Category: botanic gardens

Tea, thatch and early spring

Posted on by andy.winfield

Today as I write this the sun is shining, the birds are in full voice singing, cawing and screeching around the Garden. Bulbs are popping up, crocus are the first with daffodils a week away from carpeting the ground with yellow. Primroses are dotting grassy areas and bees are beginning to forage in the middle of the day; the minimum temperature that a bee can fly is said to be 13 degrees, so when you see one out and about you know the season is changing. In February in this part of the UK we get an extra two and a half minutes of light every day; after February and through March to June it is only two minutes. This is why a lot seems to change in February in the Garden, it is a conduit for spring; the end of January is incomparable to the beginning of March in terms of light, flower and the beginnings of warmth. We’ll still get ice, cold, wet and maybe even snow again between now and summer, but days like this make us feel that winter is nearly behind us.

Crocus appearing in the Garden.

In the Garden there are exciting changes happening. Our South African display has had the framework of a traditional African roundhouse present for much of last year; as I write this it is being thatched with a South African reed called Cape thatching reed; Thamnochortus insignis, the building will then be rendered in a red cob. These features are important for bringing context to the plants around it, being a talking point and attracting people to the Garden where they can leave with maybe a lot, maybe a little, but some new knowledge of the plant world that they didn’t have before.

Lu Yu.

Another development is our Chinese tea plantation. Yes, a tea plantation here in Bristol, just a small one but a tea plantation none the less. When landscaping the area where we’ll grow tea, visitors ask what I’m doing and seem intrigued and interested with the response. Tea is something that is in the heart of UK people, many conversations, moments of relaxation, tears and laughter have happened over a cup of tea and many millions of hands have been warmed on a mug during winter. In China tea drinking dates back 5000 years. Legend has it that Emporer Shen Nung was boiling water when leaves from a wild tree blew into his pot; he was so interested in the aroma that he drank some. He named the brew ch’a, meaning to check or investigate. Tea became integral to the culture of China when Lu Yu, a Chinese scholar, dedicated his life to the study of tea; he wrote a treatise called ‘ The Classic of Tea’ in 760CE, the earliest work dedicated to tea. Today every Chinese household will have tea brewing sets and use tea brewing as a form of welcome, celebration, in family gatherings or to apologise. We’re looking forward to planting our fifteen (so far) Camelia sinensis plants; they should be in the ground by March, which, coincidentally, is when our refreshments open again after the winter…

We look forward to seeing you in the Garden, keep your eyes on the ground and enjoy early spring!

Plant blindness

Posted on by andy.winfield

You may or may not of heard of the term ‘plant blindness’; it’s a phrase that we in the Botanic Garden have been hearing much more of in recent years and will continue to throw around in the future. It refers to the slow shutting off of plant knowledge from generation to generation resulting in an inability to acknowledge plants around us. The simple things that were once common knowledge, such as dock leaves used for nettle stings are becoming bred out of a collective instinct and plants are becoming irrelevant and annoying green things to many people.
I can remember when my eyes were truly opened. I noticed trees that I hadn’t before; as I walked along the street I started looking at the borders and the hanging foliage all around me. Before, I’m not sure what I looked out for in the streets, the pavement or the shops, who knows, but plants for sure changed my life and I see them changing the lives around me at the Botanic Garden. I think I could live to be three hundred and still find something in the plant world that fascinated me. This week I learnt about the incredible relationships between some species of orchid and ants. The ants don’t pollinate the orchid flower but hang around the plant living off an ‘extrafloral’ nectar secreted elsewhere; they then do everything to protect their food source and keep the plant safe. Plants and animals have these delicate relationships that allow both to flourish, and it’s fair to say that ours has become less delicate over the years.
Dandelion seed head
This change in the collective instinct of people has come about through successive generations becoming more urbanised with less plant interaction such as blowing a dandelion seed head, throwing a grass seed dart, eating wild blackberries or sticking cleavers to jumpers; children still do this but there are many who don’t and lose a connection with the plant world. The result of this is that education reduces the amount of plant learning, and in biology courses there is a main focus on the animal kingdom; there is a perceived lack of interest in the plant world. Things have become so bad that the Oxford Junior Dictionary removed words like ‘acorn’ and ‘buttercup’ preferring instead ‘broadband’ and ‘cut and paste’; they were seen as no longer relevant to a child’s life.
University of Bristol Botanic Garden
There is however, a great appetite among young people to be green, to recycle and mend the excesses of the generations that went before them; often students tell me it’s the biggest issue for them and they’d like to make a difference. How is a difference made? I think we can all make a simple difference by introducing plants to friends and relatives, opening eyes to the trees and weeds and the force of life going on around us and under our feet. It could be argued that many of the world’s problems can be solved with plants; forests, food, habitats are all areas that need experts, and while there are many graduates of zoology degrees there are few from plant sciences. This is changing with Universities now offering full plant science degrees; there are many jobs in plant sciences as governments and companies are beginning to see how important it is. Bristol University is launching a plant science degree starting in September 2019 based in the magnificent Life Sciences building with a group of world experts in the field of plant science. Of course, undergraduates will use the Botanic Garden as a second home and have access to all our knowledge and experience, we’re really looking forward to it. If you, a relative, son or daughter are interested click here to view the degree.
We all have a role to play in protecting our relationship with the natural world which can be played by simply talking about the plants we see to people. I’m always disposed to optimism and today’s

young people seem to be committed to green ways; this problem arose through successive generations and perhaps it can be cured in the same way, the passing down of knowledge as we go.

By Andy Winfield

Latecomers to the summer flowering party

Posted on by andy.winfield

By Helen Roberts

It’s the time of year when most people think that gardens are nearing the end of the full flush of summer blooms. Mid summer flowers may be dwindling but there are numerous late flowering species that still provide a riot of colour. I have always been interested in gardens at this time of year because we are often rewarded with a spell of bright sunny weather in autumn. I want to be outside enjoying the garden, hanging onto the summer for as long as I can before the cold deepens and the nights draw in. So planning for some autumn colour in the garden can be very rewarding.
  
With thoughts of designing my own garden for a prolonged season of flowering, an excursion to the University of Bristol Botanic Garden was due. I met up with Froggie who showed me the bounty of colour at this time of year in the gardens.
First stop was the hot borders which can be found in front of The Holmes, which were evidently at their most scorching in terms of vivid colours, with swathes of Hemerocallis, Penstemon, Helenium, Rudbeckia, Tithonia, Fuchsia and Dahlia. Froggie pointed out the lovely Verbena bonariensis, which is such a great plant for pollinators and one that self seeds profusely. Verbena adds some soft architectural form to borders and provides flowers for months on end. A plant that I was less familiar with was the rather cute and tender Cuphea cyanea or Cigar flower with red and yellow tipped flowers. There is also another variety of Cuphea called the Pink Mouse – each flower does look like a miniscule mouse!
Providing structure to the hot borders were the awesome sub tropical Abyssinian Banana (Ensete ventricosum), which were still looking amazing but will soon be lifted and taken into the greenhouses. The staff keep a close eye on the weather at this time of year, any sign of frost forecast and they must move quickly to take in the tender species.
Froggie explained, “We had some hard winters a few years back and we lost quite a lot of plants so lifting plants into the greenhouses ensures they are protected. They are our insurance against a very cold winter.”
Salvia uliginosa can be found flowering this time of year
by the Botanic Garden’s main pond.
Photo credit: Helen Roberts.
Many of the shrubby salvias are in this tender category. Froggie showed me Salvia confertiflora, an exotic late flowering species with beautiful fuzzy crimson inflorescences about 0.5m tall. This will be moved inside soon when the weather cools. Another that caught my eye in the pollinator beds located on one side of the main pond was Salvia uliginosa, a very tall plant with vibrant sky blue inflorescences that were buzzing with bumblebees.
I have to admit to an obsession with shrubby salvias, which started after many visits to the garden of plant guru Derry Watkins over the course of this summer. Her passion for these beautiful plants is contagious. They are an extraordinary group of plants that flower continuously from June until October and the flower colours are exquisite. The colours really pack a punch in terms of vividness. I purchased Salvia microphylla ‘Cerro Potosi’, which started producing vibrant magenta flowers back in June and is still putting on a show of pink in October. I plan to take cuttings of this to provide a back up plan in case I lose my original plant (I am going to risk leaving mine out over winter).
Toad Lilies (Tricyrtis macropoda). Photo credit: Helen Roberts.
In amongst the buzzing pollinator borders were the very pretty and delicate Toad Lilies (Tricyrtis macropoda). I watched bees visiting these inflorescences and collecting nectar by robbing it through the back of the flowers. The pink flowered society garlic (Tulbaghia violacea) and Japanese Anemone (Anemone hupehensis) were very subtle in hue combined with dazzling yellow Rudbeckia and deep purple drooping flowers of Agapanthus inapertus ‘Midnight Cascade’. Many of the hummingbird-pollinated plants were in flower including the pineapple relative Ochagavia litoralis and the terrestrial bromeliad Fascicularia pitcairnifolia. The latter, at present, is visually screaming, “Come pollinate me!” with the centre of the rosette turning an intense scarlet with a dense cluster of blue flowers tipped with bright yellow pollen.
Throughout the gardens, as I toured around with Froggie, there were interesting flowering species and the colours varied tremendously from vivid red and pink to deepest indigo. The flower forms were diverse too; delicate dangling umbels, ‘in your face’ discs of blooms, hooked and lipped nectar-rich inflorescences and some which were just plain weird looking. The gardens simply still looked stunning and I left knowing that it’s not yet time to put gardens to bed, there’s plenty more flowers to come.
More species that are flowering now in the garden include:
  • Abutilon sp. (Chinese lantern)
  • Agastache sp. (Giant hyssop)
  • Campsis sp. (Trumpet vine)
  • Caryopteris x clandonensis (Bluebeard)
  • Colchicum agrippinum
  • Commelina tuberosa Coelestis Group (Day flower or Sleeping Beauty)
  • Crinodendron hookerianum (Chilean lantern tree)
  • Erica tetralix (Cross-leaved heath)
  • Impatiens tinctoria
  • Lantana camara (Yellow sage)
  • Liriope muscari (Big blue lily turf)
  • Tropaeolum peregrinum (Canary creeper)
  • Verbena peruviana (Peruvian verbena)

Botanic gardens: places of research, education and beauty

Posted on by andy.winfield

By Nicola Temple

There are an estimated 3,400 botanic gardens around the world, many of which are associated with universities or other research institutions. This association with research institutions can give the impression that these gardens, Bristol’s own Botanic Garden included, are primarily research oriented and not particularly appealing to the public – nothing could be further from the truth.

In the last two years that I’ve been blogging for the Botanic Garden, I have taken myself to Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Tresco Abbey Gardens in the Isles of Scilly, El Charco del Ingenio Botanical Garden in Mexico and the University of Alberta’s Devonian Botanic Garden. I’ve been keen to see how they differ from my local Botanic Garden that I’ve come to love. These gardens have been different in their sizes and plant collections and clearly differ in their annual budgets, but they have all been united in their commitment to educate and they have all been beautiful places to spend a day (or two).

The history of botanic gardens

One of the many spectacular species of orchid on display
at Kew Royal Botanic Gardens. Photo credit: Nicola Temple.

Botanic gardens seem to first make an appearance in the 16th century. They were set up largely as medicinal gardens where research and experimentation could be carried out on medicinal plants. They were often associated with medical schools and universities of the time.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, the focus of research changed as global exploration started to bring back new exotic species of plants. Some of these plants were medicinal in nature and were of interest for that reason. Some, such as spices, were of interest because of their economic value. Some were simply of interest due to their exotic beauty and many of the wealthiest families wanted specimens for their own collections. In the 18th century glasshouses and heated conservatories were built in some of the botanic gardens in order to keep some of the species alive that were being brought back from tropical habitats.

A corridor through the Agapanthus at
Tresco Abbey Gardens. The species was
introduced to the Isles of Scilly by the
proprietor of the gardens in 1856.
Photo credit: Nicola Temple.

The research focus of botanic gardens has continued to evolve to meet the needs of society. Today conservation, climate change and sustainability are the greatest challenges we face and as a result, many botanic gardens around the world have active research programs in these areas.  The decades, and in some cases centuries, of information collected by these gardens is proving incredibly valuable in terms of how the climate is changing and how some species are responding.

Botanic gardens play a critical role in conservation

In 2010, the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity adopted an updated Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC). The University of Bristol Botanic Garden, along with botanic gardens around the world support this global strategy in every aspect of the work that they do.

The strategy recognises that without plants, life on this planet would cease to exist. The aim, therefore, is to halt the continuing loss of plant diversity. The five main objectives of the GSPC are:

  • Plant diversity is well understood, documented and recognised.
  • Plant diversity is urgently and effectively conserved.
  • Plant diversity is used in a sustainable and equitable manner.
  • Education and awareness about plant diversity, its role in sustainable livelihoods and importance to all life on Earth is promoted.
  • The capacities and public engagement necessary to implement the strategy have been developed.

The El Charco del Ingenio Botanical Garden in San Miguel
d’Allende, Mexico had many parts that were less formal than
other botanic gardens. Photo credit: Shelby Temple.

The University of Bristol’s Botanic Garden developed the Local Flora and Rare Native Plant Collection in response to the GSPC. In the eight habitat themed displays associated with this collection – Carboniferous Limestone grassland, woodland and cliff face (found locally in the Avon Gorge & Durdham Downs, Mendip Hills and North Somerset cliffs and coastal islands), Coastal Communities, Deciduous Woodland, Aquatic and marginal areas, hedgerows and seasonally flooded sedge peat meadow associated with the Somerset Levels  – are many of the rare and threatened native plants to these regions. The Garden is therefore a global repository for this plant material in both these living collections as well as its seed banks. Over the coming months, Helen and I will blog about each of the Garden’s collections in more detail, so stay tuned!

A place for learning

Cactus in flower at the El Charco del Ingenio Botanical Garden.
Photo credit: Shelby Temple.

The plant collections at the Garden are used extensively by the University of Bristol for undergraduate teaching as well as in graduate student projects. Beyond this, however, it is a place to learn horticulture, art, photography, garden design, and numerous skills from willow weaving to wreath making.

Formal courses and training through the Royal Horticultural Society are also held at the University Botanic Garden – it’s an ideal setting.

The Garden also offers tours – whether it’s a special interest group, school group or a group of friends wanting to join one of the summer evening tours. Having joined on a school group tour in the past, I know the volunteers are very good at tailoring the tours to draw together information the children have been learning in class with the collections on display.

A place to be inspired

A pollinator drinking nectar from milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)
flowers at the University of Alberta’s Devonian Botanic Garden
in Canada. Photo credit: Nicola Temple.

The collections, knowledge and expertise held at the Botanic Garden puts it in an ideal position to raise public awareness of the plants on display, our interdependency on plants more generally and critical issues facing many of these species, including changes as a result of global warming, habitat loss and invasive species. These are common threads in all of the communications put out by the garden.

More than this though, the Bristol Botanic Garden aims to foster an interest in plants and inspire people through its work. We can all feel somewhat paralysed by the plethora of environmental gloom and doom stories sometimes. Sometimes inspiration and awe about a species can spur people into action more easily than anger and frustration. The Garden’s annual Bee and Pollination Festival is an excellent example of this. Pollinators are having a tough go of it and a National Urban Pollinators Strategy is under development in the UK as I write this to try and improve the situation for this critical group of animals. All the important information is at the Festival, but overall this is a celebratory event – an opportunity to learn and get excited about how amazing pollinators are and how we are so deeply connected to them in so many aspects of our life.

A sunflower display at the Devonian Botanic Garden, Canada
was very popular with the butterflies. Photo credit: Shelby Temple.

The Garden can also be a quieter source of inspiration. I have now spent many hours sitting with camera in hand trying to get perfect flower shots or just simply watching bees move from flower to flower. Sometimes inspiration can be found in these quieter moments, surrounded by beauty, in a garden in a city.