Beautiful new coloured glass features marking the seasons in the Good Grief garden. installed so far are summer and autumn.

 The rhododendrons in the Garden are spectacular at the moment.

R. Selense ssp. jucundum, planted in 1985

R. falconeri, planted in 1977.

Storms Arwen and Malik leave their mark

 

Plant of the Month March 2020

Garrya elliptica

Garrya elliptica, the coast silk-tassel, silk tassel bush or wavyleaf silktassel, is a species of flowering plant in the family Garryaceae, native to the coastal ranges of California and southern Oregon. It is an erect, bushy, evergreen shrub reaching a height of 2–5 m (7–16 ft). The unique characteristics of Garrya elliptica are its waxy convex leaves with wavy leaf margins, coupled with dense individual hairs on the leaf undersides that are scarcely distinguishable with a hand lens. Its leaf blades are 6–8 cm (2.4–3.1 in) in length, and the petioles range in length from 6-12 mm.

New Year Fun Run 2020

Registration for this event has now closed.

On Thursday 2^nd January at 11am and until 1pm there will be a 5k 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 education centre at the end of the run.

As of today (1st Jan) the weather on the 2nd is expected to be cool and largely cloudy, with a fresh wind from the south west.

Best wishes for the festive season,

The Friends’ Committee.

Summer holiday rock search!

The holidays are nearly here. Come on down and try our Summer Holiday Rock Search. There are map sheets, clipboards and pencils at Reception. And this time the rocks stay where you find them - no need to re-hide! The theme is birds, bees, and butterflies.
Normal entrance charges to the Garden apply. But we're very sorry no dogs are allowed in the Garden.

Between Mon 1st July and Fri 30th August, Monday to Friday only, the Garden will remain open until 8.30pm.

Friends plant sale Saturday 25th May from 11am.

Come along and buy some plants as well as enjoying other events in the Garden as part of Plant Power Day. Free entry and lots of activities for the whole family.

Plant of the Month April 2019

Corylopsis spicata (Winter hazel)

Family:  Hamamelidaceae
Origin: Japan
Location: Asian Plants
Accession: 1975

Corylopsis spicata is in the Witch Hazel family, a deciduous shrub up to 2m in height and 3m wide, native to Japan. The racemes of bell-shaped scented pale yellow flowers with red anthers are borne on bare stems in late winter and early spring. The alternate, broadly ovate, leaves are bristled with toothed edges, blue-green underneath and bright-green above. Leaf buds change from dark-red to dark green as the leaves emerge. It prefers moist, well-drained, acid soil and a sheltered site with partial shade.

In the Garden at the moment.

In the temperate glasshouse

Rhododendron in the temperate glasshouse

Aloe succotrina in the temperate glasshouse

Silver stemmed bramble beside the pond.

Plant of the Month March 2019

Pinus pumila (Dwarf Siberian Pine)

Family: Pinaceae
Origin: NE Asia
Location: Beside Native Plants
Accession: 1971

Pinus pumila is a coniferous evergreen shrub ranging from 1–3m in height. The leaves are needle-like, formed in bundles of five and are 4–6cm long. The cones are 2.5-4.5cm long, with large nut-like seeds. It is a native of north-eastern Asia, its range including eastern Siberia, north-east Mongolia, north-east China, northern Japan and Korea. It can be found along mountain chains, where it forms uninterrupted hard-to-pass thickets, and alongside the Okhotsk and Bering Seas and Pacific coast. It grows very slowly, especially in harsh conditions, and can live up to 300 and even 1000 years. It is often grown in ornamental parks and gardens

  

Plant of the month February 2019

Hedera cypria (Cyprus ivy)

Family: Araliaceae

Origin: Europe

Location: Mediterranean Area

Accession: 1988

An attractive and vigorous species of ivy, with thick, dark green, triangular leaves marked with silvery veins, endemic to the island of Cyprus. It grows up to 20m high by means of aerial adventitious roots or makes a good ground cover. Ivies have enormous value to wildlife, providing year-round shelter for many creatures including birds, small mammals and invertebrates. In flower, they provide an invaluable late source of nectar and pollen for bees and other pollinators. Ivy fruits are much appreciated by birds in late winter when other food sources are scarce.

Plant of the Month January 2019

Aloe arborescens (Candelabra aloe)

Family:  Aloeaceae
Origin: Temperate South Africa
Location: Temperate glasshouse
Accession: 1976

This species of aloe reaches 2-3m in height, with many rosettes of blue-green fleshy leaves with soft teeth running along their edges. Tall orange-red racemes of flowers, full of nectar, rise from the rosettes attracting butterflies, birds and bees in the cold winter months. It grows on rocky outcrops in its native South Africa and has been used to fence livestock enclosures. The succulent leaves contain a pulp that is known to soothe the skin, especially from burning and redness, and has many other medicinal uses.

Fun Run 2019

This year's New Year 5k fun run was the largest so far with over 120 attending. The morning was crispy cold and bathed in sunshine. This year's winning time was 17' 51", but for many this was just an opportunity to have an enjoyable walk with friends and family. The run is now a fixture and for the first time we had regular visitors to the Garden while the run was on.

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.