Year: 2013Page 9 of 21
The best way of storing onions is using the traditional string method. Onions must be dried first if they are to…
This year is the 150th birthday of the magnificent avenue of redwoods at Benmore. The story behind how this species reached Britain involves a race to bring back…
Plants raised from seed in March, grown on under cover until the cold spring ended and planted out during May to form this year’s successful potager. In the…
The story of dead bumblebees at the Botanics that had apparently been killed by the toxic effect of nectar from silver lime (Tilia tomentosa) http://stories.rbge.org.uk/?p=5319 has taken a new…
Raspberries, one of the tastiest soft fruit, grow very well in Scotland. Many of the commercial varieties have been bred by the James Hutton Institute (formerly Scottish Crop…
This is the time to appreciate the phenomenal growth of Sunflowers, Helianthus annuus and the large yellow head of flowers. Some, to celebrate their size, go by the…
On the 21st June a BioBlitz was run at the Edinburgh Garden. Over a 24 hour period as many species as possible were recorded by around 30 expert…
Like a lot of jobs working in software development can be depressing as you are continually dealing with things that have gone wrong and rarely dwell on the…
A few weeks ago I was walking through the Edinburgh Garden near the foot of the Chinese Hillside when I was struck by the large number of dead…
The new bed of Scottish native plants near the rock garden is starting to fill out, but there are still some gaps that we need to fill. The…
The dark days of winter do not mean an end to a supply of fresh nutritious home grown greens. There are a range of salad plants that can…
The education team have just produced a new video promoting the HND/BSc Horticulture with Plantsmanship. It is good to see the guys getting the message out there…
In the herbaceous border a fine patch of Coreopsis verticillata ‘Grandiflora’ is attracting pollinating insects as well as the attention of visitors due to the clear bright yellow…
The Garden has teamed up with Sky Rainforest Rescue and WWF to bring a rainforest experience in a dome! The dome started construction on Tuesday (13/08) and was…
I had the good fortune last week to be involved in field work in the Scottish Highlands, along with RBGE arborist Paul Mullany and Natsha de Vere from…
Grow! by Pop Up! Edinburgh is our latest art exhibit which is showcasing unique pieces of glass artwork from 13 various artists. The idea of Pop Up! Edinburgh…
The Sabal Palm (Sabal bermudana) is frequently mentioned as being the oldest plant in our collection at about 200 years old. A couple of years ago while researching…
Trachycarpus fortune This hardy oriental palm survives not only the Edinburgh climate, but in the far north west of Scotland. At Scourie in Sutherland a specimen is growing…
Livistona carinensis This desert fan palm, native to Somalia in NE Africa, to Djibouti and to Yemen in southern Arabia, is found along creek sides and in valley…
Archontophoenix cunninghamia This Australian palm bears attractive trusses of violet flowers followed by red fruits. It occurs in warm humid tropical and subtropical forests. Its popular name reflects…