Author: Robyn DrinkwaterPage 14 of 34
A very mild end to 2011, we recorded 12.5oC on the 31st December. On the 3rd January 2012 Edinburgh recorded wind speeds of over 100mph. The highest wind…
Sweet Pea ‘Old Fashioned Mix’ is continuing to throw out flowers, short of stalk and with an absence of fragrance, at this, the tail end of the year….
Walking through the Rhododendron collection in the Garden as dusk is falling, a rapid temperature drop and the stillness of the evening. Then a sound that resembles water…
Within the research collection is a young potted specimen of Rhododendron zoelleri, one of the Vireya collection. The large funnel shaped corolla is a bright mix of yellow…
Serratula seoanei bearing terminal light pink coloured composite flowers. The regular segmented flower bud structure is worth peering at before it expands revealing the anthers packed within. These…
This is an evergreen shrub that reaches five feet in height and produces globe-shaped flowers in summer. The plant’s most fascinating feature is the fern-like leaves that close…
Ribes vilmorinii planted on the Chinese hillside has the remains of startlingly bright leaf colour. This is a deciduous species native to NW Yunnan into Sichuan and Hubei…
The media is full of information on Chalara dieback of Ash; Chalara fraxinea. Below are web links that give information on the fungal disease that will cause loss…
At this time of year you may observe two interesting fungal colonisers through lawns. These gain a foothold during dank and humid conditions where they often colonise poorly…
This species is a native to Japan where it establishes on forest margins and in clearings. When in cultivation; enjoying a position on a stream side with exposure…
Hesperantha coccinea (River Lily or Crimson Flag) is a flowering plant in the family Iridaceae, native to South Africa and Zimbabwe. It is never far away from water…
Acer pectinatum ssp. laxiflora. This Acer flowered well and now we are reaping the benefit of the winged seed. The reddish pink wings envelope the seed, multiples are…
Gentiana ‘Braemar’; raised from Gentian species crossed in East Lothian by Ian McNaughton of Macplants. With possible parentage of G. veitchiorum and G. hexaphylla the result is a…
The deciduous foliage of Tripterygium regelii is yellowing gracefully. This ungainly climber reaches 5 metres in Japan from where seed was collected. In Amori Prefecture it was growing…
The family Euphorbiaceae is more usually associated with the warmth of home at Christmas time when Poinsettias are the house plant of choice. Mallotus japonicus is also a…
Eleutherococcus leucorrhizus is a sparsely spined, deciduous shrub that is growing from a turn of the 20th Century Wilson collection. Native to SW China where it grows in…
The autumn colours are developing in the Edinburgh Garden with an increasing presence. One of the regular performers is Cercidiphyllum japonicum, a multi-branched small tree native to China…
Designed, planned and planted by the three Horticulture Apprentices the potager is a collection of vegetables and flowers; in effect a flowering vegetable garden with origins in France….
Passiflora vitifolia a native to Central America. A sturdy and vigorous plant that soon covers a sizeable section of the Orchid and Cycad glasshouse it is growing in….
Despite the wet overcast summer the spikes of bloom on Watsonia pillansii are magnificent. Distinct in the south facing border of the Front Range this native to Eastern…