Tag: Weekly HighlightsPage 12 of 32

Best black from Belgium

Hellebore seed gifted from a contact in Belgium was sown six years ago in the nursery. The resultant seedlings were grown on and flowered for the first time…

Viburnum furcatum

This plant is worth a closer look as the buds expand and the embryo foliage emerges from tight buds. Specimens of Viburnum furcatum are planted near the upper…

Allionii at alpine level

Flowering in the alpine house at the Garden is a collection of Primula allionii. One specimen collected, as seed; from limestone cliffs in the French Maritime Alps is…

Verification

Plants grown from seed collected on expeditions often take several years to germinate, grow and mature into flowering sized specimens. Initially they are grown in the nursery and…

Variegated barrier

Forming a dense barrier of glossy evergreen leaves Trachelospermum jasminoides ‘Variegatum’ is worth growing in a sheltered situation. The foliage of this cultivar has white banding and shows tinges…

Insulated buds

Betula calcicola is one of a number of dwarf Chinese Birches, it has a covering of dense white hairs over the buds and young shoots which act as…

Overgrazing

The Grey Squirrel population cause occasional damage through the Garden. Bark is stripped from young shoots and bulbs are dug up and eaten. Shoots are cleanly cut with…

The sun’s excrement

Take a look around when the sun is low in the sky and lighting up the lichens on deciduous tree bark. Xanthoria parietina can be found on the…

A frosty start to the Rhododendron season.

Rhododendron dauricum is one of the hardiest of the genus, flowering as January starts and often lasting well into February. Found growing through forest margins where it grows…

Butchers Broom

So called, as a bunch of the stems of Ruscus aculeatus were tied together and used by butchers to sweep their wooden chopping blocks. The cladodes have a…

Hakone grass

Hakonechloa macra is a perennial, clump forming, grass. It is named after Mt.Hakone, on the island of Honshu, Japan and is a monotypic genus. The foliage browns and…

Reflections of a deciduous canopy

Examples of sculpted work as part of the Roots to Shoots exhibition at the Garden until 10th March 2013 can be found on the Oak lawn. Reflective plates…

Review of the year 2012

A very mild end to 2011, we recorded 12.5oC on the 31st December. On the 3rd January 2012 Edinburgh recorded wind speeds of over 100mph. The highest wind…

Unseasonal flowers

Sweet Pea ‘Old Fashioned Mix’ is continuing to throw out flowers, short of stalk and with an absence of fragrance, at this, the tail end of the year….

Chattering Rhododendrons

Walking through the Rhododendron collection in the Garden as dusk is falling, a rapid temperature drop and the stillness of the evening. Then a sound that resembles water…

Pollen strings

Within the research collection is a young potted specimen of Rhododendron zoelleri, one of the Vireya collection. The large funnel shaped corolla is a bright mix of yellow…

Saw teeth for winter fuel

Serratula seoanei bearing terminal light pink coloured composite flowers. The regular segmented flower bud structure is worth peering at before it expands revealing the anthers packed within. These…

Last gasp of autumn colour

Ribes vilmorinii planted on the Chinese hillside has the remains of startlingly bright leaf colour. This is a deciduous species native to NW Yunnan into Sichuan and Hubei…

Police truncheons; an impending shortage

The media is full of information on Chalara dieback of Ash; Chalara fraxinea. Below are web links that give information on the fungal disease that will cause loss…

Lawn invaders

At this time of year you may observe two interesting fungal colonisers through lawns. These gain a foothold during dank and humid conditions where they often colonise poorly…