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Moth trapping at the Garden: Two new records

Monitoring the wildlife in the Garden is an ongoing task that helps us understand the value of gardens, and other amenity greenspaces, for all sorts of different animals….

Collections Care – Condition Survey

Introduction A rolling condition survey of mounted herbarium specimens was recommended in the 2010 RBGE Synthesys Self-Assessment Collections Care Report. An initial pilot survey was carried out in…

Keep your eye on the alpine display

Amongst the array of fine spring flowering bulbs in the alpine house is a pot of Erythronium grandiflorum ssp. grandiflorum. A native of western North America found growing…

Discovering the Sapotaceae family

If anyone had asked me if I knew any plants belonging to the Sapotaceae family eight weeks ago, I would have had no suggestions – I probably wouldn’t…

British Art Show 8: Bedwyr Williams

British Art Show 8 has now been open for a whole month at Inverleith House, along with our partner venues Talbot Rice Gallery, University of Edinburgh and the…

The dodo tree and other stories

The Sapotaceae plant family provides us with some wonderful examples of the sometimes intricate interactions plants have with animals. One of the more intriguing cases is that of…

There’s more to Marchantia than there used to be! An introduction to the new additions

One of the most recognisable groups in the bryophytes, the complex thalloid liverwort genus Marchantia, has just become a bit larger. We have sunk Preissia and Bucegia into…

Another Sprig of Hope For Ash Tree? BIOCHAR …

Archaeological studies have shown that, ‘Biochar’, or at least a similar product, was used by ancient Amazonians to add to the soil to help with their food growing….

Anne Sarah Jervis (1801–1886): a new swagger print by an unrecorded artist working in India

In the past I have written about botanical ‘swagger prints’ – large-format illustrations commissioned at least in part to boost the ego of the commissioner. At RBGE (from…

Gesneriaceae Research in Indonesia – Celebrating our science and horticulture throughout March for International Women’ s Day

In order ‘to explore, conserve and explain the world of plants’ we need to build up our collections, both of living plants and herbarium specimens, especially from under-collected…

Birds need bits

Think remnants as you get out into the garden to tidy up now the days are longer. Birds are looking about for pieces of vegetation to use as…

A newly discovered J.D. Hooker letter about Draba aizoides

The most glowing review of Cleghorn’s (frankly rather dull – his father uncharitably told him that it would ‘drive all other soporifics out of fashion’) 1861 Forests &…

British Art Show 8: Pablo Bronstein

Here at Inverleith House we are very much enjoying Pablo Bronstein’s botanically-inspired artwork, The Birth of the Skyscraper from Botanical Architecture, 2015 (detail), and Early Industrial Landscape, 2016…

Showy gem on the alpine wall

Arabis purpurea is a mat forming evergreen of loose habit. Interestingly the seed was collected from a plant growing on a dark shady dry bank in Cyprus. Here,…

Bertha Chandler – Celebrating our science and horticulture throughout March for International Women’s Day

Bertha Chandler (1885-1961) In 1901 did Andrew Carnegie know, by donating $10 million to create the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland, that his legacy would assist…

In memory of Private George Blackmore (c.1870-1916)

In March 2016 we remembered the life of George Blackmore, a man who worked at RBGE as a labourer until the beginning of the First World War in 1914….

Two Feet, One Mind – A contemplative walking workshop

We know that spending time in beautiful green spaces is good for our mental and physical well-being but there are things we can do to make the most…

February 2016 Garden Wildlife Report

February started stormy, with the tail end of Storm Gertrude quickly passing into the next one in the series, Henry, at the beginning of the month. Both storms…

British Art Show 8: Jesse Wine in the Victorian Palm House

Our current exhibition, British Art Show 8, is well underway here at Inverleith House, as well as at partner venues, Talbot Rice, University of Edinburgh, and Scottish National…

First sprouts of spring

Plants are sending out growth as we approach spring. This is the last opportunity to complete any formative pruning. Take the opportunity to manage your plant collection and…