Set for '16 Fun Run

The ‘Set for 16’ Fun Run will take place as advertised at 11am on the 2^nd and we do hope you will be able to attend. The weather looks set to be wet and breezy, and we would suggest some waterproofs to keep the elements at bay. The running course is tarmacked. There will be warm, mulled punch (non-alcoholic) in the glasshouse afterwards along with various eats and other refreshments.

JANUARY FRIENDS TALK

Sunday 10 January 2016

Andrew and Margaret Lear, from Plants with Purpose and Appletreeman will give a talk on the Carse of Gowrie Orchards in the Education Centre in the Garden at 2pm. Free to members of the Friends; others £2.

Saturday 2nd January 2016 at 11 am - 1pm

Set for '16 - Free fun run around the paths of the University Botanic Garden to get yourself in shape for the New Year. The event caters for all ages and ambitions, just walk or break the record! Your reward, as well as a good time, will include seasonal refreshments in the glasshouse at the end of the run. We look forward to welcoming you to the Garden where we feel sure you will enjoy running or walking in its lovely tranquil and beautiful space.

The event is weather dependent and up-to-the-minute guidance is available  on this blog.

December Friends' talk 

Sunday 6 December 2015.  

Dr Jonathan Wilkin, Abertay University. Peanuts, from plant to snack food. Delve into the world of peanuts on a journey from farm to fork with a much-loved stable food product. Education Centre in the Garden at 2pm. Free to members of the Friends; others £2.

Mystery Walk in the Dark. This event is now fully booked (see Events tab).

November's Plant of the Month

Cycas rumphii (Queen Sago)

Family: Cycadaceae        
Origin: Malaysia to New Guinea 
Accession: 1974
Location: tropical glasshouse

The Queen Sago plant is a gymnosperm, a species of cycad in the genus Cycas native to Indonesia, New Guinea and Christmas Island. It has a male and female form, ours being female with the visible large seeds in the crown. Although palm-like in appearance, it is not a palm. It is a food plant: the trunk of the cycad contains a starchy pith from which sago can be prepared by drying, grinding and washing. In hard times the toxic seeds can be treated to become edible by pounding, repeated washing, and cooking. Although it is abundant in some areas, it is classified as Near Threatened owing to habitat loss.

Autumn in the Garden - blue skies make all the difference!

Don't forget!

Sunday 1st November 2015 Neil Paterson, Education Officer at the Garden. 
From Sea to Shining Sea: some gardens and green spaces of the United States. 
Education Centre in the Garden at 2 p.m.
Free to members of the Friends; others £2. 

THE GREAT ‘DUNDEE’ CHARITY BAKE OFF

Organised by the Dundee Botanic Garden Endowment Trust.
Where? Doubletree by Hilton
When? Thursday 29th October 2015 from 7-9.30pm
How much? £15

https://sites.dundee.ac.uk/botanicgardentrust/the-great-dundee-halloween-bake-off/

The Events page has been updated - have a look and see the programme of talks from October 2015 to March 2016.

A successful  day for the Garden at the Dundee Food and Flower Festival as the display created by Bob and his team on the theme of Scottish food and drink won a Silver Medal certificate. Well done all.

Audrey and Margaret on duty  at the stand.

The Silver Medal certificate

September's plant of the month

Hydrangea arborescens ssp. discolor ‘Sterilis’

Family: Hydrangaceae   Origin: Garden   Accession: 1975

location: by the Rose Garden

Botanic Garden on the Beechgrove Garden!

On 30^th July 2015  the Beechgrove Garden  were filming for a full day in the Botanic Garden for a  6 to 8 minute section within the programme.   

The areas covered we believe are:

• Opening with Jim McColl talking about the Macro Micro Building
• Evolution Garden – with Neil Patterson & Jim McColl
• Genetics Garden – with Professor Claire Halpin & Jim McColl

The programme is scheduled to be shown on:

• Thursday 20^th August 2015 on BBC 2 (Scotland) at 7.30pm
• Sunday 23^rd August 2015 on BBC 2 at 09.00am

All very exciting - a "must watch"?

August: Plant of the Month

Cassinia vauvilliersii (Mountain cottonwood)

Family: Asteraceae    Origin: New Zealand   Accession: 2010

find it in amongst the Australasia plants.

The Friends at Barnhill Rock Garden Gala Birthday on Saturday 11 July

Plants disappearing like hot cakes

Elaine's balancing butterflies were very popular

The snails were popular with the children but not so much with the grown-ups

Seen in the garden this month

All you need now is a frog.

Bees enjoying the eryngium in the glasshouse border

We had company in the workplace at the Garden yesterday: part of Dr Chris Connolly's research on the  impact of environmental toxins on insect health - counting bumble bees and measuring the impact of insecticides on the colonies.

Planting a second row of lavender in the new herb garden in a very  straight line

All laid out and ready to go

Hard at work planting

Watering them in  on a very hot day

The Friends had a stall at WestFest on Sunday 7th June and raised another £112 by selling plants. The gazebo stayed up in spite of the wind!

New kid on the blocks at the Garden - whatever next!

Next time you are in he may be in his final position, wherever that will be. Meantime, he is near the dry stone walls.

Plant Power day and Friends' plant sale

We'd love to see you at the Plant Power day in the Garden this coming Saturday 23 May,  from 10am till 4pm, to co-incide with the International Fascination of Plants Day http ://fascinationofplantsday . org/home . htm

This is also the day of the Friends' annual plant sale, our main fundraiser of the year, so we hope you will come along and buy plants as well as enjoy all the fun things happening in the Garden.

Plant for May

Larix griffithii (Sikkim Larch)

Family: Pinaceae    Origin: E Himalaya     Accession: 1978

Lots to look at in the Garden at the moment, and we are busy potting up lots of annuals for summer colour too.

Camellia

Magnolia

Arum lily 

April's Plant of the Month

Ulmus glabra 'Camperdownii'
(Camperdown elm)

Family: Ulmaceae   Origin: Scotland   Accession: 1974

The Camperdown Elm is a natural mutant of Scotland’s native wych elm. It was discovered by chance around 1835 by the Earl of Camperdown’s head forester David Taylor, who transplanted the tree to the grounds of Camperdown House on the outskirts of Dundee where it still survives. Unlike surrounding elms it has not succumbed to Dutch elm disease, perhaps because of its small stature or contorted habit; its bizarre branch structure has been likened to a living sculpture. Its flower buds open in spring, though it cannot reproduce from seed. However it has been widely propagated from cuttings, usually grafted onto wych elms, and many examples were planted in Britain and America, satisfying the Victorian passion for curiosities.

find it among the Americas

Spring is springing in the Botanic Garden

A sculptural kalanchoe in the temperate glasshouse

Masses of flowers on this kalanchoe in the temperate glasshouse

Clivia in the temperate glasshouse

In the native plants area of the Garden

Spring propagation workshop

Sunday 29 March, led by Clare Reaney, Horticultural Technician at the Garden. Meet at Reception in the main building from 2-4pm.
The workshop will take the format of a “walk and talk” in the garden to discuss suitable plants for spring propagation, followed by a practical session which will include seed sowing and root cuttings. 
Cost free to members of the Friends; non-members £5. 
Wear suitable clothing and bring your own secateurs and gloves. 
Numbers are limited to 15 so booking essential. Please book by Thursday 19 March - email Alison Gordon alisongordon49@gmail.com or telephone 01382 350990

Plant of the Month - March

Tillandsia usneoides (Spanish moss)

Family: Bromeliaceae   Origin: Central America   Accession: 2015

find it in the Tropical House

Friends Sunday afternoon talk

If you hadn't already heard...

Sunday 1 March Talk in the Education Centre at 2pm by Professor Chris Spray, Chair of Water Science & Policy at Dundee University - 

What have wetlands and water plants ever done for us? Free to Friends, visitors £2.

Please tell your friends and family

February's Plant of the month

Polylepis australis (Tabaquillo)

Family: Rosaceae   Origin: Argentina   Accession: 1980

find it in the Americas

The Friends' new email address

You can now contact us at fudbg.committee@gmail.com
We look forward to hearing from you.

Reminder

Sunday 18 January 2015. At 2pm in the Education Centre in the Garden, Graham Haig will give an illustrated talk on a recent visit to the Butchart Gardens in Victoria, British Columbia. Friends free; visitors £2.

January: Plant of the Month

Quercus x turneri (Turner’s Oak)

Family: Fagaceae      Origin: UK      Accession: 1974

find it among the Americas
Note the lichens: these are composite organisms formed from algae or cyanobacteria (or both) living among filaments of a fungus in a mutually beneficial (symbiotic) relationship, They are sensitive to industrial air pollution and have long been used as a means of monitoring air quality.

Fit for Fifteen

Well, quite a few of the Friends  made a good start, including a respectable turnout from the gym "Good Health and Fitness." The best time for three laps of the Garden (2.4 miles) was just over 20 minutes. The junior champion was two and a half years old and managed two complete laps. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR