Following extensive media coverage of the discovery of the Wentworth elm at the Palace of Holyroodhouse this blog seems like the appropriate place to give a bit more…
RBGE staff recently returned from Kathmandu where they had met with colleagues from the Government of Nepal’s Department of Plant Resources in celebration of the historic 200-year relationship…
Tricyrtis macrantha has the largest flowers of the genus; pendulous yellow tepals are stunning when shown well against the foliage. It is the inner corolla that adds interest,…
This mottled pink foliage version of Berberis thunbergii is a cultivar known as ‘Pink Queen’. A vigorous thorn laden deciduous shrub that provides a mass of colour in…
Evidence from Egyptian pharaonic pharmacology papyri, shows that medicines made from white willow and other salicylate-rich plants, were used as early as the second millennium BC. Aspirin use…
The Edible Gardening Project held it’s 6th annual Harvest Festival on the 17th and 18th September. The event is a celebration of the vegetable growing year with music,…
Join us for a screening of Corin Sworn and Tony Romano’s new film, ‘The Coat’ (2016, HD video, 58 mins), as part of Inverleith House’s 30th anniversary celebrations….
During the first growing season a newly planted shrub will establish; needing light, water and nutrient. Subsequent seasons will see good growth and the plant thriving. This newly…
In conjunction with Dr Daniela Schill’s monographic work on Sphaerocarpos, we’ve been building a molecular phylogeny for the genus. We have attempted to extract DNA from 66 accessions,…
Two South American Labiates that are set to brighten the borders for autumn are the sturdy and felty Salvia corrugata and the more spindly S. meyeri. Both with…
Colura calyptrifolia (or to give it its appropriately creepy-sounding common name, the Fingered Cowlwort), is one of our most fascinating UK liverworts. Absolutely tiny (the leaves are about…
August 2016 was fairly dry, sunny and reasonably warm. The Garden’s wildlife list increased by no fewer than 21 species, from 826 to 847. Birds Like July, bird…
During a moth trapping session on the night of 29/30 August, various other creatures were found in the trap besides moths. They included a Common Earwig, two different…
The Sphaerocarpales (or “Bottle Liverworts”) form a very distinct group in the complex thalloid liverworts, with ca. 30 species in five genera: originally the group just included Geothallus…
One of the main problems with sampling largely from herbarium specimens, rather than from material that has been specifically collected for DNA work (rapidly dried in silica gel…
Impatiens tinctoria; from tropical east Africa to the glasshouse border and growing a stately three metres tall. The tall succulent or watery stems are sent up annually from…
University of Edinburgh/RBGE student David Bell, studying for the Masters degree in the Biodiversity and Taxonomy of Plants; thesis submitted August 2009. Supervisors: Dr David Long and Dr…
Celebrating the first exhibition in the programme and Inverleith House’s commitment to the presentation of contemporary and botanical art, two rooms within I still believe in miracles are…
Fuchsia magellanica produces sweet, juicy fruits containing multiple seed. These are often dispersed by birds that are partial to the fruit. From subsequent droppings chance seedlings are occasionally…
Open for over a month already, I still believe in miracles celebrates the originality and significance of Inverleith House’s programme over the past 30 years, featuring works by…