Latest
My RBGE Apprenticeship: Glasshouse Rotation – Patricia Berakova
As part of my apprenticeship at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, I have been working for a 13-week period with each of the different horticultural teams, learning as...
Growing Connections: Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and The National Botanic Gardens of Ireland.
The sharing of plants between botanic gardens has long been an essential tool in the cultivation and display of the world’s rare and threatened flora. The plants generously...
Postcards from the Biomes: The Last Fern to Leave
A new Postcards from the Biomes following the move of the last fern to leave the Ferns and Fossils Glasshouse at The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.
Postcards from the Biomes: A Show of Fronds
You can read more about the journey of the tree ferns in the BBC article below. BBC News – Giant plants make epic journey from Edinburgh to Port...
Stories from the Biomes: The Fern House Decant
In 2022, the Horticulture team fixed their attention on the Ferns and Fossils Glasshouse, home to an impressive species diversity from an ancient group of plants. Read about the successes and challenges of moving this collection, from one of the team who carried out the work.January
Overnight Freeze
The overnight freeze left a myriad of ice crystals covering the garden this morning. The coldest day yet this year at -3.1 °C. These during and after images of...
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...
Rampant Ivy
Two images, Ivy, Hedera helix covering both plants. The pine trunks are sturdy and it will take several seasons to smother these. The Viburnum is different, colonised at...
Save a seed pod
The long arching seed pods of Glaucium flavum are splitting lengthways into longitudinal sections. The seeds long gone, now just sections of the pithy packaging remain within. Found...
Fresh and golden start to the year
During the short days it is good to have flowering plants in the garden; Lonicera myrtillus is a low growing deciduous shrub. The fresh yellow tubular flowers hang...February
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...
Flowering succession
A good selection of young plants of Bergenia pacifica from a sowing in 2015 are flowering for the first time in the nursery. From the attached image can...
Spring bulb season
Muscari azureum has sent up its instantly recognisable inverted cone of azure blue flowers. Native to Turkey this is a bulb that appreciates good drainage and a sunny...
Flash frost
The forecast last night was for an overnight frost that would clear quickly. How right the forecast was, bright sunshine soon warmed the ice crystals with damaging consequences...
A Japanese Rhododendron
Rhododendron dauricum, in flower since mid-January. A good show of purple flowers on this native to east and north Asia, the seed from which this plant grew was...March
Rhododendron siderophyllum
Look out for Rhododendron siderophyllum planted at the bottom of the Chinese hillside. A small plant with evergreen leaves that give off an aromatic smell when touched or...
Central Asian Juno Iris
A first flowering at RBGE for Iris zaprjagajewii one of the dwarf Juno Iris. Collected by members of the alpine and rock garden team on an expedition to...
Colour in the Rhododendron collection
A fine specimen is Rhododendron hunnewellianum, planted by the laundry building near Inverleith House. Best seen from the pathway and lawn nearby as it is a top heavy...
The purple plum
Flowering in many gardens is Prunus cerasifera or one of its many forms. A welcome reminder that spring is arriving. A native to the Caucasus and now found...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...
Alpine extravaganza
Primula allionii seen in pots in the traditional alpine house and colonising the tufa wall in the modern structure too. Also worth a mention is Saxifraga dinnikii alba....
Keep your eye on the alpine display
Amongst the array of fine spring flowering bulbs in the alpine house is a pot of Erythronium grandiflorum ssp. grandiflorum. A native of western North America found growing...
Birds need bits
Think remnants as you get out into the garden to tidy up now the days are longer. Birds are looking about for pieces of vegetation to use as...
Showy gem on the alpine wall
Arabis purpurea is a mat forming evergreen of loose habit. Interestingly the seed was collected from a plant growing on a dark shady dry bank in Cyprus. Here,...
First sprouts of spring
Plants are sending out growth as we approach spring. This is the last opportunity to complete any formative pruning. Take the opportunity to manage your plant collection and...April
Coming of age for old fibre
A huge mass of Osmunda regalis has been dug out on its eighteenth anniversary, see attached image. A mass of fibrous root is a characteristic of this terrestrial...
Prickly phyllodes
Acacia verticillata in flower on the front glasshouse border. A mass of mini citrus yellow bottle brushes. The flowers are a mass of densely packed stamens. The sharp...
Mountain Pulsatilla
Pulsatilla turczaninovii, a plant from seed collected on the Russian Altay where it grew on the banks of the River Bashkaus. Sown and grown and now flowering on...
The genus Magnolia
A selection of the Magnolia species and cultivars are in full flower at RBGE. These magnificent trees are at their best when the sun shines and the air...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...May
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...June
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...
Raspberry ripple
Weigela decora collected in Japan from an area of dense mixed forest containing Cryptomeria japonica and Stachyurus praecox, these were huge parent plants spreading and reaching 4m x...
Unintended consequences
You study diligently, you consult books, you visit other gardens for ideas on colour and combination then a rampaging Ranunculus invades your border and the most appealing floral...
A Rose by any other name
The Genus is just the start. As plants are collected in the field they arrive back at the Botanics with collectors notes; some detailed, some not so. These...
Perfect for a sun drenched corner
The sun filled days we have been experiencing have brought out the flowers on Helianthemum nummularium ssp. tomentosum to perfection. This subspecies is native to Italy, collected on...July
The hot end of the border
The herbaceous border has a group of plants throwing out hot colours. Revelling in the long hot, dry days, this is peak Monarda season. Complementing the Monarda ‘Jacob...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...
Elegance
Baking in the heat on a raised terrace with flower spikes hitting two plus metres in height this Watsonia x longifolia is an elegant sight. It can be...
Sun lover
Helichrysum aucheri is in flower on the scree. Papery flower heads on 150mm stems. Collected in Turkey but native to greater Arabia. Grown in well drained soil and...
Set in soil at your own risk
A collection from China is growing opposite the pond lawn. Cacalia aff. delphiniifolia (aff. means ‘akin to’ used in plant nomenclature) loves an area of bare soil within...August
Folded foliage and weighty limbs
Following the prolonged dry period, the rain that we are experiencing now is a welcome shock to plants. The Paeonia lutea reacted to the additional weight of this...
Two Clematis
In an open aspect to the south of the rock garden two Clematis are flowering. Clematis ternifolia, a vigorous grower with lightly scented white star like flowers bearing...
Botanical campanology
Campanula incurva found growing in the rock garden and producing a mass of large inflated upturned bell shaped white flowers, the texture resembling parchment paper, all from a...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...
Mortar magic
Fuchsia magellanica produces sweet, juicy fruits containing multiple seed. These are often dispersed by birds that are partial to the fruit. From subsequent droppings chance seedlings are occasionally...September
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...
Prune it
During the first growing season a newly planted shrub will establish; needing light, water and nutrient. Subsequent seasons will see good growth and the plant thriving. This newly...
Two blue Salvias
Two South American Labiates that are set to brighten the borders for autumn are the sturdy and felty Salvia corrugata and the more spindly S. meyeri. Both with...
A tall growing succulent
Impatiens tinctoria; from tropical east Africa to the glasshouse border and growing a stately three metres tall. The tall succulent or watery stems are sent up annually from...
Boundary best
With the sun shining on the canopy of Acer saccharum we are reminded that the autumn equinox passed and the day length is now shorter than the hours...
Chard
A nutritious and versatile vegetable, also well suited to the decorative border. From a packet of seed and an April sowing the seedlings of Chard ‘Bright Lights’ have...
A bigeneric hybrid
X Amarygia parkeri is a bigeneric hybrid of garden origin. The result of a cross between two South African genera; Amaryllis belladonna x Brunsvigia josephinae. The flower stem...
High chaparral
In flower just now is a plant of the Californian chaparral; a shrub land plant community evolving through mild wet winters and hot dry summers. These areas are...
Selected for autumn colour
Vaccinium arctostaphylos, a deciduous shrub showing full autumn colour. All foliage shines with the vibrancy of this single deep red colour that is attracting so much attention. Amongst...
Watched over by scavenging vultures
Even on holiday many RBGE staff are on the lookout for interesting plants. On a trip to Cyprus one...October
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...
Growing on the tufa scree with roots into a well-drained substrate is Chaenorhinum origanifolium. This perennial from Southern Europe is flowering well into autumn from a summer start....
Clematis
The Clematis akebioides growing at the east gate lodge is covered in flower. The buds are held on long stalks setting the flower out from the straggly stems....
Triangular Tricyrtis
This week sees a second member of the genus Tricyrtis in flower. T. formosana, this species standing tall and making a show in the peat walls. A profusion...
Pendulous Tricyrtis
Tricyrtis macrantha has the largest flowers of the genus; pendulous yellow tepals are stunning when shown well against the foliage. It is the inner corolla that adds interest,...November
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...
Snake bark maple
Now that the foliage is clearing from the deciduous canopies the full beauty of the trunk of Acer pensylvanicum is revealed. This seedling is now eight years old;...
Fermenting apples
Sorbus harrowiana is not the best specimen for displaying ornamental fruit but it does have a related back story. It is native to SW China where, as can...
Last vestige of autumn colour
Wrap up warmly and take the opportunity to appreciate the remainder of the autumn colour on the deciduous trees. The colder nights see the leaves dropping as the...
Styrax fruits
One of the Styrax officinalis plants growing at the west gate has produced several fruits. These hang elegantly from the previous season’s growth. The fruits resemble a grey...December
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...
Review of the year 2016
January 2016 dawned with a frost, only – 0.4°c, but still a frost. This, following the wettest month for more than a century. December 2015 was also the...
The browns have it
As a base layer, the colour brown dominates at this time of year. Ideal as a foundation layer to the glitz of Christmas. Stephanandra tanakae has fine warmth...
Disintegrating seed pods
Sitting in an exposed site within the rock garden are plants of Alyssoides utriculata. This short lived woody perennial has seed capsules that resemble bladders. It is found...