2013 sees a very special partnership between the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) and the Scottish Poetry Library. From June to September, each RBGE Garden will host its very own poet for a whole month: Sue Butler was resident in Benmore for the month of June, July saw Mandy Haggith weaving words in Edinburgh, now in August Jean Atkin is setting up camp at Logan, and Gerry Loose takes root at Dawyck in September.

Highlights so far….

Sue Butler reached her goal of collating 150 poems to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Benmore’s Redwood Avenue. They were contributed by Benmore Botanic Garden visitors and staff, and e-poets from all over the world who submitted poems via www.walkingwithpoets.com.

Mandy Haggith took people through the Gaelic Tree Alphabet, with 18 events each featuring a particular species. There were touchy-feeling walks, outdoor readings, evening folklore and poetry sessions and poetry workshops which Botanics’ visitors, staff and volunteers all came to enjoy.

Blog Posts From Walking With Poets

• Another botanical William Jack August 18, 2017
• July 2017 Garden Wildlife Report August 17, 2017
• Happy Birthday India: or, the changing names of a Himalayan sumach August 15, 2017
• Welcome to Scotland August 15, 2017
• A woody legume August 8, 2017
• Expedition to Saipal Himal, Far West Nepal August 5, 2017
• Two interlopers August 3, 2017
• What’s that whiff? July 26, 2017
• Buses from the East Gate July 25, 2017
• Continental colour combo July 25, 2017
• June 2017 Garden Wildlife Report July 19, 2017
• The Botanic Cottage July 19, 2017
• Two South African plants July 17, 2017
• Edward Bulkley and the Du Bois Herbarium July 13, 2017
• Rhododendron serotinum July 11, 2017
• Remembering Sami food ambassador Greta Huuva July 10, 2017
• ⚠ Ravenea glauca July 10, 2017
• DNA Sequencing Natural History Specimens Using New Sequencing Platforms and Protocols: a 1-day meeting at RBGE 11/07/2017 July 7, 2017
• ⚠ Arbutus canariensis July 7, 2017
• My 6th Global Botanic Gardens Congress July 7, 2017
• ⚠ Rhododendron taxifolium July 7, 2017
• ⚠ Dracaena cinnabari July 7, 2017
• ⚠ Hatiora gaertneri July 7, 2017
• ⚠ Thyrsopteris elegans July 7, 2017
• ⚠ Hibiscus clayi July 7, 2017
• ⚠ Lodoicea maldivica July 7, 2017
• ⚠ Encephalartos lebomboensis July 7, 2017
• Ficus benghalensis July 6, 2017
• Dimocarpus longan July 6, 2017
• Leea guineensis July 6, 2017
• Stephania glandulifera July 6, 2017
• ⚠ Nesocodon mauritianus July 6, 2017
• Alpinia zerumbet July 6, 2017
• Tacca chantrieri July 6, 2017
• Tabernaemontana divaricata July 6, 2017
• Kaempferia rotunda July 6, 2017
• Agapetes odontocera July 6, 2017
• Coelogyne corymbosa July 6, 2017
• Peganum harmala July 6, 2017
• Dichrostachys cinerea July 6, 2017
• Schima wallichii July 6, 2017
• Dichroa febrifuga July 6, 2017
• Camellia sinensis July 6, 2017
• Magnolia hodgsonii July 6, 2017
• Trachycarpus latisectus July 6, 2017
• Musa sikkimensis July 6, 2017
• Carex baccans July 6, 2017
• Rhaphidophora glauca July 6, 2017
• Cupressus cashmeriana July 6, 2017
• Nelumbo nucifera July 6, 2017
• Oryza sativa July 6, 2017
• Saccharum officinarum July 6, 2017
• Cycas pectinata July 6, 2017
• Calamus flagellum July 6, 2017
• Crinum asiaticum July 6, 2017
• Molineria capitulata July 6, 2017
• Bambusa vulgaris July 6, 2017
• Reinwardtia indica July 6, 2017
• Duchesnea indica July 6, 2017
• Polygonatum oppositifolium July 6, 2017
• Rhododendron dalhousiae July 6, 2017
• Codariocalyx motorius July 6, 2017
• Hedychium gardnerianum July 6, 2017
• Wallichia disticha July 6, 2017
• Himalayacalamus falconeri July 6, 2017
• Platanus orientalis July 6, 2017
• Cupressus torulosa July 6, 2017
• Picea smithiana July 6, 2017
• Cedrus deodara July 6, 2017
• Corylus jacquemontii July 6, 2017
• Magnolia campbellii ‘Charles Rafill’ July 6, 2017
• Mahonia acanthifolia July 6, 2017
• Clematis montana July 6, 2017
• Rhododendron hodgsonii July 6, 2017
• Rhododendron thomsonii July 6, 2017
• Pinus bhutanica July 6, 2017
• Dryopteris wallichiana July 6, 2017
• Yushania anceps July 6, 2017
• Pinus wallichiana July 6, 2017
• Cryptomeria japonica July 6, 2017
• Aesculus indica July 6, 2017
• Fraxinus xanthoxyloides July 6, 2017
• Prunus cornuta July 6, 2017
• Primula denticulata July 6, 2017
• Bergenia stracheyi July 6, 2017
• Anemone trullifolia July 6, 2017
• Pieris formosa July 6, 2017
• Persicaria campanulata July 5, 2017
• Rhododendron macabeanum July 5, 2017
• Lithocarpus elegans July 5, 2017
• Cardiocrinum giganteum July 5, 2017
• Cupressus himalaica July 5, 2017
• Ephedra gerardiana July 5, 2017
• Persicaria affinis July 5, 2017
• Geranium himalayense July 5, 2017
• Iris clarkei July 5, 2017
• Roscoea auriculata July 5, 2017
• Betula utilis var. jacquemontii July 5, 2017
• Benjamin Rush of Pennsylvania – Signatory to the Declaration of Independence July 4, 2017
• 📖 A Dark Tale July 4, 2017
• 📖 The Mouse Deer & Tiger July 4, 2017
• 📖 The Rain Maker July 4, 2017
• 📖 The Beautiful Garden July 4, 2017
• 📖 Tortoise & the Wisdom of the World July 4, 2017
• A weed is a plant in the wrong place July 4, 2017
• 📖 Touching the Moon July 4, 2017
• Free Course: How Plants Fight Back! July 4, 2017
• 📖 The King of the Forest July 4, 2017
• 📖 The Story of the Screw Pine July 4, 2017
• 📖 The Story of the Caged Tiger July 4, 2017
• 📖 Rushing the Coconuts to Market July 4, 2017
• Testing extractions – comparing DNA on agarose gels June 30, 2017
• Describing your DNA June 28, 2017
• Letting the robot do its job June 27, 2017
• Red Jasmine June 27, 2017
• What’s the story when there’s no variation? June 22, 2017
• Food Forever June 21, 2017
• Pure white petals June 20, 2017
• Plants of India: Introduction June 19, 2017
• Cornus capitata – FED 331– a botanical phoenix June 19, 2017
• Flora of Nepal Trail 1: Betula utilis June 16, 2017
• Flora of Nepal Trail 2: Bistorta affinis June 16, 2017
• Flora of Nepal Trail 3: Inula hookeri June 16, 2017
• Flora of Nepal Trail 4: Rhododendron arboreum June 16, 2017
• Flora of Nepal Trail 5: Clematis montana June 16, 2017
• Flora of Nepal Trail 6: Bergenia ciliata June 16, 2017
• Flora of Nepal Trail 7: Primula denticulata June 16, 2017
• Flora of Nepal Trail 8: Rhododendron barbatum June 16, 2017
• Flora of Nepal Trail 9: Pieris formosa June 16, 2017
• Flora of Nepal Trail 10: Ephedra gerardiana June 16, 2017
• Flora of Nepal Trail 11: Daphne bholua June 16, 2017
• Flora of Nepal Trail 12: Berberis aristata June 16, 2017
• Flora of Nepal Trail 13: Abies spectabilis June 16, 2017
• Flora of Nepal Trail 14: Pinus wallichiana June 16, 2017
• Flora of Nepal Trail: Introduction June 16, 2017
• A woodland treasure June 12, 2017
• Bits of bamboo June 11, 2017
• LearnToEngage! June 8, 2017
• A short film on Hugh Cleghorn: Indian Forester, Scottish Laird June 7, 2017
• Sylva Exhibition Film June 7, 2017
• Moutan Paeonies June 7, 2017
• A floriferous stand of Primula June 6, 2017
• Dealing with DNA extraction protocol changes June 2, 2017
• Subshrub June 2, 2017
• May 2017 Garden Wildlife Report June 1, 2017
• John Jeffrey rediscovered June 1, 2017
• Santos & Stech’s phylogeny of Octoblepharum May 25, 2017
• Losing the story with a moss from Panama City May 25, 2017
• What’s After After the Storm May 24, 2017
• Panamanian mosses from the back of the freezer May 24, 2017
• Perfect green panicles May 24, 2017
• April 2017 Garden Wildlife Report May 18, 2017
• Seasonal Highlights May 16, 2017
• Simon Whatley’s Span Table May 16, 2017
• What to do in your Scottish fruit and vegetable garden TODAY! May 16, 2017
• Ailanthus giraldii May 16, 2017
• Search & Browse May 16, 2017
• Strange fruit offer lifeline to rare elms May 12, 2017
• Fringe May 11, 2017
• An early Geranium May 11, 2017
• In memory of Private Duncan Coutts (1892-1917) May 4, 2017
• Thought for Food: Broadening your horizons May 2, 2017
• Only 12 Seconds To Poop – But Enough Information To Understand An Ecosystem April 29, 2017
• Spring Bird and Garden Walk, 11 April 2017 April 27, 2017
• Botanics Nearby: Privacy Policy April 27, 2017
• Original Darwin specimen – Tiquilia darwinii April 21, 2017
• Prickly phyllodes April 20, 2017
• Cleaning the Schistidium PCRs April 12, 2017
• Gel electrophoresis of Schistidium ITS DNA April 11, 2017
• Mountain Pulsatilla April 11, 2017
• Backhouse specimens in the Herbarium of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh April 10, 2017
• In memory of Private John Hatley (1879-1917) April 9, 2017
• March 2017 Garden Wildlife Report April 6, 2017
• Copying moss DNA in the molecular lab April 6, 2017
• Estates Update 2016/2017 April 6, 2017
• The trials and tribulations of a moss in the lab: DNA extraction April 5, 2017
• The genus Magnolia April 5, 2017
• Welcome to the Estates Department! April 4, 2017
• Visit by Dr Alexander Demidov & Ms Svetlana Potapova to the RBGE Herbarium March 2017 March 30, 2017
• Campylopus introflexus, an invasive alien on the glasshouse roof March 30, 2017
• International Women’s Day 2017: Sadie Barber March 30, 2017
• International Women’s Day 2017: Dr Tiina Sarkinen March 30, 2017
• Volunteering at the Botanics – bryophytes in our living landscape March 29, 2017
• Building on building mosses, a return to Schistidium in the built environment March 29, 2017
• Thought for Food: Robin Gourlay March 28, 2017
• International Women’s Day 2017: Subhani Ranasinghe March 28, 2017
• International Women’s Day 2017: Kate Hughes March 26, 2017
• International Women’s Day 2017: Jacqui Pestell MBE March 26, 2017
• International Women’s Day 2017: Dr Sangeeta Rajbhandar March 24, 2017
• International Women’s Day 2017: Louise Galloway March 24, 2017
• ‘Dig for Victory’ at the Botanic Cottage March 24, 2017
• Rhododendron siderophyllum March 23, 2017
• Thought for Food: Chelsea Marshall March 22, 2017
• International Women’s Day 2017: Dr Sabina Knees March 22, 2017
• Central Asian Juno Iris March 21, 2017
• Devil’s Advocate: Let Them Eat Potatoes March 21, 2017
• After the Storm publication arrives March 20, 2017
• Thought for Food: Eating local and seasonal March 20, 2017
• Thought for Food: A dive into academia March 20, 2017
• International Women’s Day 2017: Paulina Maciejewska-Daruk March 20, 2017
• International Women’s Day 2017: Lady Regina Davidson March 20, 2017
• International Women’s Day 2017: Dr Jean Keeling March 18, 2017
• International Women’s Day 2017: Jane Gardner March 16, 2017
• International Women’s Day 2017: Frieda Christie March 16, 2017
• Thought for Food: Storytelling March 14, 2017
• Colour in the Rhododendron collection March 14, 2017
• International Women’s Day 2017: Kanae Nishii March 14, 2017
• International Women’s Day 2017: Hayley Reid March 12, 2017
• International Women’s Day 2017: Flavia Pezzini March 12, 2017
• International Women’s Day 2017: Elspeth Mackintosh March 10, 2017
• International Women’s Day 2017: Dr Catherine Kidner March 8, 2017
• International Women’s Day 2017: Introduction March 8, 2017
• February 2017 Garden Wildlife Report March 7, 2017
• The purple plum March 7, 2017
• In memory of Private Thomas Aird (1878-1917) and Private Thomas Young March 3, 2017
• Thought for Food: Ben Dell March 3, 2017
• Thought for Food: Andy Crofts March 1, 2017
• Ten years of seasonal plants of interest – 12 that flower or colour reliably year on year. March 1, 2017
• Actionable, long-term stable and semantic web compatible identifiers for access to biological collection objects February 28, 2017
• Raikless (reckless) Primulas February 27, 2017
• John Richard Ferisy; “old soldier he” February 27, 2017
• Climate pins down dreaded tree disease February 23, 2017
• Flowering succession February 22, 2017
• Thought for Food: Permanent Global Summertime February 21, 2017
• Thought for Food: Community fridge initiatives February 21, 2017
• Thought for Food: Charity spotlight February 21, 2017
• ‘Dear Mary’ – An Echo of a Past Love from the RBGE Special Collections February 14, 2017
• Spring bulb season February 14, 2017
• Two newly-found moss specimens from Darwin’s Beagle Voyage February 12, 2017
• Thought for Food: Reflections February 9, 2017
• Flash frost February 9, 2017
• A Japanese Rhododendron February 9, 2017
• Rampant Ivy February 9, 2017
• Flash frost February 6, 2017
• Thought for Food: Overcoming Barriers February 3, 2017
• January 2017 Garden Wildlife Report February 2, 2017
• A Japanese Rhododendron February 1, 2017
• A collaboration between RBGE and Edinburgh College of Art February 1, 2017
• Climate Change, Storm Connor and Capturing Carbon. January 31, 2017
• Big Picnic: Thought for Food January 30, 2017
• How Green Is Edinburgh Really? January 27, 2017
• Rampant Ivy January 24, 2017
• In grateful thanks: the rediscovery of some long-lost Acadian specimens of Archibald Menzies January 20, 2017
• Idiocerus herrichi, another new leafhopper record for Scotland (as well as the Garden) January 19, 2017
• December 2016 Garden Wildlife Report January 18, 2017
• Prune and support January 17, 2017
• Protecting Scottish trees and herbs for the future at Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank January 12, 2017
• Automated sampling of perceived naturalness across Edinburgh January 11, 2017
• Save a seed pod January 11, 2017
• Fresh and golden start to the year January 10, 2017
• Review of the year 2016 January 4, 2017
• PROTREE: Computer games and tree health December 22, 2016
• Lichen Biodiversity and Conservation December 21, 2016
• Gardens are good for you December 21, 2016
• Barkflies – beautiful but very under recorded December 20, 2016
• Peplomyza litura, an uncommon Scottish fly, found in Rock Garden December 20, 2016
• The browns have it December 20, 2016
• Botanical gold: frankincense and myrrh December 16, 2016
• Disintegrating seed pods December 13, 2016
• William Brand WS – First Treasurer of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh December 12, 2016
• November 2016 Garden Wildlife Report December 6, 2016
• Distinctly different December 6, 2016
• DNA identification of Long’s Long’s Marchantia December 2, 2016
• Snake bark maple November 30, 2016
• Update: North Sulawesi Fieldwork, continued… November 30, 2016
• The Cloud Lottery November 29, 2016
• Travellers in Ottoman Lands: The Botanical Legacy November 28, 2016
• Elephants foot yam ( Arid house) November 28, 2016
• Scotland the Bread November 28, 2016
• Destination Borneo: N 1̊ 12’ 33”, E 117 ̊ 18’ 22” November 25, 2016
• After the Storm Update November 23, 2016
• Long’s Marchantia November 22, 2016
• Fermenting apples November 22, 2016
• Aloe elgonica ( Arid lands of glasshouses) November 17, 2016
• Telaranea murphyae: The non-native endemic that wasn’t November 16, 2016
• Reflections on my first growing season as Community Gardener with the Edible Gardening Project November 16, 2016
• Zoomable and searchable map of the Herbarium Collections of Martin Gardner in the RBGE (E) herbarium. November 15, 2016
• Last vestige of autumn colour November 15, 2016
• Update: North Sulawesi Fieldwork November 14, 2016
• Solandra grandiflora ( Chalice flower) temperate walkway in glasshouses November 14, 2016
• Styrax fruits November 8, 2016
• October 2016 Garden Wildlife Report November 2, 2016
• Biophilomatics: A new field courtesy of IKEA? November 1, 2016
• Black nightshade trials November 1, 2016
• Out of season Daphne November 1, 2016
• Artists in Nepal: a Modern Thangka October 31, 2016
• Dining on the dark side October 27, 2016
• October 26, 2016
• Globally rare Scottish moss rediscovered at type locality after nearly 120 years October 21, 2016
• Plant Hunting in the Tropics – preparations for fieldwork in Indonesia October 21, 2016
• Clematis October 18, 2016
• Gifted herbaria and volunteers October 18, 2016
• Vietnam Expedition, 2016 October 18, 2016
• September 2016 Garden Wildlife Report October 12, 2016
• Final Weeks of I still believe in miracles. October 12, 2016
• Triangular Tricyrtis October 10, 2016
• Sun prints on leaves October 7, 2016
• Prayer Flags in the Garden October 6, 2016
• Full story of the Wentworth elm discovery October 5, 2016
• Botanical Double celebrates the Britain-Nepal Bicentenary October 4, 2016