Cherry Tree Flowers All Year

Spring flowering of cherry trees is a big celebration in Japan with people widely celebrating the arrival of the new season.  The celebration is called Hanami and the people of Japan sit under flowering cherry trees and have a party. But they might be undecided when hearing the news that Japanese scientists have created a [...]

Frost Delays Snowdrops

The Telegraph reports that he recent icy and snowy weather has delayed the January snowdrop display. Personally, I think the snowdrop is a lovely flower and we often enjoy a family trip to nearby Ness Gardens (part of Liverpool University) to see theirs. It’s not surprising that snowdrops are late …how could anything underground move [...]

James May Shows Plasticine Flowers At Chelsea

The BBC Top Gear presenter has recently swapped playing with cars to playing with Plasticine – it is claimed he made Plasticine flowers for his Chelsea Flower Show display. Insisting the display is not a spoof (I rather think it is myself), May says that he went to both floristry and modelling classes before designing [...]

Magnolia Plant Under Threat

Magnolias are in danger of dying out according to botanists at Fauna and Flora International. These ancient plants are apparently disappearing due to the destruction of their forest habitats and from exploitation for timber and medicine. Magnolias evolved before bees appeared and some specimens in Chinese temples are believed to be 800 years old. They [...]

Queen Cuts Kew Gardens Cake

To celebrate 250 years of the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew the Queen was invited to cut the birthday cake. The Telegraph reports that as the Queen struggled to cut through the icing (evidently not Royal – isn’t that soft?) of the palm house shaped fruit cake, her husband the Duke of Edinburgh joked “Press [...]

Chelsea Flower Show Feels The Crunch

This May’s Chelsea Flower Show is due to feature just 13 show gardens, down from last years record of 22 and lower than the five-year average of 19. It is suggested that several award-winning gardeners have been unable to raise sufficient funds to enter designs after companies including Marks & Spencer and Neal’s Yard decided [...]