Scent and spring promise

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By Andy Winfield
The garden has taken a battering over the last few weeks with high winds and the heavy soil saturating rain has made gardening difficult. Despite it all there is interest with flower, colour and scent now and the promise of it in the next few weeks.

One of my favourites and a true signpost of January/February is the winter aconite (Eranthis 

Eranthus hymalis

hymalis); in a few weeks it will dot the borders with tiny butter yellow flowers. Growing naturally in deciduous woodland, this plant flowers before the leaves on trees shade out the forest floor and as the sun strengthens as it gets higher in the sky. (more…)

Saving our nation’s lost landscapes

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By Helen Roberts

Historic gardens are an integral part of our cultural link with landscapes; a place where we can connect with nature. They represent a form of artistic expression and illustrate snapshots of past ages, cultures and societies. For that reason alone these garden masterpieces deserve recognition and preservation.

Ro-botany: rotting robots in the garden

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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…)

RHS Courses: Getting practical in the garden

Posted on by andy.winfield
It’s Saturday morning at 9:30 and as I walk into the classroom there are fifteen small plates filled with different types of seeds lined up around a table. Along one of the walls, flowering plants are lined up as well. I recognise a few of the flowering plants but even then I wouldn’t know the Latin names and I recognise even fewer of the seeds. I’m incredibly glad that I’m not taking the test. (more…)