Tag: Weekly HighlightsPage 1 of 3

Ailanthus giraldii

The young growth as bud burst occurs is an intense red. The foliage is divided and this enhances the visual appeal of the emerging new growth. A large…

Ten years of seasonal plants of interest – 12 that flower or colour reliably year on year.

A lot of plants have caught my eye during the past decade while compiling a weekly profile on a seasonal plant of interest. Below are the consistently reliable…

Azalea season

The Azalea collection is blooming. One of the best on the bank is Rhododendron luteum, reliable to flower, full of mid yellow blooms and the scent drifting through…

Malus in May

Growing in the nursery is a fine, sturdy young specimen of Malus sieversii. A native to Central Asia and known to be the wild apple that apple breeding…

Double vision in bright fresh yellow

Anemone ranunculoides a spring flowering native that carpets open woodland. The long spindly stems arise from delicate rhizomes that colonise moist organic soil. Atop these spindly stems are…

Double vision in bright fresh yellow

Anemone ranunculoides a spring flowering native that carpets open woodland. The long spindly stems arise from delicate rhizomes that colonise moist organic soil. Atop these spindly stems are…

A stunning bulbous perennial

Camassia leichtlinii ssp. suksdorfii has long linear leaves as you would expect from a member of the Agavaceae family. This is a stunning perennial that repays planting space…

Hardened off, ready to plant

The second half of May and we hope the frost is finished for the season. Make sure all half hardy and tender perennial stock you are planting out…

Taking to tufa

The strap leaved Viola spathulata is thriving in the tufa wall that forms the backdrop to the alpine shelter here at RBGE. A native to cliff faces in…

Subtle features

Amid the seasonal blossom and mass flowering of spring are interspersed subtle touches. Often unnoticed, these all add to the interest of the garden in spring. Acer davidii…

Choice ground cover

        If there was ever a plant that deserved to be in this category it is Polygonatum humile. A delightful herbaceous member of the Ruscaceae…

Stairway to heaven

The crown of the tree fern, Dicksonia antartica, has rushed into life. Catching the warmth from the sun and surrounded by four walls in an enclosed courtyard it…

Rhododendron time

A walk through the Garden will prove rewarding with so many Rhododendrons in flower. In the copse R. orbiculare ssp. orbiculare and R. vernicosum are full of colour….

Fibre but not optic

A clump of contrasting foliage within a mixed border is always welcome. A border full of Lysimachia ciliata is a different matter. This North American native has an…

Age class representation

Continuing the centuries old tradition of plant collecting, staff from RBGE travelled to Japan in 2005 and collected seed. Returning to the Garden this was sown, nurtured and…

A descriptive specific epithet

The genus Ribes includes the species that provide red, white and blackcurrants, also showy species of spring flowering shrubs that are found in many gardens. Ribes longeracemosum tucked…

Chameleon

Opening in a blaze of glory in late April the foliage of Aesculus turbinata was as red as hot embers in the centre of a November night bonfire….

The plant formerly known as …………

Dappled shade, a woodland glade and signs of growth as the light spring foliage unfurls and catches the light. The pink colours are set alight and highlighted by…

A highly regarded member of the genus Rhododendron

First discovered by Delavey in 1844 it was not until 1910 that seed was collected by George Forrest in Yunnan Province, China and plants of Rhododendron lacteum then…

Late to leaf; worth the wait

Struggling to flower in our climate, it is heartening to find a scattering of soft lilac coloured buds held tightly to the older wood of Cercis griffithii. It…