By Rachel Webster In my humble opinion, the hazelnut is OK, but in my stocking I’ll be sure to find some walnuts. Clearly I’m not the only one to put…Read More >
Advent Botany 2015 – Day 4: Lore of Hazelnuts, Corylus avellana
By Sophie Marley Purple quality streets, pralines and ferrero rocher are always the first to vanish from chocolate tins during the festive grazing period. Their crunchy moreish hazelnut centres are…Read More >
Advent Botany 2015 – Day 3: Galanthophilia
By Alastair Culham It’s not a heavy metal band, but Galanthophilia sounds as if it could be. It is the name for those with a true love of snowdrops. These…Read More >
AdventBotany 2015 – Day 2: Yule Log – a carbon neutral heat source?
By Alastair Culham The Yule log was traditionally a large branch, trunk or whole tree brought indoors to burn slowly over the Christmas period and in to the New Year. …Read More >
Advent Botany 2015, Day1: Balsam Fir – a popular Christmas tree in Canada
By Dawn Bazely Much of Canada’s landmass is dominated by the boreal forest ecosystem. The characteristic tree species of the boreal biome are conifers such as pines, firs and spruces. Another boreal evergreen…Read More >
Getting Ready for #AdventBotany – here’s a reprise of 2014
Last year we ran our first #AdventBotany challenge – @DrMGoesWild and @botanyRNG writing an account each day (with some help from @DawnBazeley and others) through advent of plants associated with…Read More >
2014 Advent Botany – Christmas Day – The Star of Bethlehem from GOD
The Star of Bethlehem guided the Magi from the east to the stable in which Jesus lay. This classic part of the Christmas story has given rise to the star…Read More >
2014 Advent Botany – Day 24 – The Brussels Sprout (Brassica oleracea var. gemmifera)
The Brussels Sprout is the true plant of Christmas! So says Professor John Warren, and he has statistics to prove his point! The British have a strange love-hate relationship with…Read More >
2014 Advent Botany – Day 23 – Poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima)
The supermarkets in the UK currently have shelves full of Poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) with the distinctive bright red bracts, but poinsettia production is a risky business with high fuel costs…Read More >
2014 Advent Botany – Day 22 – A Partridge in a Pear tree
A partridge in a pear tree is the first verse of the Christmas song “The Twelve Days of Christmas“. This is “cumulative song” each verse building on the previous one…Read More >
