By Claire Smith Are you on Santa’s Naughty or Nice list this year? If all you’ve discovered in the toe of your stocking this morning is a lump of coal,…Read More >

By Alastair Culham This year I planned to upcycle existing blogs in the spirit of making the best from what you have during the COVID-19 pandemic but I just couldn’t…Read More >

By Dawn Bazely Before Carrie Derick became Canada’s first professional woman scientist, as a professor in Botany and Genetics at McGill University in 1912, we know that White, anglophone Canadian…Read More >

By Dawn Bazely The Snowberry makes a great hedge It seemed a bit strange that the native North American shrub, the Snowberry[6] (Symphoricarpos albus), named for obvious reasons, hadn’t yet…Read More >

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 >

by Katherine Preston (A Botanist in the Kitchen) ’Tis the season to sound the trumpets and pronounce judgment upon the holy or evil status of traditional holiday foods. If you…Read More >

By Jeanne Osnas (A botanist in the kitchen) Along with conifer trees, poinsettias, and mistletoe, hollies are a botanical hallmark of the winter holiday season. So, too, are warm beverages….Read More >

By Alastair Culham and Jonathan Mitchley There is much debate and disagreement about the origin of Christmas trees and they have variously been linked to oak branches used in mystery…Read More >