By Rachel Webster With four previous years of Advent Botany I was surprised that none of us have so far covered coffee. OK, it’s not a Christmassy spice, or a…Read More >
Advent
#AdventBotany 2018, Day 20: Once upon a time: A tale of fairies from the RHS herbarium
By Yvette Harvey I am still pondering why a pagan spirit of the dead, or, more recently a demoted angel, should play such a big part in Christmas – for…Read More >
#AdventBotany 2018, Day 19: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight; a spot of medieval Advent Botany
By Alex Mills So, it’s Christmas time. You’re having a bit of food with your friends and family. Well, a lot of food. It’s Christmas, isn’t it? It’s all very…Read More >
#AdventBotany 2018, Day 18: Advent VLOG
By Dawn Bazely Dawn is one of our long-standing contributors and has contributed: poinsettias, cranberries, red-osier dogwood, amaryllis, white cedar, balsam fir, paperwhites, ivy, candy cane chrysanthemums, and less traditional…Read More >
#AdventBotany 2018 Day 17: The Chestnut Song
By Katherine Preston Today’s blog is the second by a Botanist in the Kitchen, this time Katherine. It is a revisit of the sweet chestnut, last featured in 2015 when…Read More >
#AdventBotany 2018, Day 16: The snowiest of white
By Tomos Jones Dreaming of a white Christmas? Well, the plant for today’s blog is Symphoricarpos albus, the Snowberry. It’s a member of the Caprifoliaceae or Honeysuckle family, native to…Read More >
#AdventBotany 2018, Day 15: Angelica: Holiday fruitcake from a sometimes toxic family
By Jeanne D. Osnas That tendency for a deliciously aromatic and edible plant species to be closely related to an insanely toxic thing is a recursive tendency for the entire…Read More >
#AdventBotany 2018, Day 14: Toyon Story
By Andrew Doran1 and Dean Kelch2 1Curator of Cultivated Plants, University & Jepson Herbaria, University of California, Berkeley 2Primary Botanist, California Department of Agriculture, Sacramento Can you grow holly in…Read More >
#AdventBotany 2018, Day 13: Three cheers for Christmas beers
By Sophie Leguil Ask a panel of British people what they consider to be traditional Christmas drinks, and you will probably hear “gin”, “brandy”, “rum” or “Baileys”. Repeat the experience…Read More >
AdventBotany 2018, Day 12: the story of Amaryllis
By Eirini Antonaki Today’s advent botany blog will focus on a popular seasonal ornamental, Amaryllis, with its vibrant colouration ranging from pink, to purple and occasionally red. Etymologically, the name…Read More >