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Sweet Success

Flowers set on bare branches are a delight in winter, but there are also some evergreen plants that flower. They are a great comfort to the soul during…

Plant and grow a hedge

Winter storms and ageing fence posts and panels are not good companions. This is the time to replace your garden fence and what better way than to plant…

RBGE and Monitoring Ecosystem Health in the Tropics

At the core of RBGE’s scientific mission is to “explore” the world of plants and on the 350th anniversary of our foundation, the herbarium’s 3 million specimens from…

White stemmed Rubus

These images are of one of the white stemmed brambles that since leaf fall are now more obvious in the border. The white indumentum over ruddy brown stems…

IUCN Threatened accessions in the RBGE Living Collection as of 20 Jan 2020 (Staff Conference)

Today in the staff conference Simon was asked the number of threatened plants that the RBGE is growing. This is a dynamic figure as plants at the RBGE…

A fine ground covering plant

Now well established in the Copse is the evergreen Vinca difformis. Straggly bootlace shoots are sent out over ground at a rate of knots. Occasionally rooting down at…

The simple thalloid liverwort Aneura – a digitized resource at RBGE

The simple thalloid liverwort Aneura has become a flagship genus for DNA barcoding at RBGE. Only a single widespread species, Aneura pinguis, is traditionally recognized in the UK,…

RBGE World War One Service Roll

1914-1919 The Service Roll is different from the Roll of Honour in that it shows the names & a short statement of service of all members of staff…

RBGE’s World War One Roll of Honour

We Will Remember Them Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh Roll of Honour, 1914–1919 At the outbreak of war in August 1914 the appeal for H.M. Forces met with ready…

December 2019 Garden Wildlife Report

December 2019 at RBGE gave the impression of being somewhat dull and wet although the graphs do not bear this out. Total rainfall was 52.4 mm, most of…

To half a million specimen images and beyond!

Today we have reached a new landmark with half a million herbarium specimens imaged and freely available online on our herbarium catalogue.

The Divine Bog-moss, Sphagnum divinum, found but now lost in Scotland

A recently described moss, Sphagnum divinum, the Divine Bog-moss, has been discovered in Britain and Ireland, though the only Scottish site yet found has sadly been lost. Its taxonomic discovery has a long history, starting over 250 years ago with a French explorer in southern South America.

The untold story of an unassuming Berberis

All plants have stories. The Botanics over its 350 years has managed to create many, from intrepid tales of plant hunters to discovering plants new to science. Some…

Compost and the need to nourish the soil

Much of the work to be done in the garden at this time of year produces quantities of pruning’s and other green resource material. Note the use of…

Things in cupboards – Rhododendron arboreum

This unassuming section of trunk was sitting on a desk in the herbarium office after being “discovered” in the back of a carpological cupboard. It arrived in our…

Halfway House

Works on the Temperate Palmhouse to repair the glazing bars and replace broken glass has reached the halfway point. The North and East elevations have been completed and…

The first ever revision of the tropical tree genus Pterospermum just published!

It is great to see Dr Santhana Krishnan Ganesan’s revision of the genus Pterospermum has just been published in the Edinburgh Journal of Botany [click here]. Ganesan, from…

Bright and cheerful

Jasminum nudiflorum; the ideal plant to appreciate from the warmth of your home and a pleasure to encounter when garden visiting at this dreich time of year. The…

A particularly exquisite Rhododendron

It will be of no surprise that an attractive plant has been found in this particular genus. One in which has been so highly regarded by the garden,…

Review of the year – 2019

2018 ended with temperatures in double figures, not as isolated incidents but repeated daily. Before dusk fell, the bells announcing the ice cream van touting for trade were…