Category: HorticulturePage 37 of 59

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

The sun’s excrement

Take a look around when the sun is low in the sky and lighting up the lichens on deciduous tree bark. Xanthoria parietina can be found on the…

A frosty start to the Rhododendron season.

Rhododendron dauricum is one of the hardiest of the genus, flowering as January starts and often lasting well into February. Found growing through forest margins where it grows…

Butchers Broom

So called, as a bunch of the stems of Ruscus aculeatus were tied together and used by butchers to sweep their wooden chopping blocks. The cladodes have a…

Hakone grass

Hakonechloa macra is a perennial, clump forming, grass. It is named after Mt.Hakone, on the island of Honshu, Japan and is a monotypic genus. The foliage browns and…

Hakone grass

Hakonechloa macra; is a perennial, clump forming, grass. It is named after Mt. Hakone, on the island of Honshu, Japan and is a monotypic genus. The foliage browns…

Reflections of a deciduous canopy

Examples of sculpted work as part of the Roots to Shoots exhibition at the Garden until 10th March 2013 can be found on the Oak lawn. Reflective plates…

January 2013: Acacia dealbata

Acacia dealbata is an evergreen tree native to the forests of New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmanina, found on slopes and creek banks. It was introduced from Tasmania…

Review of the year 2012

A very mild end to 2011, we recorded 12.5oC on the 31st December. On the 3rd January 2012 Edinburgh recorded wind speeds of over 100mph. The highest wind…

Unseasonal flowers

Sweet Pea ‘Old Fashioned Mix’ is continuing to throw out flowers, short of stalk and with an absence of fragrance, at this, the tail end of the year….

Chattering Rhododendrons

Walking through the Rhododendron collection in the Garden as dusk is falling, a rapid temperature drop and the stillness of the evening. Then a sound that resembles water…

Pollen strings

Within the research collection is a young potted specimen of Rhododendron zoelleri, one of the Vireya collection. The large funnel shaped corolla is a bright mix of yellow…

Saw teeth for winter fuel

Serratula seoanei bearing terminal light pink coloured composite flowers. The regular segmented flower bud structure is worth peering at before it expands revealing the anthers packed within. These…

December 2012: Mimosa pudica or Sensitive Plant

This is an evergreen shrub that reaches five feet in height and produces globe-shaped flowers in summer. The plant’s most fascinating feature is the fern-like leaves that close…

Last gasp of autumn colour

Ribes vilmorinii planted on the Chinese hillside has the remains of startlingly bright leaf colour. This is a deciduous species native to NW Yunnan into Sichuan and Hubei…

Police truncheons; an impending shortage

The media is full of information on Chalara dieback of Ash; Chalara fraxinea. Below are web links that give information on the fungal disease that will cause loss…

Lawn invaders

At this time of year you may observe two interesting fungal colonisers through lawns. These gain a foothold during dank and humid conditions where they often colonise poorly…

Ligularia dentata

This species is a native to Japan where it establishes on forest margins and in clearings. When in cultivation; enjoying a position on a stream side with exposure…

November 2012: Welcome Splashes of Colour in the Rock Garden

Hesperantha coccinea (River Lily or Crimson Flag) is a flowering plant in the family Iridaceae, native to South Africa and Zimbabwe. It is never far away from water…

Dangling delight

Acer pectinatum ssp. laxiflora. This Acer flowered well and now we are reaping the benefit of the winged seed. The reddish pink wings envelope the seed, multiples are…

Blue blooded hybrid

Gentiana ‘Braemar’; raised from Gentian species crossed in East Lothian by Ian McNaughton of Macplants. With possible parentage of G. veitchiorum and G. hexaphylla the result is a…