Category: HorticulturePage 45 of 59

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

A season to sneeze

Alnus japonica, a deciduous pyramidal tree, this specimen collected in 1987 by Warner and Howick during travels to Hokkaido Province, Japan. The parent plant was found growing at…

Banking on bloom

After the snow, there is the promise of colour to come. In the rock garden are specimens of a naturally occurring hybrid Rhododendron; Rhododendron charitopes ssp. tsangpoense x…

Picked to the bone

A cold winter puts strain on the food resources that the gardens’ bird population depends on. Capsules on the spent herbaceous flower stalks are one source of food…

Ilex pernyi

A small leaved Holly, introduced by E.H. Wilson from Sichuan province, China, during an expedition funded by the Arnold Arboretum. It grows amongst forests and woody cover in…

Fishbone fir

The image shows the shoot and branch framework exaggerated by snow cover. Abies alba, the “European Silver Fir” sprinkled with snow appears to have a fishbone structure. A…

Review of the year

The year opened with snow on the ground and saw a continuation of the longest unbroken freezing spell for several decades. The snow just continued to fall, blowing…

Season’s greetings

The shortest day dawns and we can hope the weather improves with increased day length. The country proverb that when the Holly is prolific with berries we will…

Low sun and silhouettes

With the snow still blanketing the land this is an ideal time to appreciate the silhouette of deciduous trees. At maturity the grandeur of forest trees dominates the…

Scuffle strips and bowed plants

A week of heavy snow and no real thaw has resulted in a build up of snow on foliage through the garden. Keep an eye on evergreens where…

Scent from the Tropics

Solandra grandiflora has risen from ground level of the temperate lands house to adorn the railings of the warm weather walkway. This tropical liana is covered in tubular…

Lively Liriope’s

Guaranteed to survive and thrive in the most inhospitable soil and shaded situation within a garden. Liriope is an evergreen clump forming genera belonging to the family Convallariaceae….

Autumnal decay

This surreal image shows all that remains of the foliage of Gunnera manicata as the frost and stormy weather batters and weakens its structure. The fast growing South…

Bodnantense on the breeze

There is still plenty of colour in the deciduous canopy as we head for mid November. Startlingly bright are the leaves of Enkianthus perulatus. This native to Japan…

Pink perfection, white reflection

Of note in the Garden are two Sorbus species displaying berries worthy of attention. Both native to Sichuan Province, China but with a wider distribution through China and…

Growing on – the next generation

Salvia corrugata shows intense blue flowers as the growing season comes to an end. Surviving a few degrees of frost but gradually the cold and wet of an…

Autumn colour

After a prolific fruiting season the autumn colours step up to the mark. Make the most of these by visiting one of our four gardens; Edinburgh, Logan, Benmore…

Perfect partners

Plant selection and harmonious plant associations are often talked about, rarely achieved. Covering the gabion baskets in the nursery is an intertwined partnership; Parthenocissus quinquefolia and Clematis vitalba….

Siebold’s autumn selection

The autumn colours are setting in through the deciduous canopy. Two named in honour of Philipp Franz von Siebold, 1796 – 1866 who contributed greatly to the collection…

Candles in the breeze

Lighting the way towards the shorter days of autumn is the late flowering Cimicifuga simplex. Long, musty scented spikes towering up to 2.5 metres are covered in a…

A pastel blue for autumn

Stool this shrub, Caryopteris incana, back to a few buds in April just as growth begins and the reward at this time of year are arching shoots covered…