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#AdventBotany 2018, Day 20: Once upon a time: A tale of fairies from the RHS...
By Yvette Harvey I am still pondering why a pagan spirit of the dead, or, more recently a demoted angel, should play such a big part in Christmas – for Christmas certainly wouldn’t be the same without...
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#AdventBotany 2018, Day 21: A botanical pick-me up for the bleak midwinter
By Rachel Webster Rachel’s Coffee With four previous years of Advent Botany I was surprised that none of us have so far covered coffee. OK, it’s not a Christmassy spice, or a festive decoration, but by...
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#AdventBotany 2018, Day 22: Thyme for a good stuffing
By Fi Young Thymus in flower Sage and onion stuffing seems to be the norm for stuffing a Christmas turkey, but what about using thyme? A Google search produced 9 million results! A quick look through...
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#AdventBotany 2018, Day 23: I met Tunnicliffe in a forest of Conifers
by Claire Smith Photo © Claire Smith As children I’m sure we’ve all sprinkled far too much glitter onto a pine cone and hung it from the Christmas tree… but have you ever wondered where your festive...
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#AdventBotany 2018, Day 24: The hunt for Disa x brendae
Disa caulescens Neither my partner Ben nor I actively celebrate Christmas. We prefer to hide away from the crazy world that Christmas has become and endeavour to find ourselves as far away from...
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#AdventBotany 2018, Day 25: Naughty or Nice?
By Claire Smith This image is licensed from Wikimedia Commons under CC BY-SA 3.0. Are you on Santa’s Naughty or Nice list this year? If all you’ve discovered in the toe of your stocking this morning is...
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#AdventBotany 2019, Day 1: Clementine, Satsuma, Tangerine; what’s the...
By Alastair Culham Welcome to #AdventBotany 2019 and the start of another journey into quirky, curious, hostorical and, above all, botanical information about the plants associated with the winter...
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#AdventBotany 2019 Day 2: Death by chocolate
By Alastair Culham In 2014 I introduced the food of the gods, Theobroma cacao, as the source of chocolate, that staple of Christmas excess, in the 16th Advent Botany post. Today, in the second for...
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#AdventBotany 2019 Day 6: Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly…
By Claire Smith Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly… But not until Christmas Eve, otherwise you’ll have bad luck! Once your holly (Ilex aquifolium) and other festive evergreens are in place, it is also...
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#AdventBotany 2021 – Day5 – All I Want for Christmas is an Identified...
By Claire Smith Katharine Murray Lyell’s book, A Geographical Distribution of All the Known Ferns, was published by John Murray (who was also Charles Darwin’s publisher), in January 1870. We know from...
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