Category: HorticulturePage 48 of 59

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

Black leaves for dark days

The planting of Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Nigrescens’ near Inverleith House is a significant splash of black. Look closely and the few strands of reversion to green foliage show up….

The brightest berry of the season?

Sorbus commixta has the brightest berries of the genus; bright red in colour with a lustrous sheen. It does increase their appeal when the sun shines on them…

Red hot chilli pepper

The seed pods on the Berberis chitria at the Palm House are colouring and developing to give an added attraction to this large ungainly semi evergreen shrub. Plants…

A scandent scrambler with rocket like leaves

Provide this sub shrubby woody composite with a supporting crutch and it will thrive. A native to south and East Asia; Senecio scandens is looking colourful at this…

Ginkgo gold

The group of three Ginkgo biloba are exhibiting a good show of golden colour this late into the autumn. Slow to change from green to a golden yellow…

Shrimps and feather dusters

Danthonia cumminsii collected on the Guang Ho Ba meadow in the vicinity of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, Yunnan Province, China. A tussock forming perennial producing fine leaves…

Late season canopy colour

Catch this canopy with the low sun and you will understand why Reginald Farrer grabbed a handful of berries and returned with the seed from Gansu Province, China…

Buds a plenty

Prolific flowering with multiple buds held in reserve. This Clematis brevicaudata is covering one of the balustrades on the rock garden bridge. Providing a mass of flowers since…

Mouldering mass of Hosta

What better example than the decaying remains of a group of Hosta rectifolia foliage to remind us that a good edge to a lawn needs an annual renovation?…

Halloween lanterns

You search the shops for ghouls and ghosts then growing on your doorstep is a plant laden with seasonal shapes. The decorative paper thin seed pods of Physalis…

Autumn colour; sensational and spectacular

Now exhibiting the full range of tints and shades of autumn, the Gardens’ deciduous canopy is here to be appreciated. With the weekend clock change make full use…

A late Lobelia

Plants of Lobelia sessilifolia from eastern and northern Asia are sending up productive flower spikes.  These are covered with dark violet flowers, tightly packed in bud as can…

Malus, Medlars and remnants of Rhubarb

A good harvest in the garden means a culinary delight for Gardens visitors. The chef at the John Hope Gateway restaurant has a recipe for jelly as an…

Apple weekend

This weekend sees a celebration of apples in the John Hope Gateway. Cultivars from gardens and collections grown throughout Scotland will be laid out on tables for comparing…

A season for spiders

Chlorophytum; a large genus of more than 200 species. Sitting serenely on many a window sill is a “Spider plant”, Chlorophytum comosum. Often variegated; almost always pot bound….

The John Hope Gateway

Opening on Wednesday 7th October the Gateway building will be the first stunning impression many visitors will have of the Garden. Caithness slate dominates and the glass foyer…

String of pearls

Within the Montane Tropics House are several Rhododendrons of subsection Vireya. Rhododendron konori, a variable species is native to the highlands of Papua New Guinea. The large pure…

Mrs Popple admires her arborescent cousin

Providing exemplary late season colour are two members of the genus Fuchsia. Fuchsia ‘Mrs. Popple’ is a cultivar with upright growth covered in large red / purple pendulous…

Doff your hat

Don’t walk by. This plant deserves closer attention. Stop and admire the design of the flowers on Aconitum carmichaelii ‘Arendsii’. Well deserving of the common name “Monkshood” the…

Honey for tea

In the sheltered border within the enclosed area between the tropical palm and orchid houses there is a heavy scent given off by the mass flowering of Myrceugenia…