Category: HorticulturePage 11 of 59

Latest blog stories connected with horticulture at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

‘Have you seen the octopus?’

‘Hai visto il polpo?’ *Waves arms to impersonate octopus* ‘Its warm today isn’t it mate’ I said while flapping my arms back to him My current boss called…

Unusual fern Lepisorus thunbergianus

I spotted this unusual fern on a shipment that had come to Vannucci from Japan. The 8-20cm long plants were clinging to the trunk and underside of branches…

100th birthday for a Himalayan Wild Pear collected by George Forrest

On the 18th July 2018 we celebrate the 100th birthday of the Pyrus pashia tree growing on the Pyrus lawn.

Following Storm Hector

A casualty of Storm Hector was the loss of our mature Medlar, Mespilus germanica. The large canopy was like a sail gusting in the full force of the…

The Big Botanics BioBlitz and the 1000th Species

A damselfly basking in the sun photographed Philip Gillespie. One of the ways the garden has already celebrated nature and biodiversity this year was to hold the Big…

Diminutive and demonstrative

On the alpine wall baking in the June heat is Jasminum parkeri. With the familiar Jasmine shaped flowers this is a ground hugging evergreen shrub native to northern…

Straggly with style

Two herbaceous perennials that originate in North America are in flower at the garden. The Aquilegia was collected as seed in British Columbia growing in full sun on…

Meconopsis ‘Hensol Violet’ by Sam Stapleton

The first day I arrived in Logan Botanic Gardens I was stunned by the beauty of Meconopsis ‘Slieve Donard’, a blue sky-like flower, a purity you could only…

The Dalmatian Laburnum – a first flowering at Logan by Chris Parsons

The walled garden at Logan, provides extra protection for many exotic shrubs and climbers, in what is already a benign climate thanks to the gulf stream. One such…

Arisaemas by Nuala Godfrey

Arisaemas are a genus comprising more than 200 species, commonly known as Jack-in-the-pulpits or cobra lilies. They are tuberous perennials, live for around 20 years, and are usually…

Aristolochia griffithii – a curious climber flowers at Logan Botanic Garden by Katy Merrington

Surreptitiously snaking up the north-facing wall of Logan’s walled garden, this intriguing climber has a fascinating flower, which unfolds its pale exterior to reveal a blood red throat….

Polylepis australis by Vida Svahnstrom

As an intern at Logan, visitors often ask me questions about the garden while I’m working in the beds. One of the plants I am most frequently asked…

A very fine tree

Pterostyrax hispida is a choice tree native to shaded edges of forests in China and Japan. Growing at RBGE in the F beds it is now in full…

Finding The Lost Words at Logan

This year’s regional garden Schools’ Weeks are inspired by the bestselling book ‘The Lost Words’ which is a collaborative project between writer Robert Macfarlane and artist Jackie Morris…

Fragrant flowers

Intense and heavily sweet, the fragrance from the coral white flowers hanging hidden within the climbing canopy of Schisandra grandiflora is overpowering. In bud the dangling spheres are…

Upcoming Talks during the Big Botanics BioBlitz this Saturday

As part of our BioBlitz festivities, we are hosting four fabulous speakers to talk on a range of wildlife-related topics.   999 and counting… Recording Biodiversity at RBGE…

To rival the Lilac in scent and colour

A perennial herb grown for its flavoursome foliage; Chives, Allium schoenoprasum, is also a reliable flowering plant. When cutting for the kitchen, slice as far down the leaf…

Look what the sun brought out

Pure white petals on the flowers of Paeonia emodi glow in the bright May sunshine. This is a vigorous member of the genus. The foliage growing to over…

Chelsea Flower Show 2018

  This year was my first year at Chelsea. I was lucky enough to be able to work at Chelsea for Kevock garden plants. The display had a…

Seed stock

Looking through the naturalised areas where Snowdrops and Winter Aconites provided the colour during winter the Eranthis hyemalis are ready to shed their seed. The seed capsules, held…