The Eden Project has been given highly-prestigious National Plant Collection status by the conservation charity, Plant Heritage, after setting a hillside ablaze with hundreds of red-hot pokers.

The striking flowers - scientific name Kniphofia -  were planted early last year (2016) and this spring and summer created a dazzling display.

This represented the biggest planting scheme at Eden since opening, with nearly 8,000 specimens - of which 2,000 were red-hot pokers - installed on the slope.

Eden has just been informed that Plant Heritage has awarded National Plant Collection status to its collections of Kniphofia cultivars (plant varieties created through breeding) and Kniphofia species (those found in the wild).  This is the first time Eden has been given this status for a plant collection.