Neither my partner Ben nor I actively celebrate Christmas. We prefer to hide away from the crazy world that Christmas has become and endeavour to find ourselves as far away…Read More >
Herbarium RNG
#AdventBotany 2018, Day 23: I met Tunnicliffe in a forest of Conifers
by Claire Smith As children I’m sure we’ve all sprinkled far too much glitter onto a pine cone and hung it from the Christmas tree… but have you ever wondered…Read More >
#AdventBotany 2018, Day 22: Thyme for a good stuffing
By Fi Young Sage and onion stuffing seems to be the norm for stuffing a Christmas turkey, but what about using thyme? A Google search produced 9 million results! A…Read More >
#AdventBotany 2018, Day 21: A botanical pick-me up for the bleak midwinter
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 >
#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 >