Category: Garden WildlifePage 37 of 68
While snowdrops flowers are continuing to appear apace in the Rock Garden. The few rays of sunshine this week have encouraged some of the Hellebores in the Woodland Garden…
A vigorous mass planting of white stemmed Rubus sp. had spread to the detriment of neighbouring, weaker growing plants. The ideal time to dig out the extensive mass…
Description Cocoa is an evergreen tropical tree, usually 5 to 8m tall. The flowers are small, yellowish white to pale pink and grow directly from the trunk. In…
The Scots Pine is an iconic tree within the Scottish landscape. Easily recognisable with its reddish trunk, best appreciated during a west coast sunset when the rays from…
The first snowdrops are starting to unfurl in the Rock garden. Two of the earliest species that we have are Galanthus ‘Anglesey Abbey’ and Galanthus ‘Opehlia’. To enjoy…
Out with the mower on the 22nd; last Wednesday, topping off the Palm House lawns which with the mildness of the winter had that straggly appearance of uneven…
I thought I’d recorded no insects in the Botanics this week, but when downloading the week’s images from my camera this evening I found this shot of an…
Yesterday morning almost the first thing I heard when coming through the North Gate was the call of a Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita)! It then gave a very brief,…
Beneath the extensive branch framework of Kalopanax septemlobus lays a carpet of fallen fruit. Further from the canopy edge are seedlings that have germinated from viable seed that…
The figures are at last all in and 62 bird species were recorded in the Botanics in Edinburgh during 2013. This is one fewer than 2012 when 63…
Today I saw my first insect of 2014 in the Botanics. No ordinary fly or early bee; it was a STONEFLY of the genus Leuctra (needle flies), almost…
Backed by a west facing wall, Tomato plants set in grow bags in the lean to glasshouse of the Fletcher Building are continuing to yield edible fruit. For…
Hanging by a fragile stalk from the terminal bud, the colourful bean pod like fruits of Decaisnea fargesii are an exotic shade of blue. The upright growth of…
2014 marks the 350th anniversary of the publication in 1664 of John Evelyn’s classic book Sylva: a discourse of forest trees and the propagation of timber in…
A touch of breeze and the brown wafer thin seed pods of this Dipelta yunnanensis are set quivering on the leafless shoots. The twin wing like bracts give…
Description: This rare palm can reach a height of over 18m in its natural habitat, and has large fan-shaped leaves. It has an unusual lifecycle, flowering only once…
Xanthorhiza simplicissima; a deciduous shrub with pinnate foliage that slowly colours into early winter. Surprisingly, a member of the Buttercup family, Ranunculaceae. Native to Eastern North America where…
Bamboos are essentially a group of toughened grasses. This particular giant bamboo is known as Bambusa vulgaris. It is an open clump-forming species with striped stems and dark…
On Thursday we were treated to a fantastic sunset as we left work. Luckily I had my camera with me. November 2013 has given us many fine days…
National Tree Week, 23 November – 1 December is the UK’s largest tree celebration and launches the start of the winter tree planting season. Today we have been taking…