Category: HorticulturePage 21 of 60

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

British Art Show 8: Jesse Wine in the Victorian Palm House

Our current exhibition, British Art Show 8, is well underway here at Inverleith House, as well as at partner venues, Talbot Rice, University of Edinburgh, and Scottish National…

First sprouts of spring

Plants are sending out growth as we approach spring. This is the last opportunity to complete any formative pruning. Take the opportunity to manage your plant collection and…

A variable species

Two different collections of Helleborus orientalis can be seen in the woodland garden. Both collected from Georgia. The smaller, with petals shaded pink and red was growing at…

Hugh Cleghorn & Economic Botany

Two new books are shortly to be published by RBGE about one of the Garden’s most significant, but forgotten, benefactors – Hugh Cleghorn of Stravithie (1820–1895). Some of…

Ivy

Carpets of Ivy, Hedera helix, are wonderful for ground cover but once the vigorous shoots start encroaching on tree trunks, walls and through the base of woody shrubs…

Daphne hybrid

Daphne ‘Spring Beauty’ is indeed a beauty and scented too. An evergreen shrub hybridised in the 1820’s it has a mass of flowers in a terminal cluster. Purple…

Figs in waiting

Ficus carica needs a warm corner to produce a reliable crop of Figs in autumn. As a native to the Middle East as much for winter protection of…

Acacia dealbata (mimosa silver wattle), on the temperate walkway of the glasshouses

Family: Mimosaceae  Description Acacia dealbata is an evergreen tree with noticeably angular shoots and bears true bipinnate filigree effect, blue-green leaves. The highly fragrant pom pom flowers are…

First report from Indonesia

A team of five staff from RBGE (three scientists and two horticulturists) have set out on an expedition to Indonesia; Phase 1 of a project which aims to…

Hemispheres collide

The evergreen Prostanthera cuneatea is not enjoying the heavy rain and lately the frosts we are experiencing this winter. A native of the Southern Hemisphere it is dropping…

Seeds in profusion

Now is the time to look beneath established Berberis bushes and observe germinating seedlings. As can be seen from the attached image of Berberis aristata the viability of…

Objects from the Temperate Palm House – New Exhibition

Objects from the Temperate Palm House, an exhibition using remnants of historic palm trees once grown in the Botanic Garden’s Victorian palm houses will open at Bargain Spot…

A winter warmer

Better to be prepared than to lose the living plant. A timely cover of straw, laid loosely on top of the crowns of Hedychium spicatum and Brugmansia aurea…

Review of the year 2015

January 1st dawned wet and mild, the north block metrological station easily touching 14°C. Walking around the Garden on New Year’s morning; Snowdrops – in flower. A first…

Juxtaposition

We practiced contrasting traditional horticultural practices in the second half of December, one seasonal and the other not so. Following a mild wet autumn we recorded an overnight…

Sunrise on the shortest day 21 12 2015

Cistus albidus

A midsummer flowering favourite that is, as we head for the shortest day, awash with flower buds and carrying a selection of open flowers. The weekend frost had…

Tall sentinels of seed

The season of herbaceous seed heads is with us. This tall Ligularia fischeri has elegance in the way it displays the seed and empty seed capsules down the…

The three R’s

A warm autumn and benign lead into winter has produced many out of season horticultural surprises. The Raspberry ‘Autumn Bliss’ was prolific in fruiting  and even now has…

More power from Dawyck Hydro.

The Hydro power scheme at Dawyck Botanic Garden was officially launched on the 19th May 2014 by Fergus Ewing MSP, The Minister for Business, Energy and Tourism. It…