Tag: RBGEPage 5 of 18

A perennial rhizome

Bergenia x schmidtii a hybrid between B. ciliata (Kashmir, Nepal) and its more northerly cousin B. crassifolia from Siberia and Mongolia. A good plant as ground cover on…

Pearls on the mulch

The closed, rounded petals of Pieris japonica ‘Snowdrift’ are strewn beneath the plant growing in the F beds. Freshly mulched the contrast between the organic layer and these…

Look out for lanigerum

The plants of Rhododendron lanigerum originally collected by Kingdon Ward during his travels in south western China are starting to flower. Just as attractive when in tight bud…

A duo of early flowering dwarf Daffs

Distinctive shapes characterise Narcissus cyclamineus,and N. bulbocodium; one elongated trumpet with the perianth reflexed back, elongating the flower and the other a bulbous petticoat. Both ideally suited to…

Gaultheria poeppigii

An evergreen shrub with glossy berries native to Chile and Argentina where it was found colonising dry, rocky areas. The plant growing in the peat walls has reached…

Frosty reception

A white frost settling enhances some plants, frozen ice crystals covering Cotula cf. lineariloba set off the silvery rosettes and are further intensified with low sun catching the…

Bird food

There is an untidy mass of evergreen growth on the northern raised border within the Queen Mother Memorial Garden. Jasminum humile produces copious amounts of black fruit. Pigeons…

Blowing in the wind

A covering of seed has appeared on the freshly spread mulch covering the herbaceous border. Cortaderia selloana ‘Pumila’ is shedding seed from the silver plumes it holds through…

Foetid

A self-sown clump of Iris foetidissima is bursting with clusters of orange berries in the lower area of the Chinese hillside. These capsules are retained through the winter….

Winter Interest

During winter many of our herbaceous plants take refuge underground and deciduous trees shed their leaves. This allows the spotlight for rich evergreens and other plants in the…

Blue sausage

The deciduous stalks of Decaisnea insignis are prominent in the upper woodland garden. Hanging from these bare stalks are the fruit; blue sausage shaped receptacles that contain a…

Hanging by a thread

Jasminum nudiflorum; bright yellow flowers on chlorophyll green stems. This one, a stem layer that caught itself under the fence post and rooted into the mortar joint. The…

Review of the Year – 2018

Following on from a Met Office decreed White Christmas in 2017, Edinburgh had a day of snow and then Storm Dylan blew through on the 31st. Fortuitously, the…

Two hopeful Hellebores

Agenus of herbs, these two differ in that Helleborusorientalis has no winter foliage and H.foetidus has. H. foetidus isnative to W and S Europe with H.orientalis having a…

Reasons to be cheerful

Seeing these two images of Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Nigrescens’ side by side illustrates the change weather can play on plants. Walking around the garden on a wet morning the…

Cornus fruit

Cornus capitata has produced a satisfactory crop of fruit this year. A deciduous wide canopied tree from China. Growing here at RBGE in the shelter of the east…

An intense blue

Seed collected in Sichuan Province, China during 1992 of Ceratostigma minus is providing colour in this warm, open November month. There is what may be signs of slight…

A fine leaf with shape, texture and colour

The group of Hydrangea quercifolia growing in the biodiversity garden are still showing good autumn colour. Large distinctively shaped leaves make this a worthwhile plant to grow. The…

In senescence there is beauty

Walking along the south of the Front Range glasshouses the sun lit up the decaying clump of Agapanthus praecox ssp. minimus. The long linear foliage has turned a…

The Poppy Patch

With the dry, warm weather this autumn the Annual Poppy, Papaver rhoeas, has produced a timely show of flowers to add colour in the lead up to Armistice…