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September 2017 Garden Wildlife Report

September 2017 continued this summer’s patchy weather, with an unsettled first half. The third week was much calmer and warmer, almost a mini Indian summer, with the temperature…

Barcoding Britain’s Liverworts – progress to date

After RBGE’s initial involvement in land plant DNA barcode marker selection, culminating in a couple of 2009 papers that both utilized bryophyte barcoding data sets, we started a…

Bryological visitors at the Gardens

On Thursday the 28th September, we welcomed Professors Takayuki Kohchi and Ryuichi Nishihama, from Kyoto University, Japan, to the Botanics. Professor Kohchi’s lab is renowned for their evolutionary…

In the pink

Two plants fusing the shade of pink are the stunning, long lasting flowers of Nerine bowdenii and the fruit of Holboellia grandiflora. The Nerine, a South African bulb;…

Ash

A homage to the best of all autumn colours can be seen in the Nursery. Fraxinus angustifolia ssp. angustifolia when seen with the late afternoon sun lighting up…

Spinning a Yarn

Over the past year, Glasgow based artist Simone Landwehr-Traxler has been studying some of the lichen specimens in the Herbarium at RBGE from the islands of Scotland.   Her…

First frost and autumn colour

Early sunshine and heavy dew this morning, yet on the front lawns the dew had crystallised as the first ground frost of autumn. With it are signs of…

In memory of Lance Corporal Samuel Stewart (1883-1917)

The RBGE Guild’s publications are invaluable to those researching RBGE’s 20th century history. Based on Kew Garden’s Guild which is still in existence, ours was established in 1913…

Diploma in Botanical Illustration 2017 Graduation Show

Visit the Diploma in Botanical Illustration show in the Fletcher Building from the 9th to the 17th September from 11am – 4pm each day. The Graduate Show 2017…

Lobelia tupa

Walking past the woodland garden you cannot help but notice the planting of Lobelia tupa. Strong, sturdy plants in excess of two metres tall. These evergreen herbaceous plants…

How the Grass of Parnassus got its name: a botanical ‘Just So’ story

I was asked this question on a recent trip to North Ronaldsay and had to plead ignorance. We had been discussing a floral display on the local golf…

What soothes you?

We are excited to have created an exhibition with the Project Soothe team at the University of Edinburgh Department of Clinical Psychology  in the Real Life Science Studio…

August 2017 Garden Wildlife Report

August 2017 was another mixed month in Edinburgh weather-wise, with plenty of rain but also some warm sun. Daytime temperatures were mostly slightly warmer than average, but night-time…

Thought for Food: Personal stories

People are, by their nature, storytellers. As food is a rich topic for conversation it makes sense to try to gather people’s thoughts about food through the medium…

Out of season flowering in Rhododendron

There are several Rhododendron species and cultivars flowering out of season this autumn. At this time of year the buds should be initiating for the spring 2018 flowering….

A sculptural take on our Herbarium collection

In May 2017 the Scottish sculptor Bobby Niven visited the Herbarium here at RBGE for a tour of the collection. He was on a fact finding mission as…

Plant Scenery of the World

Plant Scenery of the World brings together new and commissioned works by contemporary artists alongside archival material and contemporary botanical drawings from the collection of the Royal Botanic Gardens.

A good crop of berries

A compact herbaceous woodland native, Paris quadrifolia, has fruited well this season. The flower stalks appear above the deeply veined leaves. There are still remnants of the green…

Stanhopea ruckeri – back from the dead

I’ve recently been working alongside Clare and Bruce, the horticulturalists who maintain the Botanics Orchid collection, to stock-take, curate and verify the collection. As part of that process…

Mega!

Some of the visitors to the Botanic Cottage may be aware that on the roof of the east wing there are solar photovoltaic panels installed. Through the generation…