Category: Garden WildlifePage 17 of 68
Two plants fusing the shade of pink are the stunning, long lasting flowers of Nerine bowdenii and the fruit of Holboellia grandiflora. The Nerine, a South African bulb;…
A homage to the best of all autumn colours can be seen in the Nursery. Fraxinus angustifolia ssp. angustifolia when seen with the late afternoon sun lighting up…
Early sunshine and heavy dew this morning, yet on the front lawns the dew had crystallised as the first ground frost of autumn. With it are signs of…
August 2017 was another mixed month in Edinburgh weather-wise, with plenty of rain but also some warm sun. Daytime temperatures were mostly slightly warmer than average, but night-time…
There are several Rhododendron species and cultivars flowering out of season this autumn. At this time of year the buds should be initiating for the spring 2018 flowering….
I’ve recently been working alongside Clare and Bruce, the horticulturalists who maintain the Botanics Orchid collection, to stock-take, curate and verify the collection. As part of that process…
Sambucus racemosa ssp. racemosa has a wide distribution; Europe, Asia Minor, Siberia, W. Asia, N. America. This red berried Elder is bearing magnificent panicles of white flowers, many…
July 2017 was another wet month, with >74 mm of rain, more than half of which fell in the final week. However, it was also a sunny month,…
The Bell heather Erica cinerea is one of the iconic plants of the Scottish hills. Flowering in time for the Edinburgh Festival season a planting near the east…
A young specimen of Colutea cilicica, native to SW Asia is flowering well in the border behind the new alpine house. An unusual genus to find in cultivation,…
There is a palpable air of excitement among team members as we make our final preparations for the expedition to Saipal Himal in western Nepal. Bajura District has…
A consequence of a wet spell and the holiday season has resulted in the lawns not being cut as frequently as usual. Two plants have taken advantage of…
There is a winning combination in one of the alpine stone troughs. Here two surface hugging plants from separate continents have combined, growing through each other, their flower…
In contrast to the very dry spring (March to May), June 2017 was officially the wettest-ever June recorded at the Botanics, with over 180 mm (7.11 inches) of…
Both of these plants were collected in Lesotho at the southern end of the Drakensberg Mountains, growing in grassland. Both appreciate an open sun drenched position with good…
Planted in the uppermost section of the Chinese hillside this evergreen Rhododendron bears multiple trusses of shocking white flowers. Considering the exposed situation it has established well, and…
Having weeded out many specimens of Prunella vulgaris over the years it is of interest to see a mass planting of this herb, native to Europe and Central…
Ever wondered how plants have evolved to defend themselves? If you were a plant how would you stop something eating you? Poison? Spines? Pretending to be something else? …
A climbing plant with plentiful tubular red flowers, Jasminum beesianum makes the usual mass of tangled growth expected of these plants with loose scandent growth. Some twisting action…
This group of Prostranthera cuneate took a battering from our wet and cold conditions during the winter of 2015/16. Much defoliation took place, yet this southern hemisphere native…