Tag: Walking With PoetsPage 1 of 2

Walk with poet Jean Atkin at Logan

Jean Atkin has now taken up residence at Logan Botanic Garden! Check out www.walkingwithpoets.com to see her blogs and photos. She’s also got a wonderful range of events…

Goodbye Edinburgh, and thank you!

By gardenpoets A final morning stroll in the garden, before the crowds arrive for the day. My time as resident poet in Edinburgh is over. It has been…

Yew, the last tree

By gardenpoets Today we reached the end of the alphabet, with a poetry reading in the Queen Mother’s memorial pavilion (see here). It is a surreal little building,…

Everything new – the aspen renga

By gardenpoets Here is the renga we wrote at the Botanics. Thanks to Colin Will for being the master, and to all the poeticipants! Everything new A 20-verse…

An aspen renga

By gardenpoets Renga is an ancient Japanese way of writing poetry together. Like many of the trees I have been studying in the past few weeks, it is…

Flow and flower

By gardenpoets Today’s ‘tree’ is heather. We drank heather ale last night, and read the legend of the little people of Scotland who kept it secret for so…

Three steps to joy

By gardenpoets My day had three parts. The first was in the Scottish poetry library, the great treasure trove. I returned with a bag of goodies – five…

Being Pine

For four months, The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh has been hosting poets in residence in each of the Gardens. This month Mandy Haggith has been our poet in…

Pines and happiness

By gardenpoets ‘The best part of happiness is the pines.’ So said Terri Guillemets. The best part of today were the pines too, and their relatives. We walked…

Elder, and older

By gardenpoets Today I met with Alex Davey, a very helpful guide into the deep time of trees. As well as a reading list, she has pointed me…

Blackthorn and other prickly things

By gardenpoets I began the day with close study of the Gunneras, giant rhubarbs with bad attitude. They look as if a pterodactyl could swoop down and perch…

Tree hugging, in practice

By gardenpoets Today’s tree alphabet species is that great tree hugger, ivy. Spurred on by the news that a new world record for tree hugging was set yesterday…

Bramble

By gardenpoets Not all of the letters in the Gaelic tree alphabet are trees! Today’s letter, M, stands for Muin, which is often translated from the old Gaelic…

A butterfly! And not a white one!

At our staff conference today Mandy Haggith, poet in residence at the Botanics for the month of July, commented about the lack of butterflies she had seen in…

Alder, tree of time

It was another glorious day in the Botanics, and the tree of the day was alder. It likes its feet wet, and there is a lovely circle of them around the pond between the edible gardening polytunnel and the wood where the fairies live. I spent the afternoon there, reading poems about alders to people who sought me out by following the signs, and also to unsuspecting passers by.

Celebrating Rowan

By gardenpoets Rowan is  my favourite tree, with its boudoir perfume and generous portions of berries for the birds. It will protect you from evil spirits and its berries…

Beginning with birch

By gardenpoets What a glorious day to start my residency in the beautiful Edinburgh Botanics! I was there before the gates opened, and left as ‘closing time’ was…

Hello Mandy … and farewell Sue!

By Frances Hendron, Scottish Poetry Library Benmore’s poet in residence, Sue Butler has returned home. I drove her to the train and as we drove via the Dunoon…

Poet is in Residence

By gardenpoets Thanks to Frances, pictured here in the lovely kitchen of my beautiful flat for the next month in Edinburgh, I am now officially a poet in…

Sunday mornin’ Comin’ Down…

By gardenpoets Well, I woke up Sunday morning With no way to hold my head that didn’t hurt. And the chocolate cupcake I had for breakfast wasn’t bad,…