First International Fascination of Plants Day!

What are you doing next Friday? Do you live in Europe? If so, I encourage you to check out the website for the first international "Fascination of Plants Day"! It is being launched by the European Plant Science Organisation to encourage people to think about what plants are, what they do, what they are used for and just how generally amazing they are- you know, to get people fascinated with plants!

As an avid gardener and plant-lover I am very excited with this program. On the main page, there is a link to a list of participating countries so you can browse through the list of happenings wherever you live. Here in Glasgow the Botanic Gardens will be hosting the "Plants Life People" exhibit at the Kibble Palace from 11:00-16:00 on Friday, 18th May. I think I'll just have to duck away from the office for a jaunt over to the Botanics to check out this intriguing program.

The University of Glasgow Plant Science Research Group has also set up a flickr pool here to gather images of plants in honour of FoPD. The pictures will be held under a creative commons license so people can use them for educational purposes. If you have pictures of plants that you'd like to contribute, sign up and become part of the action! Or even if you aren't interested in contributing head over and take a look at some of the amazing photos they've collected (over 650 images so far!).

If you don't live in Europe, why not make the 18th your own personal Fascination of Plants Day? Spend some time watching a plant, add some photos to flickr, sow a few seeds, or think about where your food comes from. Anything to celebrate the wonderful diversity of the plant world that keeps us so well fed.

Orchid Show, Glasgow Botanic Garden

Scottish Orchid Society display

Earlier this month, the Glasgow Botanic Garden hosted a wonderful orchid show in the Kibble Palace (one of two main glasshouses). Orchids are really spectacular plants. The variety of sizes, colors, textures... even scents! One lovely plant smelled just like vanilla, which makes perfect sense as vanilla comes from a Mexican orchid. Not only are they gorgeous, they give us one of desserts most-loved flavorings!

A pretty pair of paphs

Another pretty pair of paphs


The variety that I am drawn to the most are the Paphiopedilum, a variety of Lady's slipper orchid (two pairs of Paphs are shown above). Different Lady's slippers can be found where I spend my summers in northeastern Vermont, so these are my favorites. There are plenty of other lovelies as well, including some that I think look like psychedelic Holstein cows. Please enjoy the orchid eye candy!

The usual suspects

Orchid smorgasbord



What do you get when you take a Holstein cow,
dip it in butter-yellow and magenta,
and turn it into an orchid?
This!


This post is dedicated to the memory of my cousin Freddie, an avid orchid grower and lover. He passed away on 30 April 2012 and he will be missed dearly. My orchids will always remind me of you, Freddie.

Daffydowndillies

The daffodils at the Glasgow Botanic Garden are putting on a spectacular show, with the diversity of daffodils beautifully displayed.  Below are a selection of the astounding variety this humble spring bulb can exhibit.

Some of them are brightest yellow.

 Some are yellow and small, and some have twisted petals.

Some of them appear depressed, while others seem perky and pleased. 

Some of them are pale, pale yellow, and some are yellow and orange.

Some of them are white and yellow.

Some are white and orange. 

Some of them are purest white, and some have doubled centers. 

Some are mixed with all their fellows.

Some form stands alone.

Every spring the daffodils appear and we smile at their cheery yellow faces.  But this year, take a closer look and marvel at what variety can be found in a single field of daffodils.  What are your favorites?  I am quite partial to doubles and orange & whites myself.

Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam

Flower and the view across the canal,
Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam

In addition to the lovely parks dotted around Amsterdam, there is a delightful little botanical garden, the Hortus Botanicus. As we were visiting in March, there wasn't much blooming in the outdoor parts of the garden, save an explosion of snowdrops and crocuses, but the greenhouses were great. It was also a great opportunity to get out of the cold and heat ourselves up.

An assortment of palms & cycads

One of the houses, the Palm House, held a large variety of cycads.  Cycads are an amazing and ancient plant that go back to the time of the dinosaurs.  The Hortus Botanicus is part of a breeding program to try to preserve cycad diversity.  If I had a greenhouse, I'd definitely put in a potted cycad - they really look Jurassic.


Processed foods and their veggies

Also in the Palm House was this adorable educational setup. They had cans and bags of various foodstuffs with the fruits and veggies they are made of growing out of them!  A potato plant grew out of a bag of potato chips; a strawberry grew out of a can of strawberry yogurt; a tomato grew out of a tin of tomato sauce.  It's a shame that so few kids have the opportunity to get out into the garden or farm and see what their food is made of.  I think this display is a great way to bring that information into an indoor setting that can reach a lot of kids (and adults).

Bumble-bee-striped butterfly

Flying Dutchmen butterflies



Lacey-winged butterfly


The Hortus Botanicus was my first experience with a butterfly house. The concept sounds very Victorian to me (I imagine white-moustached explorers with pith hats and butterfly nets) but I'm glad I visited.  The butterfly house is a long greenhouse planted with all the plants their butterfly collection need to eat and breed.  Each variety of butterfly has a particular food that it prefers, as well as a particular plant that it lays its' eggs on.  They also had a case with samples of various cocoons. The highlight was standing still while bright orange butterflies (Flying Dutchmen) flitted about our heads; truly awesome.


Flowering succlent

Spanish moss and tilandsias



Something with Seussian flowers that lacked an ID tag...


All in all, the Hortus Botanicus is tiny and very pleasant.  Even in winter there were plenty of things blooming in the greenhouses and the pathways between and around the greenhouses are very nice.  Outside there is also a lovely herb and medicine garden and a meditation pathway.  We only spent a couple hours there on this trip, but I'm sure one could easily spend half a day when the flowers really start to arrive in the spring.  And really, who wouldn't love a butterfly house?