Deptford Pink

Deptford Pink ©Bob Gibbons/Natural Image

A wild relative of the popular garden plant Sweet William, this stunning pink flower usually grows in open sites such as in pastures, roadsides, field margins and, occasionally, on waste ground.

It has been lost from many sites after traditional pasture has been converted to arable fields, forestry, or has been built on.

Distribution of Deptford Pink from 1970 (left) to 1999
(right) ©Maps courtesy of Nigel Hawtin

Losses continue and it currently occupies only 7% of its total historic area, with many of these populations being very small.

Plantlife has been working at a number of sites in England and Wales (Deptford Pink is now extinct in Scotland and is not found in Northern Ireland) to restore populations of this plant. Work can involve clearing scrub (e.g. brambles), introducing grazing and disturbing the soil on sites during winter to encourage germination of new seedlings.

If you have any queries please contact us at enquiries@plantlife.org.uk

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