As I sit in my home office watching the autumn rains and winds strip the last remaining colourful leaves off the trees outside, I find myself in awe of the tree. There’s a primary school across the street from my house and there are several huge beautiful chestnuts in its grounds where I watched the children shelter from the sun on hot days. There’s also the spindliest little apple tree that one could imagine, which despite its size produced at least a dozen enormous apples this year! (more…)
Category: research
Plants that endure
by Helen Roberts
Whether perched upon a windblown cliff or nestled in a small crack deep within a canyon, some plants seem to overcome all odds of survival. These survivors, which are frequently rare, quite often grow in remote inhospitable environments, show true resilience and perseverance and are highly adapted to their specific habitats. You just have to admire them for their sheer tenacity. (more…)
Ro-botany: rotting robots in the garden
By Nicola Temple
There’s something really exciting going on in the compost heap at the Botanic Garden. Don’t believe me? What if I told you that buried deep within the hot and humid milieu of the compost, lay the components of future robots that could help clean up environmental disasters such as oil spills. It might sound like a piece of science fiction, but in fact it’s part of a two year project by the Bristol Robotics Laboratory that is looking at the development of a biodegradable robot. (more…)
Through the eyes of bees
By Nicola Temple
One of the many fabulous things about the Botanic Garden is that on any given day, you may find scientists out there conducting cutting edge research. There are currently at least seven research programs going on either directly or indirectly with the garden, making it not only a place of beauty, but also a place of scientific discovery. (more…)