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…
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….
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…
Maintenance Maintain a weed free root zone. Water establishing plants in a prolonged dry spell. Only cut when the bird nesting season is over. Forming the shape…
Hawthorn, Crataegus monogyna, the stock fence on farmland. Deciduous, spiny, flowering, berrying and impenetrable to livestock. These days, often cut with a tractor mounted flail mower. Craftsmen traditionally…
I have a fair interest in Rhododendron because the are such a ubiquitous Scottish garden plant, but at Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh we have a world class collection…
Tsuga heterophylla, the Western Hemlock, neat and dense, withstands close clipping and retains its shape. A tree of forest proportions in its native Western North America. A Pacific…
If you have been watching the Masters 2014 Golf from Augusta, Georgia, USA you may have spotted the Rhododendrons (Azaleas) in flower particularly at the 12 and 13…
When does a hedge become a windbreak? The attached image illustrates Ilex growing in the Garden. As a windbreak the plants are left to grow, gaining not just…
This, a deciduous suckering shrub, native to the Pacific coast of North America making a straggling untidy plant. Oemleria cerasiformis, leafs out from the last days of February….
It is a pleasure to feature Alexis Manson‘s beautiful shot of the heron that often hangs out at Edinburgh botanics. If you wait long enough at this time…