Friends
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Magnificent Magnolia
The gardens are full of wonderful Magnolia blossoms just now. Magnolias are named in honour of the French botanist Pierre Magnol, professor of botany at Montpellier University in the late 17th century. He was the first person to suggest that plants with similar characters could be grouped together into families. Magnolias are native to China…
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Plant markers
For my university project, I was tasked with implementing type into a spatial environment. I chose to explore the Botanic Gardens and responded to the brief by creating a series of plant markers. I took inspiration from the history of the botanic gardens, specifically kibble palace, with its roots in Victorian Britain. I looked into…
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Exclusive tour with our orchid propagator
The Glasgow Botanic Gardens is renowned for its collection of dendrobium orchids and a group of Friends were fortunate enough to be given a guided tour of the orchid collection by Christine Nicholson. Christine is the head of orchid propagation and she was able to give us a glimpse into the magical world of orchids…
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Flint Mill Preservation
Last year, the Friends of Glasgow Botanics were successful in supporting Glasgow City Council gain Scheduled Monuments Consent to carry out physical works to consolidate and repair the remains of the former North Woodside Flint Mill Lade on the River Kelvin. The Friends contributed £3k to meet the costs of initial assessments which in turn…
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Chair’s report
The festive season is receding in our memories as we hopefully notice an increase in the length of day and also the improved brightness, at least on some days. The welcome sight of faithful snowdrops, aconites and hellebores is uplifting. The witch hazel to the right of the path leading to the Botanics Tearooms has…
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Blechnum brasiliense
This small tree fern is from South America. It is well worth looking at in the In the Kibble Palace just now. Turn left at the main dome, then right and you will find several beautiful examples. At present its fronds are uncurling showing off their beautiful red colour. Eventually as the fronds mature, they…
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A very rare conifer: the Vietnamese Golden Cypress
The Vietnamese Golden Cypress or Xanthocyparis vietnamensis can be found at What3Words riots.hoping.petal and looks rather un-preposessing. However, a glance at the accession label reveals that is is anything but. This is a rare and endangered conifer which was has been known to science only since 1999. The discovery of a living conifer that is so…
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2025 Curator update
Glasgow Botanic Gardens Curator Dr Hiro Shimao gives an update on the collection from 2025 including sugar palms, trees, memorial trees and orchids. This year (from January 2025), we have received more than 1000 species (including cultivars and hybrids) of seeds and plants from many botanical gardens and individuals.
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Chair’s report
Andrew Sinclair, manager of the Gardens, and the Friends were contacted some months ago by Professor Willsdon from School of Culture & Creative Arts at Glasgow University about the possibility of remembering a colleague Dr John Richards who had sadly passed away. John knew the Gardens well and lived close to the Arboretum which was…
