Friends' News may 2013

Euphorbia griffithii by Howard Rice

Friends’ News Festival of Plants Part of the Europe-wide Fascination of Plants initiative, the Garden’s new Festival of Plants on Saturday 18 May brings together horticulture and science in a day designed to bring plants into focus. nurseries with choice plants for sale, plus our local Cambridgeshire Plant Heritage group will be on hand to fill you in about the National Collections scheme (the Garden holds no fewer than nine!).

On the Garden’s unique Systematic Beds, there’s the chance to ‘meet the family’. Experts will be on hand to explain the key differences between plant families and you’ll be encouraged to brush off your basic botany and pull apart some flowers, using the structures to determine which plants belong together on the same family tree. Younger visitors can create fantasy flowers to plant up a fallow bed with a new imaginary plant family, plus the Fairyland Trust will be bringing their magical yurt and running garland workshops.

In the Pop-up Plant Science tent some of the region’s top plant scientists will be talking about their research and demonstrating scientific experiments. You’ll be able to extract plant pigments, take the temperature of a leaf and find out how plants know their ABC! You can take all your gardening dilemmas and thorny pest and disease issues to the Talking Plants tent to get advice from our expert horticultural staff in our ‘ask the gardener’ sessions. Here, leading scientists will also give short talks about their research focusing on how science underpins how your garden grows. Local garden centre, Scotsdales, will be in the Schools’ Garden doing ‘grow-your-own’ giveaways and demonstrations to help you get the most fruit and veg out of your garden this year, no matter how small the plot.

The majestic Main Walk will be transformed into a Plant Promenade of local independent

The Tour Table is the meeting point for a selection of expert-led tours of the collections and plants that are looking their best in midMay – the tree collection, the wildflowers, and the Systematic Beds for example. In the Glasshouses, you can travel around the world, discovering the drama of plant diversity supported by habitats ranging from rainforests to deserts. Garden guides will be on hand in the Glasshouse Range to answer your questions and share plant curiosities from their prop boxes such as the giant Coco de Mer, the largest seed in the world. The new Tropical Wetlands house featuring the giant South American waterlilies, Victoria cruziana, will be officially opened, so come and find out all about life in hot water!

So whether it’s getting advice on which plant goes where or how to home compost, discovering the inner workings of flowers, picking up some unusual plants for the garden, or simply having a fun day out with the family, there’ll be something for everyone at the Festival of Plants.

Best of the rest: open gardens and flower shows this summer Suffolk Plant Heritage Spring Fair, Helmingham Hall, 26 May Excellent plant fair held in beautiful surroundings, www.helmingham.com or www.nccpgsuffolk.org Ely Cathedral Flower Festival, 20-23 June The Cathedral’s magnificent interior transformed by hundreds of thousands of flowers with top florists designing, www.elycathedral.org King’s College Fellows’ Garden & Madingley Hall, Cambridge, 30 June, afternoon Stunning, mature, seldom-seen gardens open for the National Garden Scheme, www.ngs.org.uk Clare College Fellows’ Garden, Cambridge, 7 July, afternoon Gorgeous borders down to the River Cam, open for the National Garden Scheme, www.ngs.org.uk Trinity Hall Wychfield Site, Cambridge, 14 July, afternoon Specimen trees and a contemporary twist to herbaceous borders, open for the National Garden Scheme, www.ngs.org.uk Fuchsia Festival, Capel Manor Gardens, 27-28 July Annual spectacular, with plant sales and talks, www.capelmanorgardens.co.uk

Bring your stories!

As part of our Voicing the Garden oral history project, we will be ready with our microphones at Festival of Plants to gather up your thoughts about the Garden – memories of growing up here, bringing friends and relatives, meeting here, perhaps working here? So please look out for the special recording booths and drop-in to share your stories.

Friends’ News – Issue 92 – May 2013

Welcome Writing just before Easter the country is still gripped by winter and the daffodils are poking through a covering of snow. What a contrast to last year when unseasonal high temperatures had pushed flowering forward and we were planning for another year of potential drought.

I am looking forward to the Festival of Plants on 18 May. It will be an exciting opportunity not only to get an insight into plant sciences in Cambridge and the region, but also to understand the Garden and its collections more deeply. There will be something for keen gardeners and families alike and we hope this will develop into an annual event in the Garden.

We are grateful for the support of the Cambridge Partnership for Plant Sciences and the Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University.

Another project I am excited about this year is Voicing the Garden, an oral history project that aims to capture the stories of both those who have created the Garden and those who have enjoyed it. We have already uncovered some interesting stories about the development of the eastern part of the Garden: the then Superintendent, Bob Younger, used the wheels of his car to create the pleasing curvature to the paths we see today. It’s important we capture the information about how the Garden has developed over the last 60 years since understanding the past enables us to plan appropriately for the future. There will be many opportunities for you to contribute your own stories over the coming months, including at the Festival of Plants, and we look forward to hearing them. We also welcomed Pippa Lacey in the New Year. Using archives, photographs and Voicing the Garden stories, Pippa is starting to build a wider social and historical context, offering new insights.

Dr Tim Upson, Curator & Acting Director Friends’ News – Issue 92 – May 2013

Changing Perspectives: a garden through time is a social history research project focusing on the ideas and key decisionmakers that have shaped the Cambridge University Botanic Garden from the 1950s to the present time. It was only after the Second World War, when the Cory Fund became available, that the eastern 20 acres ceased to be allotments and were integrated into the public Garden we see today. In this respect the progress and plantings of the eastern 20 acres reflect our changing relationship with the environment and the scientific priorities that came to the fore in the second half of the 20th century. Changing Perspectives makes use of both archival sources and oral history interviews to build a picture

and context in which to understand the Garden’s development more fully.

The project will curate and display the findings in an online digital exhibition.

Dr Pippa Lacey Pippa is one of six post-doctoral Connecting Collections interns, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the Arts Council England (ACE), undertaking research projects at the University of Cambridge Museums and collections between January and September 2013 You can read Pippa’s project blog at connectingwithcollections.wordpress.com

House Guests at Kettle’s Yard Rejecting the adage that house guests, like fish, start to smell after three days, Kettle’s Yard is hosting representatives from eight other University of Cambridge museums and collections until 28 July. Kettles’Yard was the home of Jim Ede where he collected and arranged artworks and objects gathered through his lifetime of close association with many different artists. The diverse house party, from butterflies to Inuit carving, will be displayed alongside the permanent residents in inspiring new associations.

The Garden has loaned a succulent geranium, Pelargonium cotyledonis, which will join the scented pelargoniums already a feature at Kettle’s Yard. Commonly known as ‘old father lives forever’, this plant is a branched shrublet with a swollen stem, found only on the island of St. Helena in the South Atlantic, about 2000km west of the African coast. It is believed that the local name was given because of its ability to stay alive for months without soil or

Jeremy Millar

Although the weather has disrupted our winter work programme, we have nevertheless pushed forward many developments. Work to rejuvenate the eastern boundary highlighted in the last Friends’ News has now taken place, including establishment of a new herbaceous border to create a more colourful entrance. The removal of many poor quality trees requires a leap of imagination when planning, but it has now opened up some exciting new planting opportunities and highlighted the quality and value of the remaining trees, particularly the large oak tree situated towards the Winter Garden. Elsewhere, and unusually for us, some areas of the Garden such as the research plots have proved unworkable due to continuing wet soil conditions. No doubt as the weather warms we will have a rush to complete some of these winter works.

Changing Perspectives: a garden though time

water. Many of the plants found on this remote dot of an island in the south Atlantic Island are unique. Yet, since it was discovered by the Portuguese in 1502 several species have become extinct or remain critically endangered, making the St Helena flora one of the most threatened in the world. Described as analogous to a satellite in space, St Helena is a UK dependent territory and it was here that the British imprisoned Napoleon until his death. The plant not only gives biological insights into a unique yet threatened flora, but also into its host island’s rich history.

NEW! Sunday afternoon taster tours To make the most of the Garden at its best, we are introducing new Sunday afternoon tours every Sunday in May, June and July. Just drop in for 3pm to join one of the Garden Guides for a leisurely and informative one-hour stroll taking in the plants at their best that week. Tours are free and leave from the Brookside Gate ticket office.

Also availalbe are tours at 11am on the first Saturday of the month throughout the year.

NEW! Summer Garden Adventures This summer we’ll have a host of new free trails and activities changing every week to help you enjoy and explore the Garden with your family all through the summer – collect fallen treasure, hunt for colours, smells and minibeasts and post your finds and stories on our spotting map and blog. Borrow our family backpacks from the ticket offices, which will be totally overhauled for the holidays with a new look and brand new explorer resources, thanks to support from Microsoft Research Ltd. Spend your summer adventuring in the Garden!

The stopper in the bottle – the Cork Oak

One of the Garden’s most spectacular trees is a specimen of Quercus suber, the cork oak, situated at the eastern end of the Glasshouse Range. Each year I help lead the Plant Sciences field course to Lisbon in Portugal, a chance for students to see and learn about Mediterranean plants and their ecology. Portugal is the world’s leading exporter of cork products, and one of the common plants we see is Quercus suber.

Much of the cork production takes place in open woodland savannah known as Montado and we visit a typical cork growing estate as part of the trip.

The fire-resistant bark of the cork oak provides protection against the naturally occurring fires. Cork is produced from the bark and perhaps best known for its use as stoppers in wine bottles and it still remains the preferred choice for quality wines despite competition from screw tops. Only the best quality cork is used for wine stoppers and this is produced only after the second harvest. Cut bark is stacked onto sheets to stop natural fungi infecting the harvested cork from the soil and hence causing spoilage or ‘corking’ of the wine.

Poorer quality bark is primarily used to create insulation and tiles.

The cork is harvested by ‘peeling’ off the thick bark, cutting with a specialised knife down the trunk and then around the top and bottom to release it. Harvesting

typically takes place on a nine year cycle and is a skilled job, which if poorly carried out can damage the tree. Of course removing the bark makes the trees vulnerable to fire until regrowth repairs the trunk. Hence, the surrounding understory is carefully managed by harrowing to remove excess fire prone scrub and a pasture encouraged to grow beneath. This provides grazing for beef cattle and fallen acorns foraging for Iberian pigs – both important income sources for these estates. These extensive areas of Montado represent an incredibly rich mosaic of habitats, very good for wildlife and a rich haven for birds. Elsewhere in the Iberian peninsula, it is the preferred habitat for one of the most endangered wild cats in the world – the Iberian lynx.

We don’t harvest the cork on our specimens but the thick corky bark is easily seen. Cork oak is also an excellent example of one of the many evergreen oaks that are diverse and widespread in the Mediterranean. The leaves are hard and resistant to drought, but despite being evergreen the older leaves are shed each year. This usually happens here in May and can create concern to see so many leaves being lost but, be assured, this is just part of the annual cycle for this fine tree.

Dr Tim Upson, Curator & Acting Director

Bird research recognised Kate Hepworth of Anglia Ruskin University has been awarded the Bob Scott Prize for Ornithological Research by the Cambridgeshire Bird Club for her undergraduate dissertation on great tits breeding in the Botanic Garden. The award commemorates Bob Scott (1938-2009), a former chairman of the Club and a phenomenon in the community who inspired many to study birds and their conservation. Kate Hepworth studied the patterns of occupancy of the Garden’s nest boxes. Her results showed that birds were not particularly selective in their occupation of nest boxes; however, there were consequences of their choices – with fledging success compromised.

A little late night music Thanks to the support of Mills & Reeve, we are delighted that Sounds Green proms from the Cambridge Summer Music Festival return to the Garden every Wednesday evening this July.

These informal recitals on the Main Lawn are delivered by young, up-and-coming ensembles, thrilled to be performing in such glorious surroundings. Do bring along a small folding chair or cushion to sit on, and a picnic if you wish – and check the weather forecast to see if a brolly may be required! The Garden Café will be running a Main Lawn outstation offering delicious nibbles and antipasti, icecreams, fresh strawberries with cream. The Garden closes at 8pm on Sounds Green evenings.

Sounds Green l: Sirocco Wednesday 3 July, 6.15pm With influences from classical, folk and jazz, the dynamic saxophone quartet Sirocco, are all graduates of the Royal College of Music and perform original work and new interpretations, with an emphasis on Eastern European and Argentinian repertoire.

Sounds Green II: Quintabile Wednesday 10 July, 6.15pm Formed at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2007, Quintabile is one of London’s leading young brass ensembles. The group has a keen interest in contemporary music and regularly premieres works by young composers as well as writing new arrangements themselves.

Sounds Green III: Three Dimensional Jazz Wednesday 17 July, 6.15pm Expect swinging jazz from Three Dimensional Jazz, who went down a storm at last year’s Sounds Green sereis. Inspired and influenced by the great band leaders such as Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Oscar Peterson. 3D features twin brothers Andy and Tom Bunting on bass and piano, together with Sam Jesson on drums.

Sounds Green IV: Trovador Wednesday 24 July, 6.15pm Back by popular demand, Trovador is a flamenco fusion quartet combining influences from Brazilian and classical music to create a performance of rhythm, passion and grace, in which dance itself is a key instrument.

Sounds Green V: Cymbiotic Percussion Wednesday 31 July, 6.15pm This high energy duo of Ross Garrod and James Bower deliver thrilling music on a range of percussive instruments from drums to marimba, infused with world flavours from Argentina, Africa and Israel.

Bob Scott Prize awarded to Kate Hepworth

by Peter Herkenrath, current Chairman of the Cambridgeshire Bird Club.

Friends’ News – Issue 92 – May 2013

Parasitic Plants at the Garden

Howard Rice

Juliet Houston

If you take a stroll through the Woodland Garden in late spring you can’t fail to notice patches of a pretty, purple, low-growing plant. Look closer and you’ll notice the strange absence of stem and leaf and see how the purple hooded petals seem to emerge directly from the ground. This is the purple toothwort, Lathraea clandestina. Impressed by its abundance here in Cambridge and its intoxicating strangeness, I delved deeper to discover that this thing of beauty was a parasite and that there are eight parasitic species within the Garden’s collections. Curiosity had led me to the perfect subject for my extended essay, now a key requirement of the Certificate in Practical Horticulture and Plantsmanship, summarised below.

Lathraea clandestina

Orobanche hederae showing haustorium

The ivy broomrape, Orobanche hederae, is the most prolific of the parasites in the Garden, widely naturalised after being recorded as growing well from seed in A Flora of Cambridgeshire,1939. It is found parasitising many members of Araliaceae besides its preferred ivy, Hedera helix, and also recorded on Acanthopanax in 1982, and more recently on Kalopanax septemlobus, the prickly castor oil tree from north-east Asia.

Orobanche eliator was established from seed on greater knapweed, Centaurea scabiosa, on the chalk grassland of the Limestone Mound before it disappeared only to reappear on Centaurea nigra on the north of the Mound in the Breckland community, where it was last seen in 2011.

Orobanche minor may be found on the Systematics Beds. Flowering from June, it has been observed on members of the teasel, daisy and carrot families.

Ivy broomrape is in flower from June, producing spikes of yellow to violet flowers with two-lipped corollas. As in other Orobanche species, it produces a great many, very small seeds with limited energy stores to keep them alive for long.

As attachment through an haustorium (see box right) must be achieved quickly, the seed will not germinate until it has received biochemical signals exuding from the roots of a likely nearby host. Once germination is triggered, the radical emerges to penetrate the host root and form the bridge between host and parasite. The haustorium then swells to form a tubercle that encloses the host root and protects the union.

As nutrients build up, meristematic tissue within the haustorium begins to differentiate to produce flower spikes.

The toothworts have recently joined the broomrapes in the Orobanchaceae family.

The purple toothwort that inspired this essay, Lathraea clandestina, was first introduced to the Garden in 1906 by the Curator, Richard Lynch. In 1908 there was the first wild sighting of it in nearby Coe Fen prompting much discussion as to whether the Garden had deliberately established a foreign plant into a British habitat and eliciting correspondence in The Times right up until 1920. This colony has, escapee or otherwise, naturalised and still survives today.

Friends’ News – Issue 92 – May 2013

Purple toothwort produces very alkaline nectar (up to pH 11.5) due to levels of dissolved ammonia, which bumblebees can tolerate but which may deter nectar thieves

such as ants. Seeds are especially large at 5mm and the capsules explode when ripe, propelling seed over great distances. This unusual plant commonly parasitizes willow, poplar, hazel and alder but has also been seen growing here on Gunnera manicata and more recently on bamboo species. The common toothwort, Lathraea squamaria was first recorded at the Garden as a spontaneously occurring colony in 1960 on the roots of Prunus pseudocerasus where it still thrives.

The yellow rattle, Rhinanthus minor, owes its common name to the sound it makes when the seeds are shaken in their papery brown calyces, but was also known in the Middle Ages as ‘stealer-of-bread’ - a wheat or barley field full of this small, bright yellow, bilipped flower with purple teeth would indicate a poor harvest. In recent years, this predilection for dominant grass species has led its use in habitat management. Yellow rattle was introduced along the Fairway at the Garden about five years ago to reduce the vigour of various grass species, resulting in reduced need for mowing and increased wild flower diversity.

An unidentified but delightful eyebright, Euphrasia sp was introduced to the

Philip Oswald

Philip Oswald

Mistletoe parasitising limes, January 2007

Limestone Mound in 2010 from a cultivated plant. It appeared again in 2011, but was not observed this year. There are around 450 species of eyebright worldwide, with 21 native to Britain of which seven are considered threatened in the wild. Two of these, E.anglica and E. pseudokerneri, are being suggested for adoption by the Garden through the Target 8 project, whereby member gardens grow the threatened plants of Britain and Ireland ex situ to support in situ conservation. If the accessioned subject appears this summer, it would be interesting to find out what species we have. E. pseudokerneri would be quite at home on the chalk grassland habitat, particularly as it has recently been “grazed” by a crack team of gardeners…

But the most visible parasite at the Garden hangs over our heads- mistletoe. Viscum album, with its globular, birds-nest-like clumps and translucent white berries is the only native stem parasite in Britain and is prolific not only at the Garden, but also in the surrounding area. It may well be that the Garden is in fact the original source of mistletoe in the area, as it was propagated from secondary crops of apple orchards and grown on here for teaching purposes.

The mistletoe population has increased greatly over the last five years and it has become quite a feature in the winter months. It is known to parasitise over 200 woody species and can be seen on a good variety of unusual hosts at the Garden including Chinese whitebeam, Sorbus folgneri, and two American trees, Aesculus flava and Juglans nigra. In this last year a small clump has been spotted growing on the common lime planted in 1846 (to the left of the old main gate) to mark the founding of the Botanic Garden. Seed dispersal in the Garden is provided by our two resident pairs of mistlethrushes and an increasing number of overwintering

The same trees in November 2012 showing significant increase in mistletoe globes. blackcaps, who deposit seed onto branches either by attempting to wipe their beaks clean of the sticky, indigestible viscin that surrounds the seed or by excreting ingested seeds, which pass unharmed through the digestive tract.

Mistletoe has recently been acknowledged as a keystone species, meaning that it has a critical effect on its surrounding ecosystem over and above what would be expected from its biomass. Not only does mistletoe provide food and shelter for birds, but a wide range of insects are also supported.

V. album comes with its own herbivorous insects including the rare mistletoe marble moth, Celypha woodiana, four sap suckers and the mistletoe weevil. Weakening of the host tree will cause some dieback in branches leading to increased fungal diversity, insect habitats, and food resources for those higher up the food chain.

We have taken a walk around Cambridge university botanic garden and taken a closer look at some of the parasites lurking in our unsuspecting midst. Some are keystone species, some will have use in habitat conservation. All are worthy of further research and systematic survey work. But perhaps the key value of parasitic plants is their ability to take hold of the curious mind: they are an indication of the floral diversity in our own back yards if we care to look hard enough, and once you start looking, it can become addictive. I feel it is a good entry point for learning about plant science, botany and ecology – everything, in fact, that this Botanic Garden is about.

Juliet Houston, Trainee on the Certificate in Practical Horticulture and Plantsmanship.

With thanks to Philip Oswald, Pete Michna and Mark Crouch.

What is a parasitic plant?

Most flowering plants (angiosperms) are autotrophic, that is, they have the ability to make their own food from available light and nutrients.

Parasitic plants, however, rely on host plants to obtain some or all of the carbon, water supply and nutrients needed for growth. This is achieved by the production of a specialised structure called the haustorium which penetrates host tissue and connects the vascular systems of parasite and host to allow access to the host plant’s resources.

Parasitic plants can be differentiated in two key ways. First, the point of attachment to the host can either be at the root as seen in the toothworts or on the branches, as in mistletoe.

Second, parasitic plants can range in the extent to which they have functioning photosynthetic tissue: holoparasites such as broomrapes have totally lost chlorophyll and are completely reliant on their host for water and nutrients, whereas hemiparasites like yellow rattle are able to photosynthesise.

Parasitic plants account for approximately 1% of all angiosperms and are represented by more than 3000 species in 16 families. Parasitic plants can be annual, perennial, herbaceous or shrubby .

Friends’ News – Issue 92 – May 2013

Horticulture Who’s Who in the Garden: Julie Clos, Systematics Section Assistant

It is 3 years since I trained in the Garden and I am delighted to return as the assistant to the Systematic Section Supervisor, John Kapor.

Back then, I didn’t envisage that I would be fortunate enough to one day help look after the historical heart of the Botanic Garden.

I grew up in the Loire Region in Central France where my spare time was filled with wild

escapades with my younger sister and our Alsatian dog, or in the woods with my father, a mushroom connoisseur. It was this adventurous streak which took me to London to learn English, and I never left! After a few years working in the Big Smoke, I felt that the outdoors should again be part of my daily routine and joining a horticulture college seemed like an excellent idea. I completed my NVQ and RHS certificates while working as a self-employed gardener for a private landscape design company, and for a select few chosen family gardens in South London.

Having the opportunity to train in botanical horticulture really made me think about why plants are important, and how local as well as ecological variation within species matters.

After completing the traineeship, I enrolled with Birmingham University and the Field Study Council to complete my degree in Biological Recording and Species Identification.

During the two year course, I had the opportunity to visit sites of interest around the British Isles, botanising and recording locally rare and inspiring wild species.

Coming back to the Systematic Beds in the Garden offers, for me, an ensemble of historical British and world plant taxonomy and I am privileged to include plants from all over the UK and the world in my daily work. What I now am looking forward to is seeing the changes in the 157 beds as the year progresses, learning day by day how to care for a great collection of plant families.

Clippings & Cuttings I One of this year’s trainees, Danny Burlingham, has kindly donated a barbecue to the Glasshouse Section, and not just because the weather has finally warmed up! We will be using it to smoke seeds to improve germination rates for new accessions to the Continents Apart display, including examples of Restionaceae, Leucadendron, Leucospermum, Protea and a myriad Erica species. The rich floras of southwest Australia and the South African Cape both show a fascinating dependency on bushfire for regeneration. In some cases the fire opens the heavily armoured fruit capsules releasing the seed into a nutrient-rich ash base. In other cases, it is the chemicals in smoke that break dormancy, conditions that the Glasshouse team will be attempting to replicate by smoking the seeds in the lidded barbecue for 24 hours before sowing.

I Kind donation of seed of the giant waterlily, Victoria cruziana, arrived from Helsinki Botanic Gardens last November. This mammoth lily destined for the new Waterlily House is notoriously difficult to raise to maturity, but after wading through the literature on the idiosyncrasies of its germination and consulting the ‘waterlily god’ at RBG, Kew, we were ready. First, the seeds were ‘nicked’ to remove the

Friends’ News – Issue 92 – May 2013

operculum, a lid-like structure which sits above the embryo. This is done with a scalpel, inserted just a couple of millimetres into the seed coat and then flicked upwards to release the operculum. Any deeper and the embryo is killed, and the seed wasted! The ‘nicked’ seeds were put into bags of water in a tank kept at 30°C, with additional lighting. With bated breath we awaited the first signs of germination, which came in just six days with the emergence of a grass-like leaf, quickly followed by two spear-shaped leaves.

The seedlings were then transferred into pots to begin the most tricky and stressful stage of their cultivation, awaiting the first round leaf...!

I The large pots around the Fountain are packed with the plum-toned tulips, Purple Dream and Queen of the Night, combined with Brunnera ‘Jack Frost’ for its silver-edged foliage and sprays of sky-blue forget-menot flowers. In the encircling beds are massed plantings of scented white Narcissus ‘Thalia’.

I Making use of the cleared ground beneath the new limes along the Hills Road boundary, we are sowing a classic annual wildflower mix (the same used in the Cory Lodge crescent last summer). The jolly and

colourful palette of white, blues and pinks turns to reds, orange and yellow in the autumn.

I The Station Road plantings have been bolstered with hundreds of Verbena bonariensis plants. Some years ago we had little success in germinating this popular plant with tall wiry stems topped with mauve-purple pompoms, beloved by bees and butterflies. We had followed instructions – spring sowed and generally molly-coddled. This time we sowed in autumn and left the seed trays outside, resulting in a hugely improved germination rate. It would seem Verbena bonariensis does better with a prolonged period of stratification to break dormancy.

I John ‘The Weatherman’ Kapor reports that the frosty and snowy March put the Garden into a ‘cold hold’ with blossom remaining in bud for weeks. On the upside, early indications suggest that nationally the apple harvest may be bumper as the blossom will be breaking so much later – good news for the return of Apple Day to the Garden on Sunday 27 October. And with the cold winds from the east drying the soil surface, early weed control on the beds with the hoe is proving effective.

Education

Identifying plants of interest with red balloons

Thresholds: from Ann Gray When I was invited to join the Thresholds project, my first choice was the Botanic Garden. Lucky enough to be there, it exceeded all my expectations. I witnessed all the trees at their statuesque best, covered in snow and then slowly stirring from the depths of winter. It was marvellous to discover the Garden from its beginnings in medicine to the huge and rare collection it is now, a still and beautiful place, healing in a thousand different ways. Here, working with the young people from the Red Balloon Learner Centre, I was able to see their joy in the space, watch them take photographs of their favourite trees and find a way of using words which would add to the richness of that experience.

Everyone found his or her own way, just as I found the mulberry tree reminded me of an excursion to a silk farm as a child, and the University Herbarium took me back to all those times I, my children and my grandchildren pressed flowers to try

to keep the wonder and beauty we’d discovered.

Reading in the Glasshouses will stay with me always, not just a beautiful space and a generous audience, but the chance for my parents, both aged 90, to hear me read for the first time. All the Garden staff have been generous with their time, Judy Fox in particular has been a friend, an advisor, and a font of all knowledge about trees!

As a Cambridge child, I took the Botanic Garden for granted. Now, I tell everyone I meet how they must go, not just once but at least once in every season! Every time I am back I will be in the Garden watching it change with the year, knowing now the history, the hard work, the research, the volunteering and the depth of plant science knowledge that makes it such an extraordinary place.

Thank you all for making me so welcome.

To discover more about the Thresholds project visit www.thresholds.org.uk and to read about Dr Judy Fox’s uplifting experience working with the Red Balloon Learner Centre and Ann Gray, please visit the news pages of www.botanic.cam.ac.uk

Ghazal for the Persian ironwood You're dressed in pink, a hint of sin to it.

You blush and there's the rush of Spring to it.

Your bark peels pearl, a bluish spice, the sun the snuff of leopard, snake still cling to it.

Your leaves, slip-coated, are swimming with fish, a splash of wind brings a green swing to it.

Where you are fluted, each grey tangled branch cleaves to itself to make a twin to it.

You long for the sea, Alborz forests, your late blaze of red a silent hymn to it.

As Persia says, Ann, when you mouth my name it has a wild exotic ring to it. ©

A ghazal is a strictly-governed ancient form of poetry that was much used by the Persian mystics in the 13th century consisting of a series of internally rhyming couplets and a refrain. The lines share the same meter to give an echoing rhythm and Ann has followed the traditional convention, called a takhallus, of naming herself in the final couplet.

First Saturday Family Fun

A prickly sensation!

No need to book, just drop-in anytime between 11am – 3pm on the first Saturday of every month for plant-inspired fun. £3 per child, plus normal Garden admission for accompanying adults.

Recent Bioblitz surveys of the Garden catalogued the wildlife resident at the Garden from muntjac to newly-arrived species of bumblebees. One notable and inexplicable lack from the list, given the plentiful supply of food and suitable cover, however, is the hedgehog. Once often seen at the Garden, no member of staff can recall spotting one for the best part of a decade.

Through a new partnership with the team at the Shepreth Hedgehog Hospital, which was opened by Shepreth Wildlife Conservation Charity last autumn, we hope to re-introduce the hedgehog to the Garden by taking part in the Hospital’s spring release programme.

Over the last winter, the Shepreth team have taken in 70 rescue hedgehogs and, with the help of a dedicated team of volunteers, nursed them back to health.

The experts from Shepreth visited the Garden and deemed us a suitable release site, since when Julie, Lucy and Sally from the horticultural staff have been building soft release pens ready for the arrival of six hedgehogs at the end of April, which was delayed and delayed by the icy spring weather.

Ann Gray

Mini Scarecrows Saturday 1 June Make the scariest mini scarecrows you can.

Will yours be sparkly or sci-fi, traditional or modernist?

Prickly Friends workshop Children aged 6+ can join this half-term workshop with Hugh Warwick, hedgehogchampioning ecologist and author of the book, A Prickly Affair, to discover the amazing world of the hedgehog, one of our best-loved garden heroes. Perhaps you’ll even spot one of our new rescue hedgehog residents! Maybe you’ll find out the answer to Dan Antopolski’s best oneliner joke at the Edinburgh Festival in 2009: Hedgehogs – why can’t they just share the hedge?! The workshop runs on the morning, and again in the afternoon, of Tuesday 28 May 2013. Pre-booking essential on 01223 331875, £5 per child, parents/carers to stay.

Dragonfly Day Saturday 6 July Join us for dragonfly spotting in the Garden and then make your own dragonfly to take home.

The Magic Brick Tree Saturday 3 August Discover the story of The Magic Brick Tree and join in with our modelling workshop where you will discover how to make your own magical characters.

Love Lavender Saturday 7th September Fill your house with the smell of lavender. We’ll be making lavender hearts, bags and bundles and giving you lots of tips on how to grow and harvest it.

Friends’ News – Issue 92 – May 2013

Dear Friend I am sure that you are as pleased as we in the Garden to see spring at last. Visitors have been flooding in and supporting us by joining the Friends in their droves. As a current Friend, we will always notify you in writing before your current membership expires and offer you the chance to renew.

We recommend renewing your membership at either ticket office where you will be issued with a temporary entry ticket to use while your application is processed. If you choose to renew your membership by Direct Debit (again, recommended), please complete all sections of the membership application form and pay for the current year by cash/card/cheque. Your new Direct Debit will then take effect in the following year with no need to complete any renewal paperwork.

This Friend’s News contains details of two lovely July summer outings, and a special new evening event. Hever Castle & Gardens with Merriments Garden and Nursery on 10 July and the inspirational East Ruston Old Vicarage on the Norfolk coast on 31 July will both be popular events, so do get the paperwork back to me promptly. We are also thrilled to be welcoming fragrance house, Penhaligon’s, to the Garden for an evening exploring the

Friends’ Events contribution of plants and flowers to fragrance – please see right for details.

Save the date! On Thursday 14 November we will be welcoming Fergus Garrett, Head Gardener at Great Dixter, the creation of the late legendary plantsman and alumnus of King’s College, Christopher Lloyd, to give the Annual Lecture. Further details and booking form will be in the September Friends’ News.

We are now able to offer pre-paid Garden admission tickets. If you would like to give someone the gift of entry to the Garden – perhaps to attend one of the Sounds Green proms - these tickets can be purchased from either ticket office and are valid for one month from date of purchase.

If you have any questions regarding your Friends’ membership please contact the Outreach Office on 01223 336271 or email friends@botanic.cam.ac.uk. Thank you for your valued support.

Wishing you all a lovely spring and summer.

Emma Daintrey, Outreach Administrator

Illuminating the Shop this spring!

A range of four beautiful new cards from local botanic artist and illustration tutor, Georita Harriott, are now in stock in the Botanic Garden Shop. The cards are reproduced from Georita’s original paintings in watercolour, which are full of detail and show an exquisite handling of light.

Painstakingly built-up relief detail is highlighted with gold leaf. Inspiration came from the illuminated manuscripts in the collection of the Fitzwilliam Museum, with details of flowers, seedpods, leaves, insects and wildlife meticulously drawn from life at the Garden and also from the collections in the University Museum of Zoology.

A booking form with full descriptions, details, times and prices is enclosed.

To book a place, please complete and return the enclosed booking form by the indicated closing date, after which tickets will be allocated by ballot. Please take care to note the cancellation and refund policy outlined on the booking form.

The Scented Garden: an evening with Penhaligon’s Thursday 6 June, 6.15-8.30pm Flower fragrances gather and intensify in the still of a summer evening. Join Dr Tim Upson for a tour of the scented highlights of the evening garden before settling at the Café for a glass of wine and nibbles in the company of Jude Sell, Penhaligon’s chief ‘nose’, to discover how integral plant scents are to the Penhaligon’s ethos and how to build your perfect fragrance match from floral top notes to woody bases.

Sounds Green proms Every Wednesday in July, the Cambridge Summer Music Festival are bringing upcoming ensembles to entertain with an hour of informal music on the Main Lawn, starting at 6.15pm, so bring a picnic or enjoy the Café’s special summer evening offerings and relax.

For prom performance details, see page 3.

The Garden closes at 8pm on Sounds Green evenings.

Hever Castle & Gardens with Merriments Garden & Nursery Wednesday 10 July 2013 The childhood home of Anne Boleyn, Hever is set in glorious parkland and features four acres of formal gardens including a giant topiary chess set, Tudor and Italian gardens, impressive herbaceous borders and a Rose Garden.

Merriments Garden & Nursery features imaginatively planted curved borders, colourthemed and using a rich mix of trees, shrubs, perennials, grasses and many unusual annuals.

A major attraction is the extensive nursery which offers a wide choice of unusual and interesting plants for sale.

The Botanic Garden Shop closes 15 minutes before Garden closing time. You can browse Georita’s work and prints for sale online at www.finebotanicalprints.co.uk

Thank you The Botanic Garden is very grateful for all gifts received, including from those very many Friends who chose to give over and above the standard subscription when renewing their membership. Thank you.

I We acknowledge with gratitude a legacy of £5000 from Jill Toynbee-Clarke, a lifelong supporter and benefactor of the Garden I From Mills & Reeve, support for the Sounds Green proms concerts I From Microsoft Research Ltd, support to enable the overhaul of family explorer backpacks and the development of summer activities and resources

Friends’ News – Issue 92 – May 2013

East Ruston Old Vicarage Wednesday 31 July 2013 This 20 acre garden near the Norfolk coast comprises a series of gardens encircling a delightful Arts and Crafts Vicarage, well protected from the fierce North Sea winds by walls and high hedges cut through with charming viewing holes. There’s a focus on New Zealand plants and succulents, but this unusual garden also features prairie planting, wildflower meadow and formal borders, and delights at every turn.