Category: displays

The fascination of plants

Posted on by andy.winfield

By Helen Roberts

For the past three years, the University of Bristol Botanic Garden has hosted Fascination of Plants Day. The event is part of a much larger initiative launched under the umbrella of the European Plant Science Organisation (EPSO). The goal of the day is to get people interested in plants and share the significance of plant science in both the social and environmental arenas. (more…)

Plants more resilient than animals through mass extinctions

Posted on by andy.winfield

By Nicola Temple

The fossil record suggests that a diversity of land plants had evolved by about 472 million years ago (mya). There is evidence to suggest that plants made the move onto land as much as 700 mya [1], placing them in the midst of the five largest extinction events to have shaped life on our planet. (more…)

Local limestone quarry receives a special collection of plants from the University of Bristol Botanic Garden

Posted on by andy.winfield

By Helen Roberts

 
It’s a bitterly cold February morning and I’ve driven to the outskirts of the small village of Wick in South Gloucestershire to meet with Roland de Hauke. Roland is going to give me a tour of Wick Quarry and the local nature reserve. It is extremely claggy underfoot and parts of the road are submerged underwater, so I am extremely relieved when Roland shows me to his 4 x 4 vehicle in order to tour the vast 100-acre site. (more…)

Some like it hot

Posted on by andy.winfield

By Helen Roberts

With the dismal wet wintry weather prevailing in the UK at this time of year, most people look forward to the return of warm long days, evenings outside and picnics on the beach. Things can look a little dreary and dull in people’s gardens at the moment, before the arrival of spring and its profusion of bulbs and other spring flowers. The Mediterranean collection at the University of Bristol Botanic Gardens helps to remind me of summer sun and balmy places. (more…)