scholarly journals Foreword

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
Simon Milne
Keyword(s):  
Royal Botanic Garden ◽  
Virtual Space ◽  
Plant Health ◽  
Special Edition ◽  
Major Event ◽  
Botanic Garden ◽  
350Th Anniversary

The Foreword is written by Simon Milne MBE FRSE, Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. He introduces this special edition of Sibbaldia that documents the proceedings of The Sibbaldia & PlantNetwork Conference 2020. The Conference was a major event in the celebration of the 350th anniversary of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE), with the primary aim of promoting excellence in botanic garden horticulture. That aim was most certainly achieved thanks to the impressive line-up of speakers and their expertise, combined with the enthusiasm and interaction of all participants. The Conference was held online due to the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic, and whilst in-person contact was absent, the virtual format enabled a broader range of delegates to attend.A total of 250 delegates gathered in their virtual space from 28 to 30 October to hear from ten keynote speakers in the main sessions, seven presenters in two parallel sessions and a broad range of expert practitioners in the free session, and for the grand finale – ‘Horticulture in 2020’. The themes ranged from conservation, curation and cultivation to heritage, plant health and education. The insightful papers contained within this volume artfully weave together these themes, reflecting their connectivity. The depth of botanical, horticultural and pedagogical experience is outstanding, the content of the papers reflecting the authors’ vast experience and knowledge.

scholarly journals Plant Health Protocols for the Reintroduction of Native Plants

2013 ◽  
pp. 53-60
Author(s):  
Natacha Frachon
Keyword(s):  
Native Species ◽  
Native Plants ◽  
Plant Conservation ◽  
Royal Botanic Garden ◽  
Global Strategy ◽  
Plant Health ◽  
Botanic Gardens ◽  
Botanic Garden ◽  
Pests And Diseases ◽  
Different Populations

Many botanic gardens and conservation agencies are now cultivating threatened native species specifically for reintroduction programmes in response to the second part of Target 8 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC). While collection, cultivation and reintroduction techniques are frequently discussed in workshops and described in papers, few seem to have considered the threats of introducing non-native pests, diseases, weeds and hybrids between different populations of the same species. The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh has been cultivating plants for its Target 8 programme since 2005 and now grows 82 per cent threatened Scottish species. It is running active reintroduction programmes for nine of these species with programmes planned for a further five species. In recent years increasing attention has been paid to reducing the risks of introducing non-native organisms and hybrids between different populations of native species into the wild.This paper describes the protocols that have been developed, including verification, screening for pests and diseases, averting spontaneous hybridisation and preparing plants for reintroduction.

scholarly journals Garden Profile: The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh at 350

2021 ◽  
pp. 5-22
Author(s):  
David Knott
Keyword(s):  
Royal Botanic Garden ◽  
Botanic Garden ◽  
Environmentally Sustainable ◽  
Historical Structures ◽  
Plant Cultivation ◽  
The Face ◽  
Working Practices ◽  
New Buildings ◽  
Visitor Numbers ◽  
350Th Anniversary

The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) was founded in 1670 and celebrated its 350th anniversary in 2020. In Edinburgh, Scotland, the institution has occupied four different sites in that time and has been at the current site in Inverleith since 1823. Three other gardens in Scotland are also part of RBGE: Dawyck in Peebleshire, Benmore in Argyllshire and Logan in Dumfries & Galloway. 13,750 species from 2721 genera representing 344 families are cultivated in these four gardens and this article describes some of these collections. It also describes the issues facing the Garden today in common with many large and botanic gardens, those of plant health, implementing environmentally sustainable working practices, and managing collections in the face of a changing climate and growing visitor numbers. The Garden is also planning an exciting future with ambitious plans for new buildings and the refurbishment of historical structures to not only improve plant cultivation facilities, but also to increase visitor engagement and education about the value of plants for a healthy future.

scholarly journals Plant Health and How it Affects Private Gardens: Experience from a Botanic Garden Pathologist

2005 ◽  
pp. 51-57
Author(s):  
Stephan Helfer
Keyword(s):  
Fungal Infection ◽  
Royal Botanic Garden ◽  
Plant Health ◽  
Botanic Gardens ◽  
Botanic Garden ◽  
Pests And Diseases ◽  
Plant Pests

Like many other botanic gardens the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) provides advice about plant pests and diseases to amateur gardeners. This paper summarises the main problem plant categories (such as trees and vegetables), plant problems (such as pests or fungal infection) and other observations, such as number of enquiries by month noted by pathology staff at the Garden over the last twenty years.

Isaac Bayley Balfour, Sphagnum moss, and the Great War (1914–1918)

2015 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. G. Ayres
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Academic Career ◽  
The United States ◽  
Royal Botanic Garden ◽  
Wound Dressings ◽  
Sphagnum Moss ◽  
Botanic Garden ◽  
Working Model ◽  
Sphagnum Bog ◽  
The Great War

Isaac Bayley Balfour was a systematist specializing in Sino-Himalayan plants. He enjoyed a long and exceptionally distinguished academic career yet he was knighted, in 1920, “for services in connection with the war”. Together with an Edinburgh surgeon, Charles Cathcart, he had discovered in 1914 something well known to German doctors; dried Sphagnum (bog moss) makes highly absorptive, antiseptic wound dressings. Balfour directed the expertise and resources of the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh (of which he was Keeper), towards the identification of the most useful Sphagnum species in Britain and the production of leaflets telling collectors where to find the moss in Scotland. By 1918 over one million such dressings were used by British hospitals each month. Cathcart's Edinburgh organisation, which received moss before making it into dressings, proved a working model soon adopted in Ireland, and later in both Canada and the United States.

Data Capture Project at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

2009 ◽  
pp. 77-82
Author(s):  
Natacha Frachon ◽  
Martin Gardner ◽  
David Rae
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Resources ◽  
Research Community ◽  
Royal Botanic Garden ◽  
Data Capture ◽  
Plant Biodiversity ◽  
Botanic Gardens ◽  
Botanic Garden ◽  
The World ◽  
Plant Collections ◽  
Field Notes

Botanic gardens, with their large holdings of living plants collected from around the world, are important guardians of plant biodiversity, but acquiring and curating these genetic resources is enormously expensive. For these reasons it is crucial that botanic gardens document and curate their collections in order to gain the greatest benefit from the plants in their care. Great priority is given to making detailed field notes and the process of documentation is often continued during the plants formative years when being propagated. However, for the large majority of plants this process often stops once the material is planted in its final garden location. The Data Capture Project at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh is an attempt to document specific aspects of the plant collections so that the information captured can be of use to the research community even after the plants have died.

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