November's plant of the month

Ginkgo biloba (Maidenhair Tree)

Family: Ginkgoaceae   Origin: Eastern China   Accession: 1978

find it in the Evolution Garden. 

Plant of the month

Euonymus oxyphyllus (Korean Spindle Tree)

Family: Celastraceae      Origin: Japan, Korea      Accession: 1985

find it in the Asian plant area

Fund - raising Event

 Choosing  Wines for Christmas 

 A wine tasting at Aitken's Warehouse 

Unit 7, Annfield Row, Dundee.  

Friday, 15th November

7.15 - 9.15 p.m.  

  Cost £15 per person.     

Booking essential 

Cheques made payable to "Friends of the University of Dundee Botanic Garden"  should be sent to Frances Tait c/o University Botanic Garden, Riverside Drive, Dundee DD2 1QH 

or telephone 01382 665719

Newsletter

Sylvia speaks for all of us in saying "I thought I would like to put something on the blog to say thanks to Hugh Ingram, John Stocks and Paul Gault for a well presented and interesting Newsletter"

The macro/micro building in the Garden is making progress - next step the solar panels on the roof

Minutes

The Minutes for August are published.

October lecture

University Afternoon Lecture

Wednesday, 16th October

 at 2.15 PM in the Tower Building.

 Dr Tony Miller of the Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh will give a lecture on reclamation and regeneration of the Marshes of Iraq,  
The entrance fee will be £2. 

Garden revealed

Before the AGM the Friends took a tour of the new entrance and western boundary and the amazing macro/micro building ...

AGM

The AGM took place after a talk about the new Macro/Micro building and a tour of the the changes to the  entrance, western boundary, and allotment area, You can read Frances's Letter to the Friends and check out the new Committee.
The next Committee meeting will be in October after which September's minutes will be posted on the web.

September's Plant of the Month

Hydrangea aspera

Family: Hydrangaceae             Origin: China                    Accession: 1975

find it opposite the entrance to the Evolution Garden

Minutes

The July Minutes are ready to view. 

The AGM will be held at the Education Centre at 7.0 pm on Wednesday, 18th September. The Curator will give a guided tour of the developments round the entrance starting at 5.30 pm and this will be followed by light refreshments before the meeting begins. 
Friends and those who have yet to become Friends are encouraged to attend!

Scotland in Bloom

The judges being shown round  the allotments and new entrance by Alasdair and Frances. 

Plant of the month

AUGUST

Actaea racemosa (syn. Cimicifuga racemosa)

Family: Ranunculaceae         Origin: East N. America        Accession: 1984

Find it in North American Plants

Talk

PLANTS & GEOGRAPHY: talks and drinks reception. 

Friday August 16th 2013 at 2.30 pm

Botanic Garden Education Centre

• Neil Paterson (Botanic Garden) “Biogeography: Darwin, Wallace, Evolution and the Dundee Botanic Garden”

• Mark Cutler (Geography): Dr Mark Cutler is Head of Geography and has a special interest in remote sensing of lakes and tropical forests

• John Rowan (Geography):John Rowan is Professor of Physical Geography and researches into the sensitivity and resilience of environments to change

This event is free but places are limited so please book. Telephone 01382 381190

Minutes

The Minutes of the June meeting are now available.

Talk

Dundee Green Party 

are hosting a talk by 

Dr Neil Burford, Senior Lecturer in Department of Education at Dundee University, 

about the new Macro-micro building in the Garden, as part of their AGM, 

on Monday September 9th at 7pm.

It will be in the Education Centre in the Garden and the Greens are inviting Friends of the Garden to join them.

As space is limited please e-mail srmeek@blueyonder.co.uk if you plan to come - Thanks

As a volunteer in the garden it's very rewarding to see the results of your work - especially when the seedlings were as tiny as these


These seedlings were pricked out 2 weeks ago, and were almost too small to handle. The seeds were collected in Australia by the Curator last year, so even more pressure to get them to grow!

July's Plant

Eucalyptus pauciflora ssp. niphophila (Snow Gum)

Family: Myrtaceae                Origin: SE Australia        Accession: 1985

Location: Australasian plants

Friends' outing 30 June

Some members of the Friends visited the beautiful garden at Garden Cottage, Dunnichen on 30 June

Examining the seedheads of cardiocrinum

 

 

May minutes

Now published!

WestFest

Congratulations to the organisers for a splendid day! The Friends' plant sale raised over £100 for the Garden and attracted a good deal of interest from gardeners and non-gardeners alike. 

Plant of the month: JUNE

Sorbus alnifolia var. submollis (Alder-leaved Whitebeam)

Family: Rosaceae                 Origin: China                  Accession: 1982

find it in the native hillside section 

Can we do better?

The plant sale raised £800 so can we do even better in June? 

The Friends will be taking part in the 

WestFest Big Sunday, 9th June, 

selling plants 

from 1 - 4 pm.on Magdalen Green 

If you can support the Friends by offering plants for sale please bring them along to the Green after 11.30 am that morning.  

Thank you

to all those of you who supported the Friends' Plant Sale, Despite the showers we sold a record number of plants, enjoyed some fascinating conversations, and made a healthy contribution towards funding for the Garden. 

If you missed the sale this time don't despair. We'll be selling more plants on 

Magdalen Green during WestFest's Big Sunday on 9th June. 

Sale

Perfect weather for planting!

Choose a challenge or indulge in the exotic!

Sale of plants TODAY from 12.0 - 3.0 

Plant of the month

May

Trillium grandiflorum (American wake-robin)

find it in the American section 

Family: Melanthiaceae    Origin: Eastern North America

Trillium are herbaceous perennials with erect stems bearing a whorl of ovate or diamond-shaped leaves, with one or more erect or nodding flowers borne at the tip in spring. T. grandiflorum is a vigorous perennial forming a large clump of erect stems each carrying a whorl of three broadly ovate leaves and a solitary terminal flower to 10cm across, with three recurved white petals.

Plant Sale on 11th May

Calling all Friends....

Donations of plants labelled and potted if possible should be brought to the Botanic Garden anytime after 10.00 a.m. on Friday 10th May or

 on Saturday before the Plant Sale from 10.00 am. 

If you can help on Friday to receive the plants or on Saturday during the Sale 

please phone Frances on 665719

Plant Sale

For the unusual, the exotic, the excellent value, come to the 

 Friends' Annual Plant Sale 

 at the Garden 

on 

Saturday 11th May 

between 12.0 am and 3,0 pm

As a volunteer in the garden it's very pleasing to see the results - a tray of plants from cuttings taken last autumn. Well, apart from the yellow leaved one bottom right!

A busy morning volunteering in the Garden
Hopefully the sun will shine and we can all enjoy the flowers in a couple of months.

No Fun

The Family Fun Day due to take place on Saturday has been cancelled. 

April's plant of the month

Primula elatior (Oxlip)

Family: Primulaceae        Origin: Central & Southern Europe         Accession: 2011

flowering in the Native Woodland area now.

Family Fun Day

The 13 of April will see the Garden host its annual family fun day from 10am to 4pm.

Entry charges will apply and the day should be full of activity for all.

I hope to see you there.

Alasdair

Friends on line

As Friends will read in their Newsletter, we have set up a web site on Group Spaces to enable the committee to contact by email those Friends who join the group  If you would like to take part please follow the link on the panel to the right.
We hope that we can use the system to cut down on our very expensive postal charges Equally important is being able to notify the Friends of events in the Garden and to consult on the ways the Friends choose to contribute towards the development of the Garden. 

Also on the right is the link to MyDonate, which is the on-line method of renewing membership fees. It's very easy to use and you don't have to register if you don't wish to do so!   More information about  MyDonate is on a separate page. 

Talk

The Grampian & Tayside Group of Plant Heritage

Saturday 30^th March 2pm

The Education Centre, Dundee Botanic Garden

Riverside Drive, Dundee DD2 1QH 

A Tour of Scotland's Rich Heritage of 'Useful Plants'

 By Greg Kenicer

Head of Education, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

Tickets on the door or by advance booking. £4

To make a booking or for more details, contact Sue Hewer on 01575 560259 or suehewer1@btopenworld.com

Come along and join RBGE’s Gregory Kenicer for a whirlwind tour through Scotland’s ‘useful plant heritage’ as seen through the eyes of everyone from the first hunter-gatherers to the gentlemen botanists of the Enlightenment. Scotland’s useful wild plants are superbly versatile, and we’re very lucky to have excellent accounts of their traditional uses. The spread from pragmatic everyday food and materials, to mainstays of local economies, to weird and wonderful magical cures adds a fascinating dimension to the plants beyond our gardens.

If you've heard Greg speak before, you'll know that this is going to be a really good one!

Plant of the month - March

Viburnum x bodnantense ‘Charles Lamont’

Family: Adoxaceae           Origin: Garden              Accession: 1974

find it at the end of the rose garden 

Viburnum x bodnantense is the result of a cross between V. farreri  and V. grandiflorum. The cross was originally made by Charles Lamont, Assistant Curator at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh in 1933, but was not widely propagated until 1935 when the same cross was made at Bodnant, hence the name of the hybrid. ‘Dawn’ was the first named form, and ‘Charles Lamont’ was subsequently named as one of the original seedlings raised at Edinburgh.

A medium to large deciduous shrub, it has a strong upright habit when young, later arching outwards gracefully. Ample clusters of exquisitely fragrant, rose-tinted flowers are produced in winter, before the leaves appear in spring. The foliage also turns an attractive bronze in autumn.

Originally thought to belong to the family Caprifoliaceae, recent studies using DNA sequencing have shown Viburnum to be a member of the family Adoxaceae.

Email address

Up to now we have not been able to make use of email to inform those Friends' happy to be contacted in this way about forthcoming events and matters of general concern to the Garden. Hopefully this is about to change - details will be published in the next Newsletter due out around Easter. 

Plant of the Month

February

Hamamelis mollis (Chinese Witch Hazel)

Family: Hamamelidaceae         Origin: China           Accession: 1978

Afternoon talk

 The Garden's Curator, Alasdair Hood, will give a talk about his adventures Down Under 

in the Visitors' Centre

on Wednesday, 6th February from 1 - 2 PM

This is the first time we have held a Friends; meeting at lunchtime so please come along and show your support. Visitors' welcome too!

Happy New Year!

Gardeners' Question Time

The audience may have been small but the enthusiasm was great. Our thanks go to our panel of Experts.

Gardeners' Question Time

TODAY

Saturday, 1st  December

GARDENERS' QUESTION TIME

2.30 PM

at

St Peter's Church Hall

Notes for November

Mid-November and the sound of a digger accompanied me on a recent walk round the Garden. This was not clearance of some wind-damaged victim. This was deliberate prior to establishing an eco building to the east of the Mediterranean Section. The building is an on-going project by Architecture students and Dundee University. Modern architecture can be exciting so we will watch this space. 
Alasdair Hood is now safely back from his visit to Australia and New Zealand. He obviously encountered more sun than those of us who stayed at home. 
As the clocks were put back it seemed to stimulate a change and autumn came to the Garden in a few short days Leaves carpet the the ground in shades of gold as the temperature fluctuates between 13 degrees C and very cold. A recent forecast of the winter to come suggests I buy some more thermals.
The Friends are participating in the West End Christmas Fayre on Saturday, 17th November. This allows us to meet people who may not be visitors to the Garden and hopefully they will fill in our questionnaire so we can discover what would make it attractive to them. We will also publicise Gardens' Question time which takes place on 1st December. 
Christmas is fast approaching - and still the grass grows!

Frances Tait 

Updates

Frances has offered to give us monthly updates on what to look for in the garden. Here's the first one. 

The Wednesday afternoon lecture series got off to a splendid start on 10^th October when Louise Bustard, Education Officer at Glasgow Botanic Garden, spoke on “Plants Can Kill”. This humorous and knowledgeable lecturer talked with enthusiasm about every day plants known to us all in gardens or on countryside walks. Almost fifty people attended and, despite hiccups with the University’s I T system, this was a remarkable start to the season. As a gardener I am accustomed to wearing gloves and  washing my hands when I come inside. Now I shall do it with a little more care and I shall watch with trepidation where my host puts her proffered bunch of daffodils when I call in spring. (Don't ask) After such a successful beginning whom shall we call on for the 2012/14 session? Suggestions are welcome!

As the days and nights grow colder, the Garden puts on a new set of clothes. Gone are the greens, the blue-greens and the green-greens. Now come a range not seen throughout the rest of the year. The weeping branches of the parotia on the far side of the pond seem to be on fire while the birch leaves glow creamy yellow and greenish bronze. Look out for the oaks, both English and Red, that surprise us with their variations in colour and shape.

There are still flowers to be found;: peppermint pink nerines at the rear of the glasshouse, muted red species dahlias to the south and, nearby, the ranks of watsonia and crocosmia stand in orange livery. Look at the trees outside the Visitors’ centre and you will see  texture and bark colour that rivals their spring display.  Search and you will find the leaves and flowers of winter-flowering cyclamen. Deeper In the Garden the rhododendrons, camellias, and magnolias are carrying their spring buds.  Take a walk yourself! There is much to enjoy  to in these winter months.

On Being Happy

Don't miss Neil's talk at Dundee University in the Baxter Conference Room 1.36, 1st Floor, Tower Building at 2.20 pm on Wednesday, 3rd October.

Neil Paterson (Botanic Garden)
On Being Happy: Epicureans in the Garden
Our health is intimately connected to our mental attitudes and approach to life.  The Greeks advocated living the Good Life but what precisely is that to be - Epicurus had an interesting answer.

See "Feeling Good" for the full programme.
All the talks are free!

Special Event

University of Dundee Wednesday Afternoon Lectures

To be held in Lecture Theatre, Tower Building, Perth Road

No need to book - Tickets  £2 per person available at the door.

           

The Friends have been asked to open the 2012/13 series of the University’s Afternoon Lectures on Wednesday 10^th October at 2.15p.m.

Our speaker for this occasion is Louise Bustard, Education Officer, at Glasgow Botanic Garden.   Her illustrated talk is entitled “Plants that Kill”  Do we know how treacherous some of our plants can be?  We know about foxgloves and laburnum but what about daffodils and snowdrops?   Came along and learn more from this excellent and humerous speaker who will keep us entertained while passing on some of her considerable knowledge. 

Other lectures in the series are –

            14^th November   Susan Keracher: Dundee’s Two Intrepid Ladies

            12^th December    Jim Cook: The History of Local Natural History

            16^th January        Bob McCurly & Graham Smith: The Birds of Angus

            6^th February        Derek Hall: Recalling a More Ancient Perth

            13^th March          Martin Kirkbride: How Green Was My Valley

AGM 2012

As you can see from the video the meeting was lively and well attended. It was a lovely autumn evening and many of those present had accompanied Alasdair on his guided walk round the Garden. Frances's report and the names of the members  of the new committee will be posted here shortly for those of you who missed the meeting. At the close of the meeting our Honorary President, Hugh Ingram, gave a moving tribute to Eddie Kemp, the Garden's first curator, who died recently, at the age of 101. He was the inspiration for the innovative design of the Garden. 

AGM 2012

Visit by DCC Councillors

City Councillors on a tour of the Garden on Tuesday evening. 

AGM

NOTICE of 30^th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING to be held in the EDUCATION CENTRE at the BOTANIC GARDEN on WEDNESDAY 12^TH SEPTEMBER 2012 at 7.00 p.m.

GARDEN WALK – Prior to the AGM the Curator, Alasdair Hood, invites Friends and Visitors to accompany him on a “Twilight Walk” round the Garden. The walk lasting approximately 1 hour will depart from the Visitor Centre at 5.30 p.m. (meet at 5.15 p.m.)Light refreshments will be served in the Education Centre from 6.00 p.m with the AGM starting at 7.00 p.m. and lasting approximately 45 minutes

AGENDA

1.      Apologies

2.      Confirmation of Minutes of 29^th AGM held on Wednesday 26^th May 2011

3.      Matters arising from Minutes

4.      Chairman’s Report

5.      Treasurer’s Report including a short talk on the BT/MyDonate method of payment.

6.      Proposal to elect Honorary President

7.      Election of Office Bearers

a.       Chairman willing to stand for re-election

b.      Vice Chairman willing to stand for re-election

c.       Treasurer willing to stand for re-election

d.      General Secretary Position vacant – Nominations invited

e.       Minute Secretary willing to stand for re-election

f.        Membership Secretary Retiring Nominations invited

8.      Election of Committee: there are three vavancies

9.      Election of External Assessor

10.  A.O.C.B.

Scotland in Bloom comes to Dundee

Frances shows the judges round the Garden

In the student allotment

Visits

The combined visit by the Friends and local Plant heritage Group to Binny Plants resulted in 20 people booking. This number made hiring a coach economically possible. Great strides have been made since the Friends' last visit. The two groups united again when we visited Madeleiene Tinsen's garden in Perth to see the Chris North lilies originally developed at SCRI. Due to the lack of sunshine only two varieties were in bloom. This was a spectacular garden enjoyed by 19 people many of whom car-shared. 
Both groups felt that combined outings were the way forward. - one organised by each group. the first of which will be next March when we will go to see the Plant Heritage National Collection of Aloes and Gasteria, held in the Winter Garden, Aberdeen. There we will meet up with those gardeners whom we entertained in Dundee when they visited us in May this year. The numbers should be suffient to organise a coach. 

Report of Meeting

At the meeting of 23rd May the Friends welcomed the statement by Jim McGeorge. Secretary to the University.
"Following the University's affirmation of its continued commitment to its Botanic Garden and the re-establishment of the Advisory Group in 2010, considerable work has gone into developing a new vision for the Garden focussed on supporting the University's educational research and public engagement activities and acting as a key point of interaction between the University and the local and national communities.

The vision forsees the the creation of a 'Horticultural Development Plan' to provide the focus for future investment and fundraising to support the work of the Garden in conserving the natural environment and hosting ex-situ conservation programmes; and a 'Capital and Commercial Plan' to enhance the infrastructure of the Garden in ways that increase its attractiveness as a visitor destination and/or generate additional commercial revenues."


The summary of the Friends' spending during the last year and the report on the background to the Endowment Trust that were presented at the meeting are availble as pages in this blog.

Plant Sale

The suns shone and Saturday's sale organised by the Friends
was a great success,

raising approximately £1000 for the Garden.

Ready, steady.....

GO!

Friends' Meeting

A meeting will be held on Wednesday, 23rd May at 7.0 PM in the Education Centre to update Friends on the progress towards establishing an Endowment Trust for the Garden The form is expected to be short presentations on behalf of the Trust and the University to explain how the Trust fits in with the strategic plans for the Garden, followed by a period for questions and discussion.
There will also be an opportunity to see the proposals for redesigning the front entrance to the Garden.

Plant Sale

The sale will take place on the afternoon of

Saturday, 12th May from 2 - 4 PM

For further informations and plant donations please phone

01382 665719

Dates for 2012

Date	Event	Speaker
12th May	Plant Sale	2 - 4 pm Botanic Garden
16th May at 2.0 pm	Guided tour of  Riverside Nature Park
23rd May	Update on Endowment Trust Evening meeting	7.0 PM at the Education Centre
9th or 10th June	Outing to Binny Plants &  Gardens	details to be confirmed
Ist July	Outing to Madeleine Tinson at Parkkhead  House, Perth, to see the Chris North Lilies	with Plant Heritage provision cost £6
12th September , evening	AGM
17th October, evening	Bulbs of Asia Minor Evening lecture	Michael Almond

Free Talk

There is a talk in the D'Arcy Thompson Zoology Museum  on Tues 14 February at 6pm when Alan Elliott of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh will speak about the pioneering botanists of Angus.

The early 19th century saw a number of botanists that, despite their humble roots in Angus, had a major impact on the horticultural and botanical world. This talk explores some of these extraordinary characters and the fascinating plants they found from their explorations in Africa, Australia, the Americas and closer to home.  

Refreshments will be served after the talk. Please enter by the main front door of the Carnelley Building.

Wednesday, 15th February at 7.0 pm in the Education Centre
The Importance of Bees - a talk by Gavin Ramsay of the James Hutton Institute.

Everyone welcome - we appreciate a small donation (£2) from non-members.

Note: This year the date of the Friends' AGM is changing from May to September. There will be further information about the change along with details of a possibility of paying subscriptions on line in the next Newsletter.

Questionnaire

In response to one of the comments on the Friend's questionnaire, a list of the current committtee members has been posted.

The questionnaire will be availblee at the Visitor's Centre so it you missed it at the West End Christmas Week Fayre please take the time to fill one in.