Category: HorticulturePage 50 of 59

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

Will Derek travel home?

This is the year of the Homecoming; a year when the Scots Diaspora are encouraged to return to the country of their roots. Over the weekend of 25…

Trumpeting summer

In the F beds near the Gateway building is a group of Hemerocallis exaltata, the flower stalks reach two meters and then the buds burst open. Each trumpet…

Scent, seed and a stink

Valeriana officinalis, a prolific seeder which is possibly why the geographical range is Eurasia. If you grow this herbaceous perennial you are in good company, found in the…

Continents collude

This eye catching combination of colour is a cross continent collusion. The shrubby support is Hypericum forrestii and the scrambler; Tropaeolum speciosum. This combination would not occur without…

For David and Jane; at midsummer, the scent of ripe pineapple

Scents are powerful joggers of memory and a place in time. Competing with the heavy lingering scent of Philadelphus at this time of year is Cytisus battandieri an…

Ecklon’s Everlasting

Helichrysum ecklonis named after Christian Friedrich Ecklon (1795 – 1868). A Dane who first visited South Africa in 1823 as an apprentice apothecary. Developing an interest in the…

Dust bowl

Papaver lateritium collected by Peter Davis on a river bank in the hilly Ikidere district of Rize in Eastern Turkey. Researching the flora of Turkey was Peter Davis’…

On the Appalachian trail

Native to the Appalachian Mountains of Eastern North America; Diphylleia cymosa is an herbaceous member of the family Berberidaceae. A leafy perennial with large peltate leaves, deeply cut…

A Mediterranean treat for the fine weather

At 4.30 am on the 29th May the sun rose and burnt a continuous groove in the sunshine recording card until a cloud passed over the garden at…

Pin ‘n Pod

Foliage to appreciate in a woodland border is how I would describe the leafy growth produced by these two memorable Rodgersia species. Rough and robust. The images show…

The Himalayan Blue Poppy

A new planting of Meconopsis Hybrids can be seen in the woodland garden, one of the best being Meconopsis ‘Slieve Donard’. This hybrid has an Edinburgh city pedigree…

Salad days

Magnolia acuminata, also known as “The Cucumber Tree”. It takes this common name from the shape and appearance of the fruit which swells to resemble a cucumber after…

Visible from space

Descending into Edinburgh airport and picking out landmarks is generally the way to pass the time in anticipation of landing in the capital. On a return flight our…

Intoxicating scent seeking wall space

Elytropus chilensis a woody evergreen almost unnoticed as you walk through the Chilean plant collection to the north of the Front Range. Flowering profusely tucked beneath other shrubs…

Iris’s handkerchief

Iris iberica var. elegantissima one of the showiest of the Oncocyclus group of Iris. This naturally occurring variety is found in N.W. Turkey and into neighbouring Iran. The…

Paeonia with a problem

Paeonia mascula; with a wide geographical range; Mediterranean to S.E. Asia, this herbaceous species produces carmine red flowers that are stuffed full of yellow anthers. A worthwhile member…

A wall of colour

Outstanding. Just one word that captures the quality of the Rhododendron display this year. Previously I mentioned a subspecies of Rhododendron arboreum. A hybrid affiliated to this species,…

Spring temperatures and still the need for a thermos?

Thermopsis villosa a native to the coastal states of south eastern USA where it is found growing in forest clearings. The rhizomatous herbaceous growth shoots away in April…

Two Rocks and a Schilling

Growing in the copse are progeny of Joseph Rock’s selection of Rhododendron adenosum, collection number 18228 from the mountains of Sichuan province, China. Grow in open woodland where…

A plantsman’s plant

All the way from the South Korean countryside, Aristolochia manshuriensis is worth growing against a west facing wall for the unusual flower structure. The calyx is an inflated…