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In advance of the Sylva exhibition, opening in the John Hope Gateway, RBGE and the National Botanic Garden of Wales in April 2014 we want to find the…
Yesterday morning almost the first thing I heard when coming through the North Gate was the call of a Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita)! It then gave a very brief,…
Beneath the extensive branch framework of Kalopanax septemlobus lays a carpet of fallen fruit. Further from the canopy edge are seedlings that have germinated from viable seed that…
Today I went over to the nursery to see the stones from the deconstructed Botanic Cottage for the first time – palette after palette of stones of all…
‘Edin. 29th March 1765. Received from Dr John Hope Professor of Botany in the College of Edinburgh, the sum of fifteen pounds ster for making Plans and Estimates…
The figures are at last all in and 62 bird species were recorded in the Botanics in Edinburgh during 2013. This is one fewer than 2012 when 63…
Today I saw my first insect of 2014 in the Botanics. No ordinary fly or early bee; it was a STONEFLY of the genus Leuctra (needle flies), almost…
Backed by a west facing wall, Tomato plants set in grow bags in the lean to glasshouse of the Fletcher Building are continuing to yield edible fruit. For…
The celebration of 200 years of Nepal-UK relations was launched on 6th January 2014 with an exhibition of natural history drawings made by Dr Francis Buchanan-Hamilton in 1802-3….
Hanging by a fragile stalk from the terminal bud, the colourful bean pod like fruits of Decaisnea fargesii are an exotic shade of blue. The upright growth of…
2014 marks the 350th anniversary of the publication in 1664 of John Evelyn’s classic book Sylva: a discourse of forest trees and the propagation of timber in…
A Record Attempt to stage the world’s largest tree hug, held on Sunday 1st December, has stormed past Forestry Commission England’s 702 tree huggers which is the official…
A touch of breeze and the brown wafer thin seed pods of this Dipelta yunnanensis are set quivering on the leafless shoots. The twin wing like bracts give…
Description: This rare palm can reach a height of over 18m in its natural habitat, and has large fan-shaped leaves. It has an unusual lifecycle, flowering only once…
An alien force, the Shapers, is trying to manipulate our minds by filling the world with Exotic Matter (XM) via portals associated with works of art and other…
Xanthorhiza simplicissima; a deciduous shrub with pinnate foliage that slowly colours into early winter. Surprisingly, a member of the Buttercup family, Ranunculaceae. Native to Eastern North America where…
Tree huggers converged on 11 sites around Scotland on the 1st of December to mark the end of National Tree Week and to try to break a world…
Bamboos are essentially a group of toughened grasses. This particular giant bamboo is known as Bambusa vulgaris. It is an open clump-forming species with striped stems and dark…
On Thursday we were treated to a fantastic sunset as we left work. Luckily I had my camera with me. November 2013 has given us many fine days…