2013 sees a very special partnership between the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) and the Scottish Poetry Library. From June to September, each RBGE Garden will host its very own poet for a whole month: Sue Butler was resident in Benmore for the month of June, July saw Mandy Haggith weaving words in Edinburgh, now in August Jean Atkin is setting up camp at Logan, and Gerry Loose takes root at Dawyck in September.

Highlights so far….

Sue Butler reached her goal of collating 150 poems to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Benmore’s Redwood Avenue. They were contributed by Benmore Botanic Garden visitors and staff, and e-poets from all over the world who submitted poems via www.walkingwithpoets.com.

Mandy Haggith took people through the Gaelic Tree Alphabet, with 18 events each featuring a particular species. There were touchy-feeling walks, outdoor readings, evening folklore and poetry sessions and poetry workshops which Botanics’ visitors, staff and volunteers all came to enjoy.

Blog Posts From Walking With Poets

• Grow and Magnify: An Illustrator’s Journey with Mycologists and Fungi March 28, 2023
• The Wardie Cottages: the deaths of Edward Forbes and John Goodsir March 27, 2023
• Stories from the Biomes: My Experience with the Biomes Decant, by Horticulturist Szymon Drozdek March 21, 2023
• Alchemists and gardeners March 20, 2023
• A tangled Calcutta-Caledonian web: James Kerr, John Fleming and John Hope’s engravings of asafoetida March 7, 2023
• Narrowing down Aneura pinguis February 16, 2023
• The Goodsir letters in RBGE archives’ John Hutton Balfour correspondence collection February 11, 2023
• When is a Nepalese pine not a Nepalese pine? February 3, 2023
• Stories from the Biomes: A Year in Photos February 1, 2023
• A Snowdrop Tour with a Difference – Galanthus nivalis poculiformis January 23, 2023
• COP15: a ‘Paris moment’ for nature December 22, 2022
• Professor Mathew Williams, Chief Scientific Adviser December 19, 2022
• Dr Joan Cottrell, Forest Research December 15, 2022
• Sarah Watts, Corrour Estate and University of Stirling December 15, 2022
• Dr Neil Bell, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh December 15, 2022
• Dr Tom Parker, James Hutton Institute December 14, 2022
• Lisa Chilton, National Biodiversity Network Trust December 14, 2022
• Professor Dan Haydon, University of Glasgow December 13, 2022
• Professor Euan James, James Hutton Institute December 13, 2022
• Dr Janet Fisher, Edinburgh University School of Geosciences December 9, 2022
• Professor Jennifer Smart, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds December 8, 2022
• Tony Schilling, horticulturist, receives recognition from the Government of Nepal – Updated December 8, 2022
• Professor Rod Page, University of Glasgow December 7, 2022
• Dr Deborah Long, Scottish Environment LINK December 7, 2022
• 2022 Garden Highlights December 5, 2022
• Professor Jeremy Wilson, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and University of Stirling December 1, 2022
• Dr Rebecca Yahr, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh December 1, 2022
• Dr Helen Senn, Royal Zoological Society of Scotland December 1, 2022
• Dr David O’Brien, NatureScot December 1, 2022
• Professor Xavier Lambin, University of Aberdeen November 30, 2022
• Dr Alessandro Gimona, The James Hutton Institute November 30, 2022
• Dr Heidi Burdett, Lyell Centre, Heriot-Watt University November 30, 2022
• Dr Rosalind Bryce, University of the Highlands and Islands November 28, 2022
• Professor Chris Quine, Forest Research November 28, 2022
• Dr Andrea Britton, James Hutton Institute November 25, 2022
• Stories from the Biomes: Threatened Chilean plants on the move. November 24, 2022
• Professor Chris Spray, UNESCO Centre for Water Law, Science and Policy, Dundee University November 23, 2022
• Dr Aline Finger, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh November 18, 2022
• Stories from the Biomes: Moving the Ericaceous Collection November 14, 2022
• Jeanette Hall, NatureScot November 10, 2022
• Professor Anne Magurran, University of St Andrews November 9, 2022
• Professor Murray Roberts, University of Edinburgh November 9, 2022
• Professor Davy McCracken, Scotland’s Rural College November 7, 2022
• Stumperies and Rooteries November 3, 2022
• International Open Access Week October 25, 2022
• Professor Rob Brooker, James Hutton Institute October 12, 2022
• Professor Robin Pakeman, James Hutton Institute October 12, 2022
• Wake-up call to climate change October 7, 2022
• Anna’s placement in Gothenburg October 7, 2022
• Dr Richard Lilley, Project Seagrass October 6, 2022
• Stories from the Biomes: A Change in the Weather October 4, 2022
• The Life and Achievements of Dr Archibald Hewan September 27, 2022
• Dr Alejandro Gallego, Marine Scotland September 1, 2022
• Stories from the Biomes: moving the outdoor plants September 1, 2022
• Ian Hedge September 1, 2022
• Dr Ruth Mitchell, James Hutton Institute August 24, 2022
• Professor Alistair Jump, University of Stirling July 28, 2022
• Stories from the Biomes: Space for Change July 26, 2022
• A small plant with a big genome July 6, 2022
• After the flood; an update from the RBGE Archives one year on. July 4, 2022
• Professor Jaboury Ghazoul, University of Edinburgh and ETH Zürich July 4, 2022
• Dr Kerry Waylen, James Hutton Institute July 4, 2022
• Stories from the Biomes: Fern House decant begins June 28, 2022
• From a single tree to a BioBlitz June 27, 2022
• Biodiversity at Little Sparta June 20, 2022
• Professor Kirsty Park, University of Stirling June 20, 2022
• Giants, genomes and true grit June 12, 2022
• Stories from the Biomes: Data Capture May 31, 2022
• Dr Antje Ahrends, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh May 26, 2022
• Dr Caroline Lehmann, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and University of Edinburgh May 26, 2022
• Professor Mathew Williams, Chief Scientific Adviser May 26, 2022
• Scotland’s Leaders in Biodiversity Conservation Science May 26, 2022
• Tulipomania May 16, 2022
• Stories from the Biomes: Palm House Propagation April 20, 2022
• An Update on the Flora of Myanmar Project April 7, 2022
• Harry’s Gates April 6, 2022
• The David Douglas Telescope – what can one object tell us? March 31, 2022
• Purple Saxifrage: The first tribune of Spring in the Arctic and the Alps March 11, 2022
• Naming of Primula species from the 1921 British Reconnaissance Expedition to Mount Everest March 7, 2022
• Damage to the Edinburgh collection. Storm Malik and Corrie January 31, 2022
• Choose your transcription path through people and plants January 12, 2022
• 2021 Garden Highlights December 17, 2021
• Ross Eudall (1924-2021) December 9, 2021
• RBGE/Nature Scot Ikebana installations at COP26 December 1, 2021
• A Green Wall at Edinburgh Waverley Station for COP26 November 30, 2021
• Autumn from the Air November 29, 2021
• Apple Hunting in Scotland November 19, 2021
• COP26 – What Now? November 16, 2021
• RBGE World War Two Service Roll November 11, 2021
• Backing nature for climate at COP26 November 4, 2021
• Cleaner greener tools for the Garden November 3, 2021
• Wangari Maathai 1940—2011 October 21, 2021
• Frieda Christie – 28 Years at RBGE September 29, 2021
• Blazing the apple trail September 17, 2021
• 10 years of collaboration, 200 years of collections and one more piece in the jigsaw of understanding plant life on Earth. September 8, 2021
• Botanic Cottage Cook Club Concluding Blog 2021 September 2, 2021
• Eat your sea greens August 19, 2021
• A Yorkshire copy of Bentham’s Illustrated Handbook of the British Flora August 11, 2021
• Botanic Cottage Cook Club Late July 2021 August 3, 2021
• Let’s Do Net Zero July 28, 2021
• Botanic Cottage Cook Club Late June 2021 July 1, 2021
• Rescuing the Goldilocks of Scottish Wildflowers at RBGE July 1, 2021
• Growing ferns from spores in Nepal June 22, 2021
• Botanic Cottage Cook Club Early June 2021 June 2, 2021
• Love blue poppies? – a practical guide to growing and propagating Meconopsis May 26, 2021
• Diamond is a researchers best friend- the evolution of the Edinburgh Journal of Botany May 25, 2021
• Plant Pot Pride May 18, 2021
• Epitaph for an Elm May 17, 2021
• Early botanising in Upper Teesdale May 17, 2021
• Botanic Cottage Cook Club Early May 2021 May 13, 2021
• Hidden Histories: Stories found in the George Forrest archive – The Temple of the Goddess of Mercy May 11, 2021
• A visit to Leny Glen May 10, 2021
• Learning at the Botanics May 4, 2021
• A garden visitor and his ‘stolen’ book – 2 May 4, 2021
• A garden visitor and his ‘stolen’ book – 1 April 27, 2021
• Botanic Cottage Cook Club Late April 2021 April 26, 2021
• L’Erba della Madonna April 25, 2021
• Lessons from Lockdown – Connecting with Nature April 23, 2021
• Big trees need big plots April 19, 2021
• Shock! Horror! Alien invader reaches genteel Moray Place April 13, 2021
• Botanic Cottage Cook Club Early April 2021 April 8, 2021
• Uses for a ‘common’ flower April 6, 2021
• The giant butterbur, Petasites japonicus March 31, 2021
• Botanic Cottage Cook Club Late March 2021 March 25, 2021
• Erophila verna on a black ground: a miniature painting in the Lightfoot Herbarium at Kew March 24, 2021
• After the crowds disperse: crowdsourced data rediscovered and researched March 23, 2021
• International Day of Forests 2021 – Resilience Bench March 21, 2021
• Art in the Garden: Bronzes by Mo Farquharson March 16, 2021
• Botanic Cottage Cook Club Early March 2021 March 12, 2021
• LGBT History Month: Derek Jarman February 25, 2021
• Botanic Cottage Cook Club Late February 2021 February 22, 2021
• LGBT History Month: Gillian Cox February 16, 2021
• LGBT History Month: Vita Sackville West February 8, 2021
• The Collectors of the Wallich (or East India Company) Herbarium. Part IV February 7, 2021
• The Collectors of the Wallich (or East India Company) Herbarium. Part III February 6, 2021
• The Collectors of the Wallich (or East India Company) Herbarium. Part II February 5, 2021
• The Collectors of the Wallich (or East India Company) Herbarium February 3, 2021
• LGBT History Month: Elke Mackenzie February 1, 2021
• Botanic Cottage Cook Club Late January 2021 January 26, 2021
• Margaret Gatty – Victorian author and seaweed collector January 22, 2021
• Sir Isaac Bayley Balfour (1853-1922) – an appreciation January 21, 2021
• Botanic Cottage Cook Club Early January 2021 January 14, 2021
• Neera Joshi Pradhan January 7, 2021
• Botanic Cottage Cook Club December 2020 December 21, 2020
• 2020 Garden Highlights December 17, 2020
• Hints and tips for Fair festivities December 14, 2020
• Jimmy Ratter Obituary December 9, 2020
• Growing an Excellent Future – Reflecting on ‘Promoting Excellence in Horticulture’ Conference December 8, 2020
• Florilegium: A gathering of flowers December 4, 2020
• CHERISHED PLAN: The Story of Puck’s Hut at Benmore – Precis by Mike Thornley (Younger Benmore Trust) December 1, 2020
• Botanic Cottage Cook Club Late November 2020 November 30, 2020
• Jane Webb Loudon (1807-1858) November 26, 2020
• The Other Library, Archives & Photography Team November 23, 2020
• The Other Library, Archives & Photography Team November 23, 2020
• In memory of Alexander Fisher Wilson November 23, 2020
• Connecting with plants November 19, 2020
• Behind the Scenes of Scottish Conservation Horticulture at RBGE with a Robertson Trust Intern November 10, 2020
• Winter in your edible garden November 2, 2020
• Reginald Farrer: A Centenary Tribute by Graham Avery, FLS October 17, 2020
• Growing Panes October 15, 2020
• Join the expedition team exploring the Flora of Britain and Ireland for WeDigBio 2020 October 15, 2020
• Botanic Cottage Cook Club early October 2020 October 10, 2020
• RBGE Diploma in Botanical illustration 2020 Final Year Exhibition October 9, 2020
• Workshop invitation: After the crowds disperse: crowdsourced data rediscovered and researched October 7, 2020
• Edible Gardening Project’s Harvest Competition results October 4, 2020
• The Sibbaldia & PlantNetwork Conference 2020: Promoting Excellence in Horticulture September 25, 2020
• Join us on the first in a series of virtual expeditions of Britain and Ireland September 24, 2020
• RBGE 1970-2020 September 22, 2020
• Fungi-inspired fabrics September 16, 2020
• Lady Gwillim’s ‘Madras’ Magnolia September 15, 2020
• Two little-known temporary Superintendents of the Calcutta Botanic Garden: George Swinton and James William Grant September 14, 2020
• Botanic Cottage Cook Club early September 2020 September 14, 2020
• Climate change threatens the survival of one of Scotland’s most biodiverse marine habitats September 14, 2020
• Closing the Loop September 8, 2020
• Botanic Cottage Garden Social September Blog September 4, 2020
• Harvest Festival produce competition September 2, 2020
• Botanic Cottage Cook Club late August 2020 August 30, 2020
• Botanic Cottage Cook Club early August 2020 August 12, 2020
• Botanic Cottage Garden Social August Blog August 10, 2020
• Seeds of Hope: Planting of Ginkgo trees grown from trees that survived the Hiroshima bombing August 6, 2020
• Botanic Cottage Cook Club late July 2020 July 24, 2020
• RBGE Botanic Cottage Garden Social July Blog July 20, 2020
• A Pictorial Meadow at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh July 20, 2020
• Monitoring the Health of the World’s Forgotten Forests July 14, 2020
• Botanic Cottage Cook Club early July 2020 July 9, 2020
• The (Western) discoverer of the rouloul bird: Dr James Badenach of Whiteriggs (1744–1797) July 8, 2020
• Using Herbarium Specimens to Understand Patterns of Plant Diversity July 8, 2020
• The Herbaceous Border – a rainbow performance! July 7, 2020
• Botanic Cottage Cook Club late June 2020 June 25, 2020
• Chloris Via-Melvilliana – addendum, June 2020 June 17, 2020
• Botanical Artist Marianne Hazlewood to be featured on Gardener’s World June 11, 2020
• Your Edible Garden in Summer June 10, 2020
• Botanic Cottage Cook Club June 2020 June 10, 2020
• The Botanic Cottage June 8, 2020
• Finding new species on social media June 8, 2020
• Six new species of Vaccinium from New Guinea June 3, 2020
• The Other Library, Archives & Photography Team May 29, 2020
• The Other Library, Archives & Photography Team May 20, 2020
• A Calcutta botanical drawing of Hamiltonia suaveolens with an interesting provenance May 19, 2020
• The Other Library, Archives & Photography Team May 18, 2020
• The Other Library, Archives & Photography Team May 15, 2020
• The Other Library, Archives & Photography Team May 13, 2020
• The Other Library, Archives & Photography Team May 11, 2020
• Why it takes 100 years to get to know a plant May 11, 2020
• A Lockdown Flora of Melville Street, Edinburgh: Chloris Via-Melvilliana May 9, 2020
• The Other Library, Archives & Photography Team May 8, 2020
• The Other Library, Archives & Photography Team May 5, 2020
• The Other Library, Archives & Photography Team May 5, 2020
• First records of British plants – three Indian connections May 4, 2020
• Mysteries inside the RBGE Illustrations Collection May 4, 2020
• Botanic Cottage May 1, 2020
• Botanic Cottage Cook Club late April 2020 April 29, 2020
• Access to Scholarly Information During the Coronavirus Closures April 28, 2020
• March 2020 Garden Wildlife Report April 22, 2020
• Early Warning Signs April 22, 2020
• Plants Need Plant April 20, 2020
• Green waste forms compost and becomes “green gold” April 20, 2020
• Botanic Cottage Cook Club April 2020 April 18, 2020
• Spring into Edible Gardening April 18, 2020
• #plantrainbow – true blue April 15, 2020
• Have you ever wondered why lawn weeds are successful? April 14, 2020
• A Rainbow of Flowers April 9, 2020
• New Plant Identification App for Nepal April 9, 2020
• Top tips for a green sward April 7, 2020
• Monthly dementia friendly garden social April 6, 2020
• #plantrainbow – Primrose April 2, 2020
• Sunshine for you! April 1, 2020
• The mown lawn adding to the living environment within the garden April 1, 2020
• Botanic Cottage Cook Club March 2020 March 30, 2020
• Part 2/2: ‘Sensing and Presencing the Imperceptible’, Siân Bowen’s Micro-conference March 27, 2020
• Spread hope and joy with #plantrainbow March 26, 2020
• Emerging buds and size 10’s March 26, 2020
• Part 1/2: ‘Sensing and Presencing the Imperceptible’, Siân Bowen’s Micro-conference March 24, 2020
• Magnolia sargentiana March 23, 2020
• Learning on the job: students make valuable scientific discoveries March 23, 2020
• February 2020 Garden Wildlife Report March 18, 2020
• Plant an evergreen March 17, 2020
• Snowdrop division March 11, 2020
• Looking at After Hortus Malabaricus March 9, 2020
• Hot, steep and spiny – Exploring the forgotten forests of Latin America March 9, 2020
• Climate Emergency: Tropical Forests Approach Tipping Point March 4, 2020
• A woodland carpet March 3, 2020
• Sibbaldia No. 18 A Plant Health Special February 28, 2020
• January 2020 Garden Wildlife Report February 27, 2020
• Siân Bowen’s Leverhulme Research Fellowship Exhibition: After Hortus Malabaricus: Sensing and Presencing Rare Plants February 27, 2020
• Old woody blooms in spring February 25, 2020
• Fields of Plastic? February 24, 2020
• The Edible Gardening project is recruiting volunteers February 24, 2020
• Spring ready February 20, 2020
• A botanical wild cat February 11, 2020
• Crocus damage February 10, 2020
• Tjipetir – the next chapter… February 6, 2020
• Meet the Gardener 2020 February 5, 2020
• Sweet Success February 5, 2020
• Plant and grow a hedge February 4, 2020
• RBGE and Monitoring Ecosystem Health in the Tropics February 3, 2020
• White stemmed Rubus January 27, 2020
• IUCN Threatened accessions in the RBGE Living Collection as of 20 Jan 2020 (Staff Conference) January 23, 2020
• The Caledonian Hall & the former RCHS Experimental Garden January 22, 2020
• The East Gate Lodge & the former RCHS Experimental Garden January 21, 2020
• A fine ground covering plant January 20, 2020
• The simple thalloid liverwort Aneura – a digitized resource at RBGE January 17, 2020
• RBGE World War One Service Roll January 17, 2020
• RBGE’s World War One Roll of Honour January 17, 2020
• December 2019 Garden Wildlife Report January 16, 2020
• To half a million specimen images and beyond! January 16, 2020
• The Divine Bog-moss, Sphagnum divinum, found but now lost in Scotland January 14, 2020
• The untold story of an unassuming Berberis January 14, 2020
• Compost and the need to nourish the soil January 13, 2020
• Things in cupboards – Rhododendron arboreum January 9, 2020
• Halfway House January 8, 2020
• The first ever revision of the tropical tree genus Pterospermum just published! January 7, 2020
• Bright and cheerful January 7, 2020
• A particularly exquisite Rhododendron January 6, 2020
• Review of the year – 2019 December 30, 2019
• 2019 Garden Highlights December 20, 2019
• November 2019 Garden Wildlife Report December 19, 2019
• Plant Collecting on Tay Con Linh Mountain, Vietnam December 18, 2019
• Respecting the edges December 16, 2019
• The seeds of Dead Man’s Finger December 10, 2019
• ….and hedge bases December 10, 2019
• 84 Year old Cherry felled in last nights winds at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh December 6, 2019
• My first taxonomic revision – experiences from the Edinburgh herbarium – by Julia Wellsow December 6, 2019
• How many people does it take to revise a genus? December 6, 2019
• Hedge tops December 2, 2019
• Bird food November 28, 2019
• #NationalTreeWeek @TheBotanics 2019 What are we planting this year? November 22, 2019
• Silver sensation November 20, 2019
• October 2019 Garden Wildlife Report November 19, 2019
• Aechmea fasciata November 14, 2019
• Drimia maritima November 14, 2019
• Agave vilmoriniana November 14, 2019
• Hedychium thyrsiforme November 14, 2019
• Musa laterita November 14, 2019
• Himalayan herbage November 12, 2019
• Ageing radiance November 6, 2019
• Size isn’t everything November 5, 2019
• Bleached, yellow, red – the range of autumn leaf colour October 28, 2019
• Waiting for Rhododendron mogeanum October 23, 2019
• Two late flowering composites October 22, 2019