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The deciduous foliage of Tripterygium regelii is yellowing gracefully. This ungainly climber reaches 5 metres in Japan from where seed was collected. In Amori Prefecture it was growing…
The family Euphorbiaceae is more usually associated with the warmth of home at Christmas time when Poinsettias are the house plant of choice. Mallotus japonicus is also a…
We had a glorious day for our Harvest Festival on the 23rd September. The sun came out and brought the crowds with it. Visitors arriving on one of…
Eleutherococcus leucorrhizus is a sparsely spined, deciduous shrub that is growing from a turn of the 20th Century Wilson collection. Native to SW China where it grows in…
The autumn colours are developing in the Edinburgh Garden with an increasing presence. One of the regular performers is Cercidiphyllum japonicum, a multi-branched small tree native to China…
Today it is the last time I am visiting my plot. It is going to be taken over by a new student next week. Looking back at the…
Designed, planned and planted by the three Horticulture Apprentices the potager is a collection of vegetables and flowers; in effect a flowering vegetable garden with origins in France….
Passiflora vitifolia a native to Central America. A sturdy and vigorous plant that soon covers a sizeable section of the Orchid and Cycad glasshouse it is growing in….
Despite the wet overcast summer the spikes of bloom on Watsonia pillansii are magnificent. Distinct in the south facing border of the Front Range this native to Eastern…
I don’t feel quite ready yet to think about autumn tasks in the garden but all the evidence suggests that summer is coming to an end. I had to clear fallen leaves from some of…
Jenny Mollison, from the Scottish Allotments and Gardens Society, gave us a handful of carlin peas earlier in the year. We dutifully planted them and I’m pleased to…
There is a huge specimen of Ligustrum compactum on the hillside, striving upwards to maximise exposure to the light. It is presently covered in terminal panicles of white…
Agapanthus grows and flowers best in soil with a high moisture content yet well drained until flowering has finished. It then requires a dryer root zone throughout late…
Dichroa febrifuga is of borderline hardiness in Edinburgh. It requires a warm sheltered spot and protection through the worst of the winter to make a modest shrub ultimately…
It is late August now and most of the plants are going into seed. Our plots look particularly attractive at this moment – wild, messy but also intriguing.
Selected highlights of the 2012 sparrowhawk breeding season at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.
A bulb from Temperate South Africa; now growing in a sheltered situation within the confines of the glasshouse borders. Here Eucomis comosa has clumped up well. The foliage…
Blight has struck our potatoes! This is a very common disease that has affected many crops this year because of the warm damp conditions. Healthy looking potato plants…
For a month now I have been harvesting vegetables from my plot. As a result onions and lettuce reappear in my meals without a stop. I have collected…
Summer finally arrived to Edinburgh. With a bit of sun and heat all the plots changed their appearance. Plants shoot up and produced flowers and fruits. The whole…