Category: Edinburgh BotanicsPage 28 of 50

New RBGE Alpine House opens

An exciting new development has been realised after nearly a decade of careful planning, design work, fundraising and plant collecting. The dramatic ‘tufa house’, which opens to the…

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….

George V and Queen Mary visiting the Botanics in their Silver Jubilee year of 1935

This footage was found on a reel of 16mm cine film amongst our film collection which we thought consisted mainly of footage shot by plant collectors in the…

Scottish natives on the move

After a few weeks of hard work, landscaping the site where we are creating a new display of Scottish native plants, we have got to the exciting point…

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…

Learning from ash dieback

Resilience noun [mass noun] 1 the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape; elasticity 2 the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness [Oxford…

Maximising stem space

The mature specimens of Maytenus boaria seen in the garden are laden with flower buds. As these open the four yellow anthers are prominently displayed proud of the…

Fabulous ferns from the desert

 On the first weekend in April fern enthusiasts had a meeting in Edinburgh. Members of the British Pteridological Society (Fern Society) heard horticulturalist Andrew Ensoll describe an official…

Better in bud

With leaves unfurling and flower buds poised to burst Viburnum buddlejifolium is an open growing wide spreading semi evergreen shrub native to Central China. In its present stage…

A poor year for old crocks

The extended cold has taken a toll on clay pots. These pots are absorbent and susceptible to freezing and thawing temperatures. Dependant on the kiln temperatures when fired…

Sandmat

Clumping over a mound in the rock garden is a sturdy plant, Arctostaphylos pumila, an evergreen shrub of the Ericaceous family. It is endemic to a small area…

The difference a week of weather can make.

Last week saw driving snow storms, freezing temperatures overnight and bright sun leading to a rapid thaw early on in the day. Some plants thrived; it was the…

Uncovering Scottish natives

The first signs of Spring are appearing in the shade tunnel in the Alpine yard. We moved the alpine Scottish natives under cover in December to avoid the…

Best black from Belgium

Hellebore seed gifted from a contact in Belgium was sown six years ago in the nursery. The resultant seedlings were grown on and flowered for the first time…

Viburnum furcatum

This plant is worth a closer look as the buds expand and the embryo foliage emerges from tight buds. Specimens of Viburnum furcatum are planted near the upper…

Student Project on Honey Fungus @RBGE Inverleith

Last year (2012) a RBGE HND/BSc2 Horticulture Student called Nicolas Porter undertook a project on Armillaria (Honey Fungus) at Inverleith. He identified a number of factors that may…

Allionii at alpine level

Flowering in the alpine house at the Garden is a collection of Primula allionii. One specimen collected, as seed; from limestone cliffs in the French Maritime Alps is…

March 2013: Bambusa vulgaris

Bamboo Bambusa vulgaris Family: Poaceae Bamboos are essentially a group of toughened grasses. Botanically known as Bambusa vulgaris, it is described as an open, clump type bamboo species…