On Tuesday (22 February) we have our first lecture and public tour combo. The lecture is by Don Witton on Euphorbias and other Spring-flowering perennials, and will take place at 10.30 in the Education Centre in the Gardens. It’s free for Friends, £5 on the door for members of the public.

Save the date! We’re arranging a trip for Friends to the excellent Morton Nursery in Nottinghamshire in the afternoon of Wednesday 13th July. The nursery specialises in home-grown, hard-to-find shrubs and perennials.

The latest edition of our regular newsletter News Shoots is now available to view in the password-protected Friends Area of the website. Among lots of features, it has information on our new Education and Engagement Co-ordinator, the planned Volunteer Centre in the Gardens, our Plant of the Month, and the latest version of our Programme of Talks and Tours.

Thanks to Kevin Hughes for a fascinating Zoom talk on encouraging rare flora and fauna at Cally Gardens in Southwest Scotland. Kevin gave us lots to think about - his views on the relative environmental impact of coir production and peat harvesting for instance, and the overwhelming benefits for him of stopping pesticide and weedkiller use at Cally.

Our next lecture is on plants and wildlife at the wonderful Cally Gardens in Scotland. Join Kevin Hughes via Zoom on Monday 7th February at 7.30pm to hear practical tips on combining beautiful gardening with an ethical wildlife friendly approach.

Apologies to those who had problems getting to the Dorothy Fox Centre this morning (25 January) for our talk on the Gardens of India, as a result of the tree felling at the Thompson Road entrance. Our speaker Jill has recorded a version of the talk for those who could not make it in person: a copy is now available to view in the password-protected Friends Area.

Join us on Tuesday (25 January) for our first live talk of the year, with garden historian (and Friend) Jill Sinclair exploring 5 centuries of India’s garden heritage. Topics will range from exquisite Rajput palace gardens to Mughal pleasure grounds; from botanical gardens to folk art displays; and from imperial designs by British architect Edwin Lutyens to stark modernism by Le Corbusier.

Thanks to Advolly Richmond for a fabulous Zoom talk yesterday on the Social History of Indoor Plants. We roamed from nosegays and strewn herbs through tulipmania, pteridomania and window terraria to today’s fascination with unusual Monstera and the return of the macrame plant holder!

Sadly the gremlins got the better of Advolly Richmond’s planned Zoom talk on Monday 10th January but we’re delighted she will be back at 7.30pm next Monday (17th) to start again! The online talk will offer a fascinating insight into the social history of indoor plants.

Good to see our pavilions featured in a Guardian list of 10 of the UK’s best botanical hothouses for a winter warm-up. The article describes them as “one of Britains oldest and finest hothouses” and recommends the layout for “a nice long stroll through the world’s hot zones at a guaranteed minimum of 10C.”

Our first lecture of 2022 will be given by Advolly Richmond, who Friends will know from her frequent appearances on BBC TV’s Gardeners World. Advolly will talk to us about the social history of indoor plants.

Sending Christmas wishes to all Friends of the Botanical Gardens, and hopes for a healthy and restful start to 2022. Remember that 25 December is the one day of the year when the Gardens are closed to everyone, giving our hard-working gardeners a well-deserved day off.

This website has a special password-protected Friends Area (you can find the link at the bottom of every page), which contains over 20 recordings of Zoom lectures we have hosted since last summer, plus past and present copies of our regular newsletter News Shoots. The password changed on 14th December and Friends should look out for an email from our webmaster with the new version.

The latest edition of our regular newsletter News Shoots is now available to view in the password-protected Friends Area of the website. Among lots of features, it has information on upcoming events (online and increasingly in person), news of the job advert for our Education & Engagement Co-ordinator, our plant of the month, and a Christmas quiz.

We’re working with the Council and the charitable Trust to recruit a full-time Education and Engagement Co-ordinator for the Gardens. Thanks to National Lottery players, the post will be funded for two years. The job is currently being advertised with a closing date for applications of 22 December.