Month: December 2015
So, you’ve seen my highlights of 2015, now here’s what I’m looking forward to in 2016: 1.Discoveries What will I find out about in 2016? What discoveries will…
As the sun starts to set on the final day of 2015 I’m reflecting on the many things that have happened in the year, and what is in…
January 1st dawned wet and mild, the north block metrological station easily touching 14°C. Walking around the Garden on New Year’s morning; Snowdrops – in flower. A first…
Ash dieback, caused by Hymenoscyphus fraxineus (aka Chalara) infection was first recorded in the UK in 2012. Symptoms include blackened or withered leaves, crown dieback and diamond-shaped bark…
This week the Water of Leith Walkway Audio Tour app went live in the Apple iOS app store and the Google Play store. We have produced this in…
Back in July 2013 we held a workshop here at RBGE on the use of HTTP URIs (also known as URLs or just plain web addresses) for specimens….
Parsnips are a great winter crop. Some people claim they taste better after a touch of frost. Parsnips are a ‘long season crop’. If you want to have…
We practiced contrasting traditional horticultural practices in the second half of December, one seasonal and the other not so. Following a mild wet autumn we recorded an overnight…
Jamie Taggart, who with his father Jim Taggart created the inspiring Linn Botanic Garden on the Rosneath peninsular, disappeared during a plant hunting expedition in North West Vietnam…
As 2015 draws to a close we end the third growing season for the Really Wild Veg project. The aim of the project is to explore how domestication…
Two of our herbarium specimens from the 19th Century are in the new exhibition entitled PLAGUE! at the National Library of Scotland on George IV Bridge. They make…
At this time of year parents are frantically trying to decide what to give their children for Christmas. Can I make a suggestion? As first proposed by pioneer…
A midsummer flowering favourite that is, as we head for the shortest day, awash with flower buds and carrying a selection of open flowers. The weekend frost had…
In early November 2015 we were lucky enough to be asked if we’d take a postgraduate student studying Archives and Records Management at Glasgow University for a two…
This page is intended to give a home for examples of the collections of James Drummond. Born in near Forfar Angus, he became gardener at Cork Botanic Garden…
The season of herbaceous seed heads is with us. This tall Ligularia fischeri has elegance in the way it displays the seed and empty seed capsules down the…
We are at the time of the year where observable sparrowhawk activity reaches its low point. They are most likely to still be around but it’s just that…
November began as October ended, quiet and mild. However after the first few days there was an abrupt change when a series of Atlantic depressions brought gales and…
A warm autumn and benign lead into winter has produced many out of season horticultural surprises. The Raspberry ‘Autumn Bliss’ was prolific in fruiting and even now has…