displays – Page 3 – University of Bristol Botanic Garden

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

Posted on Sunday 1 March 2015Friday 1 November 2024 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 Friday 23 January 2015Friday 1 November 2024 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…)

A walk through the mendips

Posted on Tuesday 13 January 2015Friday 1 November 2024 by andy.winfield

By Helen Roberts

A few weeks ago our family, had a great day out walking on the Mendip Hills. We set off in autumn sunshine, through pretty deciduous woodland, to an Iron Age hill fort called Dolebury Warren – an upland area of calcareous grassland. Having lived on the edge of the Mendips during my childhood, I am always keen to show my children where I used to explore as a youngster. (more…)

Fruit: the good, the bad and the ugly

Posted on Tuesday 28 October 2014Wednesday 6 November 2024 by andy.winfield

By Helen Roberts

Autumn is my favourite season. I love the colours, cooling temperatures and crispness of the air in the morning. One of the things I like most, however, is harvesting autumn fruit to use in cooking, baking and jams. So far, this autumn I have picked bucketfuls of blackberries, autumn raspberries, damsons, plums, apples, pears, quince, crabapples, rosehips and sloes. (more…)