Category: HorticulturePage 23 of 60

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

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A fine growing season for the genus Eucryphia – cool and moist. This deciduous species, E. glutinosa is awash with white petalled flowers supporting a spectacular central mass…

Swathes of white

Astilbe japonica has plumes of pure white flowers with a musty scent attracting the pollinators, as the name implies, a native to Japan. The generic name Astilbe, is…

Amorphophallus titanum – Preserving it for posterity

The flowering of our Amorphophallus titanum (titan arum) was a tremendous event with c 19,000 people visiting the Glasshouses to see the plant growing from a small bud…

Tubular bells

Desfontainia spinosa a native to Chile, Ecuador, Peru. The parent plant of this specimen was growing in the Alerce Andino National Park, Chile at a relatively low altitude…

The great escape

The spectacular flowers of Romneya coulteri are to be seen in the Queen Mother Memorial Garden on the north boundary border. The large white pleated petals surround the…

A shrubby rosaceous success

Stephanandra tanakae a deciduous shrub with long arching growth. Native to Honshu Japan where it was seen growing on steep NE facing rocky cliffs at 920m. Here only…

A giant of the genus

The fashion to breed tighter more compact plants for modern gardens by passed this species from Japan. Hemerocallis exaltata is a vigorous herbaceous plant, the flower spikes reaching…

A warm temperate success

Styrax officinalis; a deciduous shrub with the most attractive white flowers. These are produced on the current season’s shoots. Initially a spherical creamy bud that on opening reveals…

It’s Opening Now! (2015)

It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for! Our Amorphophallus titanum (titan arum), one of the world’s biggest and smelliest blooms, is now in full flower. It’s a…

Bud to bloom; Paeonia perfection

          The herbaceous Peonies; short lived in bloom but once established in the border are you callous enough to dig them out? This cultivar,…

How Our Big Old Sweet Chestnut Supports Biodiversity

In this film by Johan Serge Jakobson, from Wild Leaf Reels,  Martyn Dickson explains how one of our oldest trees  supports a wide range of biodiversity. How do…

Caring For Our Big Old Sweet Chestnut

Johan Serge Jakobson (documentary filmmaker) talks about making the film: A big old Castanea sativa (Sweet Chestnut) has stood on the pond lawn in RBGE’s Edinburgh garden for…

New Reekie – in the heat of the moment

A small army of staff and volunteers, dubbed the ‘Titan Arum Army’, is sweltering alongside New Reekie to help explain this extraordinary tropical plant to visitors. However, heat…

Clematis argentilucida from SW China

Tucked away on a boundary wall near the glasshouses, but not on public display, is one of the oldest living Clematis specimens in our collection. This plant was…

BBC News: Edinburgh gardens wait for ‘smelly’ giant plant

More coverage of our remarkable Amorphophallus titanum this time on the BBC News. Watch the video here.

Sadie Barber interviewed on BBC Radio 5 Live about Reekie

Our very own Sadie Barber was interviewed on BBC Radio 5 Live about our Amorphophallus titanum. You can listen to the interview below.

Titan Arum growth – 15th July to 16th August 2011

This is a film of when our Amorphophallus titanum grew a leaf back in 2011.

One of many

Let your eye run the length of the alpine wall; an intricate mass of flower is your reward. Petrophytum hendersonii cascades down the south face of the limestone…

New Reekie

Summer 2015 will see an exciting botanical first for Scotland when the titan arum (Amorphophallus titanum) flowers at the Botanics. This native of the Sumatran rainforest has been…

Bronze tan

The bronze foliage cultivar of Rodgersia pinnata ‘Irish Bronze’ is particularly showy when the sun sifts through the leaves. It highlights the shades of colour contrast; deep bronze…