THE FRIENDS OF THE
CRUICKSHANK BOTANIC GARDEN
Newsletter
January 2015
In this issue :•
The Spring programme
•
Dates for the diary
•
Garden words and notes
•
Japanese plants, part 2
•
The Herb Series: Wintergreen
•
Reports of a recent talk:
Cluny House Garden
•
Urgent—treasurer/membership secretary required
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Friends of the Cruickshank Botanic Garden
Programme Spring 2015
Meetings are held on Thursdays in the Biological and Environmental Sciences
Building, University of Aberdeen, Tillydrone Avenue at 7.30pm
February 12
Gardens at height: exploring and discovering the flora of
tropical forests above ground.
Vicky Tough, Canopy International
March 12
Honey bees - fascinating, important and threatened.
John Cooper, Aberdeen District Beekeeper’s Association
April 9
Annual General Meeting at 7pm followed by
Treboth Botanic Garden
Nigel Brown, Curator, Treborth Botanic Garden, Bangor
May 9 (Saturday)
May 14
Plant Sale in the Garden
10.30 - noon.
The living collection (The Noel Pritchard Memorial Lecture)
David Rae, Director of Horticulture, Royal Botanic Garden,
Edinburgh
Soft drinks, wine and nibbles to follow.
Note that Tillydrone Road is closed northbound until late February, so you should
drive to our usual university car park by turning on to Don Street from
Great Northern Road, turn right on to Hayton Road once over the railway
bridge then right at the T junction on to Tillydrone Road.
Subscriptions 2015
A pink subscription form is enclosed for Friends who pay annual
membership
(i.e. those who continue to choose not to have a standing order with
their bank, or are not life members)
The treasurer would appreciate payment as soon as convenient.
HOWEVER
Could you please consider paying by a Standing Order from your bank. It saves
you the bother of cheques and postage and greatly eases the Treasurer’s work.
Just ask him for a Standing Order form, which can be posted or E-mailed to you.
You can cancel this payment at any time simply by advising your bank.
You will find the treasurer’s address on the back page.
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More dates for the diary
The Scottish Rock Garden Club, Aberdeenshire Branch
Meetings are usually on Tuesdays at 7.30pm at Rubislaw Church Centre, Fountainhall
Road. Guests and visitors will be warmly welcomed. www.srgc.net
Sat. February 21 Scottish Rock Garden Club ‘Early Bulb Day’
in the Victoria Hall, Dunblane. Aberdeen SRGC Group are arranging a day trip
and Friends are welcome to join them. Kit Strange of RBG Kew will be speaking
and there will be displays of bulbs and alpines in flower, with many for sale.
Soup, sandwiches and teas are available at the hall. The coach will leave at
7.30am from the Airyhall Library, Springfield Road and return around 6.30pm
costing £12 per person.
To reserve your place please telephone Ian or Margaret Young Tel: 01224 318617
or e-mail: youngs.aberdeen@btinternet.com with your name and contact details.
February 24
Michael Almond In the mountains of Circassia
March 31
Anton Edwards
Making a Rock Garden
April 28
Ian Alexander
The people in our garden
May 16
Annual Spring Show in the Duthie Park Victorian Corridor
Royal Horticultural Society, Aberdeen
Meetings are usually on Tuesdays at 7.30pm in the Girls Brigade Hall, 19a Victoria St.
February 3
February 27
March 3
March 21/22
Jim Henderson
Sowing seeds in the greenhouse
Quiz night in the Cloverleaf Hotel, Bucksburn
Rex Findlay
Photographing flowers
Spring Show in the Winter Gardens, Duthie Park
Free admission from 10.30am to 4.30pm on Saturday and 10am to
3.30pm on Sunday. Entries for most classes are open to all and full
details can be found on their website:
http://sites.google.com/sites/rhsofaberdeen/home
Garden opening times
October to March, open daily from 9.00 to 16.30
April to September, open daily from 9.00 to 19.00
closed between December 24 and January 6
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Cruickshank notes, late December 2014
Another year has flown by and as I write these notes in a brief languid interval in the
hectic schedule of Christmas and New Year celebrations, days are already lengthening
and signs of resurgent growth can be seen. In my garden a witchhazel, Hamamelis mollis
‘Pallida’ has just opened its first flowers, a Viburnum x bodnantense ‘Dawn’ has been
flowering since mid-October and shoots of many different bulbs - iris, snowdrops,
narcissus and even some trilliums - are clearly visible. Catkins are well advanced on
alder, hazel and birch and it is all too easy to imagine on a mild day that Spring is on the
way, though as we know there is still a long way to go. Personally I would vote for a
short, sharp winter to help reduce the pest populations - we had significantly more
aphids this summer after the mild winter, then followed by the next three seasons in the
right order!
Having sneaked into the Cruickshank Garden from a neighbouring garden I was working
in, I will start my tour in the Rock Garden, where the absence of leaves on the deciduous
trees gives a curiously light and airy feel despite the lowness of the sun. The overall
mildness this autumn has encouraged some plants to continue flowering and others to
produce an unseasonal flurry of bloom. There are groups of pink Schizostylis coccinea, a
South African iris relative and much hardier than normally claimed, a Daphne retusa –
normally spring flowering - is covered in fragrant flowers, a group of yellow primulae
clearly think it is Spring and the evergreen shrub Viburnum tinus is covered with clusters
of small pinky-white blooms. The area in the northwest corner of the Rock Garden has
been largely cleared providing a fine opportunity for replanting and I look to the delights
that will hopefully flourish there.
The three dawn redwoods, Metasequoia glyptostroboides, in the bed at the south east
corner of the Rock Garden are showing off their pleasing twisted trunks and general
elegance, whilst beneath them the marbled leaves of Cyclamen hederifolium merit
attention. Next year’s fat flower buds are clearly visible on the rhododendrons in the
shady southern border, promising a fine show in late Spring.
The catkins on the Californian evergreen Garrya elliptica, just to the right of the
gateway through the wall at the bottom of the Rock Garden, are a good 15cm. long,
whilst against the wall on the other side of the gate Mahonia x media ‘Charity’ has
already finished flowering, leaving long spikes of developing seeds. Further along this
wall, the Killarney strawberry tree, Arbutus unedo - a native of the Mediterranean and
south west Ireland, is covered with small white bells to be followed by (not very)
strawberry-like red fruits. So mild had the Autumn been when I visited the garden, that
the spectacular South African shrub, Melianthus major, with its large silver-grey pinnate
leaves has actually produced spikes of dark crimson flower buds, though whether they
will open fully is doubtful. The formerly splendid Chilean fire bush, Embothrium
coccineum, near the summer house still looks mysteriously ill - fingers crossed for its
recovery! This is a magnificent sight when covered with its profuse scarlet flowers and
can flourish as far inland as Kildrummy garden but not, unfortunately, despite a fair few
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attempts, at Craigievar.
In the bed at the east end of the Sunken Garden the splendid winter-flowering and very
fragrant Daphne bholua, is already scenting the air. This is a lovely, evergreen shrub
flourishing in town in a reasonably sheltered and sunny spot. Specimens I planted at
Craigievar have twice succumbed in severe winters, but there is a deciduous and
reputedly very hardy form, D. bholua var. glacialis ‘Gurkha’ which offers me hope.
The hedges round the Rose Garden look straight out of a textbook, beautifully trim and
shapely, tapering gently from base to apex whilst the charms of the species rich ‘ancient’
hedgerow, which runs from the weeping elm to the pond, are altogether more rugged, if
no less effective.
All in all, it is a time to enjoy the shapes, structures and architecture of gardens as much
as the individual plants and to plan exciting innovations for the coming year, while
enjoying the illusion of control that the close season brings.
David Atkinson
Schizostylis coccinea,
‘Viscountess Byng’
Scraperboard drawing
by Hazel Carnegie
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Words from the Garden—Japanese Plants Part 2
Carrying on from my last article in the July issue I decided to do further research on
Japanese gardens. It was quite amazing to discover that the whole concept of the
traditional Japanese moss garden was developed over a number of centuries. Every plant
and artefact chosen has its own spiritual aspect and each different element leads to the
whole.
Water: Japanese gardens always have a pond or stream, or use white sand in a dry rock
garden to represent flowing water. One arrangement is that it should flow from the East,
home of the Green Dragon to the West, home of the White Tiger, to ensure good fortune.
Another is for water to flow from the North which represents water to the South
representing fire, so that the two opposites are balanced as in Ying and Yang and thus
good luck.
Rocks and Sand: In older Japanese Gardens, particularly those designed in the Heian
period [794-1185] we see sophisticated use of rock and sand. Vertical rocks represent
Mount Horai, legendary home of the eight immortals. Flat stones represent the earth and
can be in the design of a beach, flowing water or clouds. Manicured lawns and moss
gardens add to the overall effect to encourage contemplation.
Garden Bridges: These gradually became popular in later years. The most popular
bridges are ones that turn 90 degrees to the direction of travel to ensure that evil spirits
cannot pass over to the other side.
Stone lantern and water basins: Lanterns date as far back as the Heian period. Water
basins are placed for visitors to wash before the Japanese tea ceremony. Plants are not
left to grow into their own natural shapes. They are very heavily trimmed either to hide
an unsightly view or to serve as a backdrop to a certain garden feature. They are also
used to create a scene rather like a landscape painting or postcard. Trees and shrubs such
as azaleas are carefully chosen for their autumn colour, arranged to give the best display
then trimmed to give an attractive shape such as cloud, balls or to imitate waves. This
can be compared to topiary in European gardens, where shape is more important than the
plant itself.
Which brings me to home. We have recently created not one but two Japanese plantings.
We are very grateful to the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh for providing us with some
plants from known Japanese provenance. Our main aim has been to use these as a
skeleton background to add to the overall effect. On the hill at the back of the Rock
Garden the planting is used to produce a backdrop for the garden itself. Those we have
recently planted here are Acer rufinerve, Acer argutum, Hovenia dulcis, Lindera
erythrocarpa and Acer pictum ssp. trichobasis.
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Ascending path towards the entrance to the Arboretum
The second area of Japanese planting, chosen to hid an unsightly view, is as you ascent
the path towards the Arboretum. New plants here include Viburnum cylindricum,
Juglans sieboldiana, Zelkova serrata, Viburnum foetidum var rectangulatum and
Viburnum wrightii.
Other plants have been moved from elsewhere in CBG – perhaps you can discover these
for yourselves. We hope to add to these with young plants currently growing in our
nursery or obtained from elsewhere. Here is our ‘shopping list’ in the hope that you may
have one or more of these in your own garden which would benefit from being divided
and potted on. Do let me know if you have any of the following to spare:
Arisaema limbatum & A. monophyllum, Aster subulatus, Campanula glomerata, Cassia
mimosoides, Corydalis decumbens, Hemerocallis middendroffi, H. thunbergii and H.
yezoensis, Lilium cordatum, L. longiflorum and L. maculatum, Phyllostachys
bambusoides and P. nigra, Primula cunefolia, P. macrocarpa, P. Nipponica, P. sieboldii
and P. toasaensis.
All the best for the following gardening year
Richard Walker, Head Gardener
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Words from the Curator
I know you will be reading these words with the opening weeks of 2015 very much in
your midst; how quickly it seems the festive season of Christmas and Hogmanay makes
way for the realisation of a further working year. Of course, in the context of the
gardener, or perhaps the ‘gardening mind’ this time of year is a time of anticipation.
Longer days are I feel sure one of the great Advent gifts for any individual who wishes
to grow and maintain flora. By the ‘12th day of Christmas’, ornaments and cards may
be in retreat but over a fortnight of longer days have come-and-gone, promising another
year of gardening opportunity.
I had the pleasure of being in both Dumfries and Galloway and Cambridgeshire over the
festive break. Journeying into the southern reaches of Scotland and subsequently into
England provided further opportunity to observe changes in plant growth (if any). I was
stunned to see along the motorway in Cumbria an apple tree still fully laden with fruit –
travelling at motorway speeds did not allow closer inspection – but it occurred to me that
it looked distinctly like a deciduous version of a bauble covered Christmas tree.
Likewise, in Dumfries and Galloway, other seasonal floral delights have included seeing
the first snowdrops in flower in cultivated beds. To see Galanthus nivalis in flower so
early is very encouraging and reminded me of the pleasure of seeing the much earlier
autumn flowering species of Galanthus reginae-olgae (native to the southern mountains
of Greece) in bloom this past November at Cruickshank Botanic Garden.
While Galanthus nivalis may be known within the British Isles as the ‘common
snowdrop’, I much prefer the other British name of ‘flower of hope’. The latter is selfevident while the former is misleading. G. nivalis is native to much of Europe including
southern Italy and northern Greece. Accordingly, it is recognised as an introduced (and
now naturalised) species to northern Europe and the UK. Regardless of their popularity
as a charming winter garden plant, all wild species are included in CITES (the
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna)
Appendix II. This Appendix lists plants that are not endangered, but should have their
collection and trade monitored. When working at the Eden Project, the growing and
showing of various species of snowdrops helped explain this issue and the fact that today
many species of snowdrop grown in the commercial trade are quite rightly bulked up by
seed, scale cutting or offsets.
While a harbinger of longer days, the first snowdrops can be a seasonal marker for other
gardening plans. The sowing of peas (Pisum sativum) I know has just been carried out
by my father in his annual (and successful) attempt to get an early crop. That said, he
freely admits he may also be helping feed the local mice population. Reflecting on
gardening activities and future growth and crops is an apt opportunity to remind you that
if this ongoing mild weather continues the Crocus vernus labyrinth should once again
look lovely in March. Additionally, while the garden team worked right up to the 22nd
December, ongoing gentle winter conditions may well allow for the ongoing progression
of bed creation and planting in the weeks to come; earlier than expected.
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This year will once again be a busy one in the Garden. I hope that we can continue to
progress on labelling the collection, both by replacing damaged labels and further
identify various plants that presently remain only as genera in name. Additionally, I
wish to bring added interpretation into the collection and this will mirror the gradual
redevelopment of various areas, including the Rose Garden. Planning permission is
presently being sought to improve some of the Arboretum boundary line and if in turn
we can minimise deer damage, then further planting can also occur in the northern
section of the grounds. Aberdeen City Council permission has been given to manage
some of the tree collection. This past year we had to close the Garden three times due to
adverse weather conditions – a combination of high winds and rain. Unfortunately,
those notable weather events also caused some limb damage to various specimens. For
the health of those trees and all who wish to be in the vicinity it is important for the
damage to be rectified. Additionally, we continue, sadly, to have Dutch elm disease
(DED) continuing to kill some of our elms. Blessedly, there is no sign of DED on the
pair of beautiful Camperdown (pendulous) elms, but there will be ongoing removal of
some Ulmus glabra this year too.
The above is but a snap-shot of activities planned for the forthcoming months. As ever,
I sincerely hope you have the chance to visit the Garden at least once this year to see the
exciting progression across the property. Such a visit will allow you to meet James Gray
who as our 2015 Gardening Trainee is of course funded through your generosity as
Friends of Cruickshank Botanic Garden. Your support remains vital and the garden will
continue to develop through the hard work and dedication of our gardening team.
I wish you the very best to the start of this year and as you imminently spy your first
snowdrop of the season (if you haven’t already) I hope you too have a smile of pleasure
knowing another growing season has begun.
Mark Paterson, Curator
Seeds from the Garden
Since 1984, seeds collected in the Garden have been available to the Friends. This
offer has been well used and helped to enhance our own domestic gardens. Curator
Mark explains why this ‘perk’ of membership must cease:
‘The Nagoya Protocol, a supplementary agreement to the 1992 Convention on
Biological Diversity came into force on the 14th October, 2014. This has a core aim
of improving the global equitable sharing of genetic plant material, particularly that
which is wild collected and of conservation value between validated plant growing
establishments. For any Botanic Garden the movement of such genetic material
(germinated or seed alike) to a third party – in this case, Friends of CBG –
necessitates a formal paperwork trail per species. With regret, such a provision no
longer makes the sharing of seed to the Friends a viable option. CBC will continue
to exchange seeds with other Botanic Gardens worldwide’.
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Cluny Gardens – Gardening with Nature
Many years ago Dr Noel Pritchard, then curator of the Cruickshank Botanic Garden,
stepped from a bus at the gate to Cluny House near Aberfeldy, bearing a young specimen
of Magnolia Wilsonii. Today it has grown to 3m and forms a backdrop to the roadside
sign for the garden.
John Mattingley, who addressed the Friends in November, took us through the
development of the 2.4 hectare garden, from 1949 when it was bought by his father-inlaw. Bobby Masterton was a vet, keen member of the Scottish Rock Garden Club and
friend of the plant hunter George Sherriff. Early photographs showed some notable 18
and 19th century trees, including two Wellingtonia gigantica and a patch of young
birches. Young farmers were recruited to help clear the undulating grounds and the first
rock garden constructed on an ancient burial mound. A wide range of trees were planted
including rhododendrons, Tibetan cherries and Japanese acers. 400 packets of seeds
from the Ludlow- Sherriff expedition to Bhutan, to which Masterton subscribed, formed
the basis of his woodland planting.
When John, an electronics engineer and teacher married youngest daughter Wendy, he
spent weekends working in the garden alongside Bobby, and became adept at
propagation, particularly enjoying the challenge of growing plants considered ‘difficult’
by distinguished visiting gardeners. The garden passed into John and Wendy’s hands
when her parents died in 1987. Wendy’s strong ethos of ecology and conservation led
their decision to stop the use of chemicals and the garden has been completely organic
ever since. This involves production of massive amounts of leaf mould, produced on a
three year cycle. Fallen leaves are left on the beds except in places where leaf fall is so
heavy that it stops germination. Weeding is done by hand, aided by part-time helpers
and the resultant compost used to fill gaps left by fallen trees. John propagates in about
200 seed pans each year but his intention is to provide suitable conditions for selfseeding for as many species as possible. This has been accomplished for Cardiocrinum
giganteum (in deep litter below an acer) and with some meconopsis.
Wildlife abounds in the garden with several red squirrel dreys, brown hares and a large
colony of bats. Speckled wood and comma butterflies have recently appeared and
permanent wood piles provide shelter for hedgehogs, mice and insects. Some vertical
tree stumps are left as woodpecker habitats and over 60 types of fungi have been
identified.
But it is the huge range of woodland plants that spark most interest and John showed
dozens of superb photographs, taking us though the seasons:
March and April – Over 90 species of primulae in this ‘treasurer house of rare primulas’.
May – Trilliums in their thousands including 40 patches of T. Grandiflorum ‘Flore
pleno’.
Rhododendrons – John estimates there over 500 different varieties.
Meconopsis of every hue, from canary-yellow M. villosa to the soft blues, pinks
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and whites of multi-headed M. betonicafolia and intense blue/lilacs of many
others.
Erythroniums - there are probably millions forming carpets of colour, through
which later plants grow and flower.
June - Arisaemas do well here and seem to thrive in competition with other
woodlanders.
The species lily season begins now, including over 400 L. Martagon doing their
best to self-seed, and the enormous yellow- tinged bells of L. Yunnanensis.
Cluny House is sometimes described as a wild garden, but we learned that it is the result
of long term habitat creation, observing the requirements of each plant, then placing and
maintaining them with great care. This was a thoughtfully prepared distillation of years
of experience, generously shared by one who has become an enthusiastic and expert
exponent of woodland gardening. The next step must be to visit and this is being
arranged for our annual bus excursion on May 23 or 24. Booking arrangements will be in
the April newsletter.
Hazel Witte
Cluny House Gardens, Aberfeldy, Perthshire PH15 2JT www.clunyhousegardens.com
Open daily from March 1 to October 31 from 10am to 6pm
Words from the weeders
One wintry day Marian and I were felling dead herbaceous plants in the long border
when a party of respectably dressed older gentlemen came along, evidently on a tour Crombie overcoats, furry hats, polished shoes - Probus? Rotary? We said “Good
morning” and “Nice day” and “No it's not cold”, and away they went. One dropped
back and discreetly asked Marian “Are you prisoners - is this a punishment squad” ? He
couldn't seem to grasp we are volunteers and do it for pleasure! Recounted at coffee
break, this provoked howls of laughter and we were designated The Asbo Squad for a
while.
We plod on, helping with the muddy maintenance that every garden needs in Winter sweeping leaves, felling herbaceous, sweeping leaves, cutting out dead wood, sweeping
leaves, cutting out non-flowering stems from rhododendrons and azaleas, sweeping
leaves - and occasionally revelling in the early primroses that appear from under the
leaves, and the bright stems of dogwood glowing in the wintry sunshine. The shortest
day has passed, there is hope. Seeds ! Cuttings! And sweeping leaves!
Gay Murton
The Scottish Snowdrop Festival January 31 – March 15
Information on the 60 participating sites can be found on the website:
www.visitscotland.com/snowdrops
You can find at least ten named varieties in the Cruickshank Garden - happy searching!
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Rachel’s Farewell
My 2014 Horticultural Traineeship has ended, so I thought you might like to hear about
some of the work I have been involved in since January. In addition to the varied
seasonal maintenance tasks carried out by all the busy gardening team, particularly in the
summer months with grass cutting, hedge cutting, spraying, weeding and edging, there
have been a series of short and long term projects.
One of the main projects that I was able to get involved in was preparing the terraced
bed at the Chanonry gate entrance for new planting. This was based on the Curator and
Head Gardener's selection of a range of ornamental grasses and herbaceous perennials,
and provided an opportunity to research the plants, their cultivation and requirements
and to assist in developing the planting plan. The team as a whole was involved in
various elements of the task – in clearing the beds of weeds, in preparing the soil,
planting over 100 individual plants, as well as labelling and recording them on the botanic database as part of CBG's botanic plant collection. Plant species included
Deschampsia cespitosa, Festuca glauca, Miscanthus sinensis, Stipa tenuissima, Stipa
gigantea, Melica altissima and Milium effusum 'Aureum', to name a few.
Teamwork on the terraced bed by the Chanonry Gate
In September Curator Mark kindly arranged a week's placement at NTS Pitmedden
where I was able to work alongside the gardening team, Head Gardener and volunteers. I
assisted in jobs such as tidying the slug damaged hostas and maintaining the parterre of
Buxus sempervirens (box) hedging – clearing leaf debris from a previous cut, removing
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dead material and weeds from the hedge base, filling in gaps with new stock plants and
applying a slow-release organic fertiliser. I also assisted in some plant propagation of
Buxus and Pelargoniums.
Another project carried out by the team, together with much appreciated volunteers and
the 'Project Search' intern, involved clearing the raised bed at the front of the
Cruickshank Building then replanting. One of the trickier items to remove was a Juniper
tree which stood in the corner of the raised bed, which required deployment of the tractor
bucket by Head Gardener Richard to remove the stump. The new planting includes
several grasses and flowering plants which will provide texture, form and colour,
Calamagrostis canescens, Sternbergia clusiana, Morina longifolia, Galanthus nivalis
and Narcissus species, among others - see photograph below
In November I finished my traineeship a month early to accept a post as a
Groundsperson within the University's Estates Department, which is tasked with
maintaining the university's grounds and gardens. Although not pure gardening, a good
deal of overlap exists in terms of the seasonal tasks and there are opportunities to
become certified and experienced in using a wider range of machinery and equipment. I
am keen to continue my horticultural learning and in the new year I'll be exploring
opportunities via correspondence courses.
Overall, it has been a useful year and I would like to thank the Friends for providing the
opportunity to enable people to embark on careers in horticulture by training in a botanic
garden setting. I have enjoyed meeting the Friends through attending the evening
lectures and I am looking forward to getting out into Aberdeenshire in the Spring and
Summer to visit more wonderful gardens.
Rachel Spencer, Trainee Horticulturalist 2014
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Warming wintergreen
Glossy green leaves of the tiny wintergreen shrub shine at foot level like highly polished
leather, brightening a shady spot in the garden. These pleasing, tidy plants are demure
repositories of relief for aches and pains.
Gaultheria procumbens wintergreen is native to the dry woods in eastern North America
and distinct from the wintergreens of the Pyrolaceae family native in the UK.
Gaultheria genus includes 150 species of dwarf shrubs and is closely related to
Vaccinium (bilberry, cowberry, cranberry) in the heath family, Ericaceae. Also known
as checkerberry and teaberry, Gaultheria procumbens usually forms a neat evergreen
shrublet 7-15cm high with small, pendant white-to-the-palest-of-pink waxy flowers in
the summer. The flowers transform into spherical red fruits that glisten on the plant all
winter.
Wintergreen leaves were listed in the US Pharmacopoeia as far back as 1820 and oil of
wintergreen is still listed as an herbal medicine. Oil of wintergreen was a common
ingredient in liniments and inhalants but the plant’s virtue is reduced industrially to the
chemical methyl salicylate, which is more cheaply obtained from Betula lenta or
synthetic manufacture. Methyl salicylate, similar to aspirin, is anti-inflammatory.
Wintergreen leaves contain a cornucopia of chemicals however and the plant is used in
traditional North American medicine as an anti-rheumatic and to help breathing. The
leaves are astringent, antiseptic and warming as a ‘tea’, crushing just one fresh leaf into a
mug, pouring on boiling water and letting it infuse for fifteen to twenty minutes before
drinking. It has a pleasing woody flavour and oh so familiar fragrance!
Wintergreen’s characteristic aroma immediately transports me to my childhood. I tumble
down decades, in the same way that I tumbled many times onto the concrete path of my
family home to be lifted and soothed by tender pink Germolene. Mum bathed my raw,
stinging, bleeding knees. Infant tears dried, Germolene gently applied, I was enveloped
in a warm fragrance, my world restored. A world that moves on however as the thick,
pink ointment devised by William Veno scented with wintergreen is reformulated as a
loose cream.
I have three wintergreen plants in my garden, the first planted in 2010 alongside culinary
herbs in my south facing kitchen border where it grew 5cm in four seasons, sprouting
ungainly purple leaves and long runners. I have two other wintergreen plants bought in
2013, also from Poyntzfield herb nursery, placed beneath a camellia in a north facing
border where they have formed perfect bushes. Wintergreen likes partial shade and dry,
acid soil. It does well in a rock garden or container. All is not lost from my original poor
planting though, as I harvest a profusion of plantlets produced from runners fleeing their
unsuitable setting. Conventional propagation is by seed sown in Autumn onto the soil
surface. Plants do outwit us, though.
Colette Jones
If you want to know more about growing and using herbs, do contact me 01224 592390
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Snippets
Thanks to all who provided plants, set up and staffed the sales tables and those who
purchased locally produced herbaceous, pot and alpine plants, shrubs and herbs for our
October sale. We took in £546, a bit less than last year but a welcome addition to funds
for the Garden.
The Botanical Society of Scotland is launching an Urban Flora of Scotland Project. If
you would like know more, or to be involved, visit http://www.botanical-societyscotland.org.uk/node/342 This takes you to the BSOS newsletter which reports on the
development of this major citizen science project and how you could take part.
James Byng, who gave us a presentation in November 2013, has now completed his
identification guide to the world’s plant families and genera. It is available as an eBook
from: www.plantgateway.com for £10 with a paper version available from Amazon.
If you happen to visit London…
‘Painting Paradise: The Art of the Garden’ opens at the Queens Gallery, Buckingham
Palace on March 20. The exhibition will use objects from the Royal Collection to
present the history of gardens across four centuries including those at Hampton Court
Palace, Whitehall Palace, Windsor Castle and Kew. This will feature exquisite enamel
and jewel flowers by Fabergé, tapestries, porcelain, tableware and drawings, all
indulging the British love affair with horticulture.
Urgent! Treasurer/Membership Secretary needed
For a variety of reasons, the current holder of this post, Dick Morris, needs to pass
on the role to someone new. This position is vital to the continued existence of the
Friends, since one of our major objectives is to raise funds to support the Garden.
As a Charity, we are responsible to the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator for
keeping detailed records of membership and financial transactions to prove that we
are complying with the necessary regulations. Experience in this post could be
valuable for anyone considering employment in the charity sector.
The actual tasks involved are substantially computerised, so it helps for the
postholder to be reasonably computer literate, though it's all been within the
competence of the current septuagenarian! There is obviously some handling of
money taken at meetings and during plant sales and banking this. The postholder
also needs to liaise with the University over expenditure of funds on appropriate
purposes. Decision making lies with the Friends' Management Committee, which
meets about four times a year, with some email-based activity between meetings.
If you feel you could take on this role, please contact Dick, who will provide
guidance and support to the person taking over. It's a significant task, but the
rewards of supporting the work of the Friends and the Garden are very worthwhile.
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Office Bearers of the Friends, 2014-15
David Atkinson
Tel: 01975 581278
Hazel Witte (General)
Tel: 01224 732738
Ian/Clare Alexander (Programme) Tel: 01467 623013
Treasurer and
Dick/Vivien Morris
Tel: 01651 806467
Membership Secretary: Veslehaug, Polesburn, Methlick, Ellon, AB41 7DU
E-mail: dickm@waitrose.com
President:
Secretaries:
Subscription rates
Non-earning
Ordinary
Life
£10.00
£20.00
£200.00
Website: www.abdn.ac.uk/botanic-garden
The next issue will be published in April 2015. Please
contact the editor with ideas and any information which you
wish to be shared with other Friends.
Articles should be sent in by March 22 to the editor:
Hazel Witte, Monearn, Maryculter, Aberdeen AB12 5GT
Tel: 01224 732738 E-mail: witte@btconnect.com
Scottish Charity Number SC004350
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