On the 12th of February 1809, Charles Darwin was born in a large Georgian house, known as The Mount, in Shrewsbury. As a biologist, I am very familiar with the works of Darwin. And when I conjure an image of this man in my head it is of him in his 60s, bald on top and with a formidable beard. However, on a recent visit to the University of Bristol Botanic Garden, the curator, Nick Wray, showed me a portrait I had never seen before. (more…)
Matt Croucher, a Work and Retrain as a Gardener Scheme (WRAGS) trainee, talks to Helen Roberts about working at the University of Bristol Botanic Garden, what first got him interested in botany and his aspirations within the horticultural profession.
I met up with Matt mid morning in the potting up area of the Garden. He was delicately placing seed into pots to supplement what is already planted in the ballast seed garden, an area for which he has sole responsibility. As he carried on with the task at hand, I asked him what first drew him to study horticulture, having previously come from a background in website design. (more…)
Usually after a year in the Garden, in the period of the shortest day, we take stock of the year gone, the successes and the things that didn’t work so well; then we plan for the year ahead, events and courses that we can put on, what projects will be undertaken and completed in the year to come. Midwinter is a steppingstone that we use to elegantly hop from one year to the next, but this year it seems more significant. None of us have experienced a year like this before, everyone has been affected in some way and the Botanic Garden is no different. (more…)
