckled seed. The seeds produced, both all-black and speckled, could not be kept since they had been cross-pollinated between each other, so the clever horticultural team had to come up with another idea. Vines from the all-black seeded plants were painstakingly traced back to the roots (picture the tangle of vines on your A-frame and multiply by 100!) and the roots, rather than the seeds, were protected for re-growing next year with hopes of a successful all-black crop next summer.

Red orach

This variety gets the prize for the most interesting plant. Donated by the UKVGB, this unusual member of the amaranth family has been cultivated for centuries and makes a great alternative to spinach. And it’s the first variety in the HSL collection to produce ‘dimorphic’ seeds – this means two distinct types of seed produced on the same plant.  Producing both larger, brown seeds with thinner coats and smaller, black seeds with thicker coats, this is an incredible survival tactic. The seeds have different dormancy levels, staggering their germination and allowing them to survive in difference conditions.  This may mean the brown seeds sprout in autumn and the black seeds wait until spring, meaning more chance of survival for the species as well as an extended harvest for the grower.

It grew brilliantly at HSL, and was beautiful and productive so we’re really happy to be able to add it to our permanent collection.  
 

•    Broad bean – Grandfather Beans
Grown by the Burge Family in Somerset for around 150 years, this is a true family heirloom. Named ‘Grandfather Bean’ by our donor’s father, referring to his own great-grandfather, who was born in the 1830s.
•    Broad bean – Uncle Maurice’s
This heritage broad bean has a history that spans 100 years, two continents, three cities and three gardens! [link to blog]
•    Dwarf French bean – Weller’s Blue (pictured)
Named after our donor’s father who was given this variety in 1946 by a soldier who had served in France during WWII. It has been grown and saved by our donor since 1970.
•    Cress – Mega
A fast-growing cress variety growing to between 5-10cm tall. It has a mild mustard-like flavour meaning it’s perfect as a salad addition or a garnish. If grown indoors, at warmer temperatures (around 20°C) it will be ready to harvest in 10-14 days.
•    Dwarf French Bean – Sigmacropper
This ex-commercial bean produces upright plants and long (14-16cm), fleshy pods in abundance, they are tasty and perfect for freezing. It’s an early variety, and the plants are noted as showing good resistance to viruses, bean anthracnose and halo blight.
•    Lettuce - Borough Wonder
The earliest reference we can find to this butterhead variety is in Burgess Seeds Limited catalogue of 1945, which states: “makes a large solid heart in quick time and stands firmly, light green in colour”. Caldwell Tested Seeds (1946) agree and add that it is suitable for both spring and autumn sowing.
•    Lettuce - Cheshunt Early Giant
A cabbage-headed, ex-commercial variety developed in 1935 and described then as a ‘forcing type’. While described as being a good, all-round lettuce, it’s particularly suited to winter sowing in the greenhouse or cloche as it produces hearts even in cooler, darker days of February and March.
•    Purslane - Golden Purslane
A very unusual salad plant. Mentioned by Gerard in Generall Historie of Plantes of 1597 who states: “raw purslane is much used in salads, with oil, salt and vinegar. It cools the blood and causes appetite”. It’s very versatile; suitable for stir fries, casseroles and stews.
•    Radish – Tip Top
Thought to be synonymous with ‘Tip Top White Tip’ radish listed in Bolgianos of Baltimore Seed Annual of 1925. 
•    Runner Bean - Portman
Grown since the 1960s by our donor’s mother-in-law - a ‘green-fingered’, self-taught gardener. Our donor has grown it since the 1970s and has advised us that, to get the best from these beans, you pick them young and don’t let them get to ‘show-bench’ length to enjoy its superior flavour.

If you, or someone you know, is growing something unusual in the Midlands, or you want to learn more about ‘Sowing Your seeds’, please visit our seed search page.