Category: Garden WildlifePage 44 of 68
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…
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…
Last year, from its beginning until the end of April 2012, I had recorded the following numbers of insect species and other invertebrates in RBGE: 3 butterflies; 13…
Today I saw a small solitary bee visiting flowers of Woodsorrel Oxalis acetosella in the Scottish Heath Garden. It had a very reddish brown furry thorax and rather…
A total of 41 different bird species was recorded in, or flying over, the Botanics during April 2012. These included the year’s first migrants, as I’ve mentioned in…
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…
A single Pine Ladybird, Exochomus quadripustulatus, was seen today on the bark of one of the beech trees at the top of Stove Brae. This is one of the…
Slowly but surely bees are beginning to buzz in the Botanics this slow, late spring. As more flowers come into bloom more bees, and more bee species, emerge….
A Greater Bee-fly, Bombylius major, was spotted in the Copse yesterday and again today, visiting the mass of Pulmonaria ‘Munstead Blue’ near the entrance opposite the path to…
The Garden seemed full of spring migrants this morning! I heard at least three, possibly four, different Willow Warblers around the Chinese Hillside and Pond areas. A Chiffchaff…
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…
A Willow Warbler was heard singing from bushes on the Chinese Hillside this morning (15 April) – the first spring migrant bird to arrive in RBGE this year!…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Three Canada Geese were on the Pond at RBGE Edinburgh yesterday (21 March) – two adults and a juvenile, distinguishable by its more orange beak. A Dabchick (also…
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…
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…
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…