The Really Wild Veg project growing trials have been looking at how plants have been changed by domestication by growing crop wild relatives alongside domesticated equivalents. Comparing the…
Looking into the cabinets of the RBGE herbarium never fails to turn up a surprise. Today I was looking for specimens that might have come from the almost…
Weeding through the border carefully, and before a size 10 tackety boot crushed it, eagle eyed, we spotted a seedling of the Monkey Puzzle tree, Araucaria araucana. An…
Discovery of a plant previously unknown in an area is not what you might expect to happen within a botanic garden. Such places have large managed collections of…
Dianella ensifolia has bamboo like growth, sprouting from a rhizomatous root system. With a distribution through the Old World Tropics it has flourished in a tub positioned beneath…
The last couple of weeks of September have been fantastic for Red Admiral butterflies. Six at a time have been seen on several occasions, and on Friday 26th…
Mature deciduous trees are developing their autumn leaf colours. With the change of weather last week it was noticeable the quantity of fallen leaves on lawns and paths…
On the 11th September the Really Wild Veg event at Cruickshank Botanic Garden was fortunate to have gorgeous sunny weather. Around 50 staff and students came to the…
Harvest time is when we can finally taste the products of our labours in the vegetable garden. The Really Wild Veg project has been using blind taste tests…
Vaccinium arctostaphylos, a deciduous shrub showing full autumn colour. All foliage shines with the vibrancy of this single deep red colour that is attracting so much attention. Amongst…
We all know this plant too well from colonising river banks, cycle paths and becoming an increasing problem in as an invasive plant in the UK. Its native…
September is a time of change in the fruit and vegetable garden in Scotland. We can have some warm days but cool overnight temperatures and a decrease in…
Kanikeh village, in the Highlands of Seram, Maluku, Indonesia is in the heart of sago country. There is no farming but people obtain their main nourishment from the…
On Saturday I am leading an exhibition tour inspired by the peoples featured in the stunning ‘no strangers’ photograhic exhibition currently on show in the John Hope Gateway…