Gardens
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Judging for the British Orchid Council
I recently qualified as a British Orchid Council Judge and was presented with my badge at the Orchid Fair last weekend. I was inspired to train as a BOC judge by Alan Mackenzie, Chair of the Scottish Orchid Society and also a Friend of GBG who had already started the training program. David Menzies agreed…
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Quillaja saponaria
The soapbark tree is native to Chile. It was first described by a Jesuit priest, Juan Ignacio Molina in 1770’s. It is an evergreen tree in the family Quillajaceae. It likes a warm temperate climate and can grow 15-20m in height. The species is drought resistant. It has a thick dark coloured bark, oval, shiny,…
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Garden volunteers update
Quietly working away behind the scenes, supporting the Garden employees in their work are a team of CPH students and graduates who volunteer their time doing many jobs around the gardens. Thank you to them and their tutors for the commitment and support to our wonderful Glasgow Botanic Gardens.
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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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Peace garden poetry
Students from North Kelvinside school wrote some beautiful poetry to celebrate the opening of our peace garden last summer. Thank you to all the young poets for their beautiful words and ideas. Peace poem by Lucian & Victoria When the Spring flowers bloom The calm wind blows The sun shines down and I find my…
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Birdsong and wildlife walk
As we have come to expect, Alexandra delivered another brilliant tour! Even the weather was kind to us and although cold, it was a still, sunny morning when we set off at 09:30. Alexandra explained that we would be listening for three different types of song from the birds, a general song, a song communicating…
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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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Kelvin at the Kibble 2026
Visit us and all our wonderful community groups exhibiting at Kelvin at the Kibble 7-20th April.
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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…