Plant of the Month December 2018

Musa textilis (Manila hemp, Abacá)

Family: Musaceae
Origin: Philippines
Location: Tropical Glasshouse
Accession: 1977

Musa textilis is a species of banana native to the Philippines, grown as a commercial crop in the Philippines and in Central America for its fibre known as Manila hemp, which is extracted from the leaf sheaths. During the 19^th century, alongside sugar and tobacco, it was one of the main cash crops of the Philippines, which still produces 85% of world output. As the strongest of all natural fibres, it was once used primarily for rope, but is now mainly used for specialized papers such as tea bags, banknotes and decorative papers. The fruit is inedible due to its many black cone-shaped seeds.

Plant of the Month November 2018

Buddleja auriculata (Weeping sage)

Family: Scrophulariaceae
Origin: South  Africa
Location: South Glasshouse border
Accession: 2018

B. auriculata is an evergreen shrub to 3m, with lance-shaped, dark green leaves, white beneath, and small orange-centred, white flowers in dense panicles in autumn and winter. The flowers are strongly fragrant with a scent which has been compared to Chanel No. 5. It is not hardy below -10 °C, so best grown against a south-facing wall. In the UK, the shrub is often planted as a source of nectar for late butterflies and bees.

Thanks to Maggie Gowland for photographs.

Plant of the month October 2018

Coprosma rugosa
Family: Rubiaceae
Origin: New Zealand
Location: Australia/New Zealand
Accession: 2012

Coprosma rugosa, also known as the needle-leaved mountain coprosma, is a stiff erect evergreen shrub up to 3m tall. It has many interlacing wide-angled twigs bearing clusters of pairs of very narrow leaves. It forms extensive thickets in grasslands and forest margins in lowland to subalpine areas on moraines and river terraces. It has inconspicuous flowers followed by abundant small pale blue berries in autumn, the seed of which is widely dispersed by birds. It is dioecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but only one sex is to be found on any one plant so both male and female plants must be grown if seed is required) and is wind-pollinated. It is very hardy and suitable for hedging.

Thanks to Maggie Gowland for photographs.

Plant of the month September 2018

Heliconia bihai
Family: Heliconiaceae
Origin: Central & South America
Location: Tropical glasshouse
Accession: 1982

 Heliconia bihai is an erect herbaceous plant up to 5m tall with leaf blades to 60cm, native to northern South America and the West Indies. It is typically pollinated by bats and hummingbirds. Its flower is an inflorescence with 7-12 upward-facing bright red bracts which hold rainwater used by birds and insects.

Thanks to Maggie Gowland for photographs

Summer Gathering 2018

Farewell to the Curator (2nd right) from members of the Committee

Plant of the Month August 2018

Solanum laciniatum (Poroporo, Kangaroo Apple)

Family: Solanaceae

Origin: New Zealand, SE Australia
Location: Australia/New Zealand
Accession: 2012

S. laciniatum is a large evergreen shrub to 3m or more, with pinnately-lobed juvenile leaves 30cm long and smaller lance-shaped adult leaves 15cm long. Its light purplish-blue flowers, 5cm wide, with broadly triangular petals, are followed by egg-shaped bright orange-yellow berries, 2-3cm long. All green parts of the plant and the unripe fruit are toxic; the young foliage contains a series of steroids which are of commercial value as raw material for the manufacture of contraceptives. It is not fully hardy, and is short-lived even with frost protection, but is easily propagated from seed.

Thanks to Maggie Gowland for photographs.

Plant of the Month July 2018

Cardiocrinum giganteum (Giant Himalayan Lily)

Family: Liliaceae
Origin: Himalaya, China
Location: Asian Plants
Accession: 1979

Cardiocrinum are large bulbous perennials with heart-shaped leaves and trumpet-shaped flowers resembling lilies, followed by erect oblong seed capsules.

C. giganteum is a perennial to 2m in height, with leaves to 30cm across, and terminal racemes of fragrant, trumpet-shaped white flowers marked with purple inside the trumpet. It grows best in moist but well-drained, deep, humus-rich, fertile soil. It is monocarpic, the bulbs dying after flowering. It can be propagated from seed or from bulbous offsets; from seed it can take up to 7 years to flower.

Thanks to Maggie Gowland for photographs.

Plant of the Month June 2018

Fraxinus ornus (Flowering Ash, Manna Ash)
Family: Oleaceae
Origin: S Europe, SW Asia
Accession: 1978
Location: Beside native hillside

Fraxinus ornus is a small, round-headed deciduous tree 10-15m in height, with deep green, pinnate leaves and showy panicles of fragrant creamy-white flowers in early summer. It is suitable for drier, calcareous soils, and is frequently grown as an ornamental tree in Europe. It is susceptible to ash dieback, but while this fungus poses a serious threat to other European ash species, F. ornus does not appear to be a natural host of the pathogen. In the past it was cultivated for its sap, and an extract of the sap, mannitol, was used commercially as a sweetener and for producing medicine. Today mannitol can be produced synthetically, and traditional manna production has declined, continuing in just a few rural areas of Sicily.

Thanks to Maggie Gowland for photographs.

The Garden 5k Fun Run proved very successful and was enjoyed by all. Images for the event can be found here.

The time for each runner is given below (let us know if you think there are errors):

number time
1 34.34
2 46.35
3
4 34.35
5 47.57
6
7 46.23
8 36.45
9 35.2
10 34.33
11 34.33
12 35.21
13 34.21
14 29.3
15 43.13
16 28.04
17
18 38.23
19 34.36
20 35.09
21 46.35
22 38.11
23 31.53
24 36.45
25
26 37.24
27 37.19
28 33.48
29 38.23
30 56.09
31 33.59
32 31.55
33 32.39
34 29.32
35
36
37 38.11
38 36.08
39 37.33
40 56.1
41 43.13
42 33.59
43 31.09
44 22.51
45 22.51
46 31.09
47 29.30
48 25.27
49 28.31
50 30.02
51 24.45
52 24.35
53 23.47
54 24.28
55 23.41
56 21.34
57 19.14
58 22.19
59 20.01
60 29.05
61 23.08
62 26.55
63 19.14
64 37.1
65 37.1
66 26.57
67 31.44
68 18.57
69 24.56
70 29.54
71 35.06
72 34.5
73 24.27
74 22.14
75 29.37
76 20.04
77 19.41
78 17.37
79 32.27
80 18.15
81 27.04
82 27.42
83 27.17
84 27.17
85 29.37
86 23.45
87 42.57
88 42.57
89 42.57
90 24.28
91 33.44
92 34.5
93 34.5
94 25.07
95
96 23.47
97 35.15
98 50.5
99 23.36
100 50
101 31.16
102 37.43
103 37.43
104 21
105 35.22
106 35.22
107 40.38
108 26.07
109 44.27
110 44.27
111 26.43

Plant of the Month May 2018

Trillium grandiflorum (wake robin)
Family: Melanthiaceae
Origin: Eastern North America
Location: The Americas

T. grandiflorum is a vigorous rhizomatous perennial forming a large clump of erect stems each carrying a whorl of three broadly ovate leaves and a solitary terminal flower up to 10cm across, with three recurved white petals turning pinker with age. Like many forest perennials, it is a slow growing plant. Its seeds require double dormancy, meaning they normally take at least two years to germinate. Due to its popularity as a garden plant it has been heavily collected from the wild, leading to conservation concerns in some of its native areas. It grows best in deep, moist but well-drained, humus-rich, preferably acid to neutral soil in deep or partial shade.

Thanks to Maggie Gowland for photographs.

Plant of the month April 2018

Helleborus foetidus (stinking hellebore)
Family: Ranunculaceae
Origin: central & Southern Europe
Accession: 1983
Location: near the Evolution Garden

This evergreen perennial grows to 80cm tall and 100cm across, with thick succulent stems, glossy palmate leaves, and drooping yellowish-green cup-shaped flowers in spring. The five petal-like sepals contain numerous stamens, as well as up to ten nectaries, which make them attractive to bees and other insects. Each flower produces up to five seed follicles. Despite its common name, it is not noticeably malodorous, although the foliage is pungent when crushed. It prefers a deep, humus-rich, well-drained soil, and dappled shade, though it is also drought-tolerant. All parts of the plant are poisonous.

Thanks to Maggie Gowland for photographs.

Plant of the month March 2018

Rhododendron smithii
Family: Ericaceae
Origin: Himalayas
Accession: 1985
Location:  Asia

This rhododendron specimen was collected by George Sherriff in one of his plant-collecting expeditions to the Himalayas, and planted in his garden at Ascreavie, Kirriemuir. After the deaths of Major and Mrs. Sherriff (in 1967 and 1978), the property was sold on, and in 1983 many of the rare rhododendrons were donated to the Dundee Botanic Garden. This is an early-flowering, long-lasting scarlet rhododendron, similar to R. barbatum, but with indumentum on the leaf undersides.

Thanks to Maggie Gowland for photographs.

Plant of the Month February 2018

Abutilon x hybridum 'Ashford Red'

Family: Malvaceae

Origin: Garden

Accession: 1981

Location: Temperate Glasshouse

Abutilon is a large genus of flowering plants in the mallow family, distributed through the tropics and sub-tropics of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Australia. ‘Ashford Red’ is a hybrid cultivar which can flower all winter in a cool glasshouse. It needs a minimum winter temperature of 5°C. It is a semi-evergreen shrub up to 3m in height, with pendant bell-shaped flowers up to 6cm long. It can be susceptible to glasshouse pests including whitefly and red spider mite.

Thanks to Maggie Gowland for photographs.

The Garden staff have prepared a series of workshops over the spring and summer, starting in February.
They include eg rose pruning, tool maintenance, slab laying and guided walks in the Garden.

These are all bookable through Eventbrite - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/ 
For a full list go to Eventbrite, type Dundee as your location and Botanic Garden as the category, and select the workshop you are interested in.

The first two are in February.

Tool maintenance workshop

Tuesday 13^th February 2-3pm

https://www . eventbrite . co . uk/e/tool-maintenance-workshop-tickets-42559499609?aff=efbeventtix

Diana Robertson was a successful Head Gardener for the National Trust Scotland. Her workshop will focus on tool maintenance and provide you with an insight to the essential skills needed for sharpening secateurs.

It is advised that you wear suitable outdoor clothing and bring a waterproof jacket, depending on the weather. Some of this workshop will take place indoors.

Rose Pruning Workshop

Tuesday 27^th February 2-3pm

https://www . eventbrite . co . uk/e/rose-pruning-workshop-tickets-42562509612?aff=erelpanelorg

Diana Robertson's workshop will focus on rose pruning and the care that is needed for these wonderful plants prior to the rose season.

It is advised that you wear suitable outdoor clothing and bring a waterproof jacket, providing on the weather. Some of this workshop will take place indoors.

Sunday 4th February 2018
2pm in the Education Centre in the Garden


Talk by Gavin Broomhall: The Garden of Remembrance at RM Condor. How the garden was formed and the ethos of what has been created, plus a history of the original house and garden before the MOD took it over.

     

Friends' 5k fun run - Ease into '18

Moments...

The leading runners...

The start...

A collection of images can be found here.

Many thanks to all who attended and see you next year.

Plant of the month January 2018

Fitzroya cupressoides (Patagonian Cypress)
Family: Cupressaceae
Origin: Chile, Argentina
Accession: 2007
Location: Americas

 Fitzroya cupressoides is the largest tree species in South America, native to the temperate rain forests in the Andes of Chile and Argentina, where it grows in poorly-drained volcanic or sandy soils, up to 40–60m in height and 5m in diameter. It was named by Darwin after Captain Fitzroy of HMS Beagle. In 1993 a specimen from Chile was found to be 3622 years old, making it the second oldest living tree species. Heavy logging in the 19^th and 20^th centuries for its valuable timber, and clearance by fire for agriculture, has led to its current endangered (Red List) conservation status.

Thanks to Maggie Gowland for photographs.

Botanic Garden New Year Fun Run 2018