This Saturday!

Saturday, March 29th, at 2.0 PM Plant Heritage Lecture; 
Professor Michael Tooley will give a talk on “Gertrude Jekyll and the plants she bred at Munstead Wood”. Admission is £5 and booking is essential. Contact Frances Tait 01382 665719

March plant of the month

Cornus mas (Cornelian cherry)

Family: Cornaceae   Origin: Central & Southern Europe   Accession: 1975

find it north of Loch Macar

Cornus mas is a hardy deciduous shrub up to 4m in height and spread, with oval leaves turning purple in autumn. Small clusters of tiny flowers each with 4 bright yellow petals open in late winter before the leaves appear, to be followed by glossy red, cherry-like fruits. The fruit is edible, it has an acidic flavour and is mainly used for making jam. In Azerbaijan and Armenia, the fruit is used for distilling vodka. It is often used as a medicine in Eastern Europe, being high in Vitamin C. The wood of C. mas is extremely dense and has traditionally been used for making weapons and tool handles

Minutes

January's minutes are now ready to view. Our next meeting is on 
16th April so the Minutes for February won't be published until then. 

Reminder

Ideas for the Small Garden

Local Garden Designer Alison Hogg will discuss the topic and answer your questions

on Sunday, 16th February

at 2.00 PM

in the Education Centre

The event is free to Friends and £2 for visitors

February's Plant of the Month

Callistemon citrinus ‘Splendens’ (Bottlebrush)

Family: Myrtaceae     Origin: Australia      Accession: 1976

find it in the temperate glasshouse

HERA

On Monday evening the Chair and committee members of the Harris Academy Adult Education Group presented a cheque to the Friends, represented here by Donald, Sylvia, Frances, and Pam, on the disbandment of the charity  The Friends of Balgay also benefited from a donation. 

Talk

Ideas for the Small Garden

Local Garden Designer Alison Hogg will discuss the topic and answer your questions

on Sunday, 16th February

at 2.00 PM

in the Education Centre

The event is free to Friends and £2 for visitors

Minutes

The Minutes of the November meeting are now available.

Happy New Year!

Phormium tenax (New Zealand flax, harakeke

Family: Xanthorrhoeaceae  Origin: New Zealand  Accession: 1979

Location:Australasian plants

It is native to New Zealand and Norfolk Island. The long fibres extracted from its leaves were widely used, originally in Māori traditional textiles and also in rope and sail making after the arrival of Europeans up until at least WWII. It is an invasive species in some of the Pacific islands and in Australia.

West End Window Spotting

On Friday, 20th December, at Blackness Library, William Monk of Blackness Primary was awarded a year's Family Membership of the Friends and a voucher from Harris Education and Recreation Association as the prize for his winning entry into the Window Spotting Competition. 

HOLLY Good, William!

from the Committee

All good wishes for  a happy and peaceful Christmas and a flourishing New Year

December's Plant of the Month

Citrus maxina (Pomelo, Shaddock)

Family: Rutaceae  Origin: Southeast Asia Accession: 1981

Find it in the tropical glass house

All sorts of interesting things happen in the garden.
Today, members of the British Trust for Ornithology were ringing birds.

The Friends will have a stall at the West End Community Fayre on Saturday 23 November from 10am to 12 noon at Dundee West Church, 132 Perth Road

Free entry - come along and find out how you can become involved in helping Dundee University Botanic Garden

Prize Draw

West End Christmas Fortnight Window Spotting Competition

Rules of Entry : You must be aged under 16 and resident in Dundee. Visit each of the windows of the shops in Perth Road (between Tartan Coffee House and the Sinderins junction – both sides of the road) and write the name of the shop in which you find each of the letters of the word :

                                                         H-O-L-L-Y

Then place your completed entry in the Prize Draw box in either of the following Perth Road shops – Lynn’s Barber Shop or Andrew Bolton Opticians (or Gallery Q in Nethergate or The Hardware Shop in Blackness Road or the Visitors' Centre at the Garden,   by Monday 9th December at the latest. 

All correct entries will be entered into the Prize Draw 

The winner will receive Free Family Membership for a year 
and a Gift Voucher for £20. 

 Good Luck!

October's minutes

The minutes of the Friends' October meeting are now posted. Note: November's minutes will be posted in January as no meeting is taking place in December. 

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"