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THE FRIENDS OF THE CRUICKSHANK BOTANIC GARDEN Newsletter July 2012 In this issue :-

• Our new committee • Garden updates • Synopsis of a recent talks: Sharp Gardening Teacher and student: Noel Pritchard and Stephen Hopper

• Friends’ gardens open for charities

• The Herb series: Elder

• Material World at the Natural History Centre

• Summer horticultural events

• The VanDusen Botanic Garden in Vancouver

• Obituaries

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Annual General Meeting The office bearers are listed on the back page. Joan McKenzie has taken on treasurer’s post and Leona Whiteoak is now membership secretary Ordinary committee members are: Kathleen Bull, Andrew Roberts, Graeme Strachan and Jim Suttie Ex-officio members are Rod Begbie, Trustee Richard Walker, Head Gardener Mark Paterson, Curator or /David Robinson, Keeper of the Garden Spring Plant Sale Thanks to the many folk who were involved on May 12 and earlier preparations by dividing plants, potting up, labelling, advertising, setting up the stalls, selling, providing horticultural advice, clearing up and of course purchasing. The range and quality of plants on offer was particularly good this year and many new buyers came along. We had a record income of £1500 plus £240 from the excellent coffee and cakes at 53 College Bounds. This means that we have been able to fund a student gardener during the summer, so all income will be well used. Our Autumn Plant Sale will be on Saturday October 27. Autumn Programme Our full annual programme of events will be issued with the September Newsletter. Be prepared by marking the second Thursdays of the month in your diary - October 11, November 8 and December 13.

The summer student funded by the Friends is Eveline Groot who started on June 14, and came along with us on a most enjoyable bus outing to Kirriemuir. Originally from the Netherlands, she is taking a course in Amenity Horticulture run by Aberdeen College, based at Solstice Nursery in Banchory-Devenick and continues with her studies there one morning each week.

Daily opening times for the Garden are: From 9.00 to 21.30 in July, till 20.30 in August and till 18.30 in September.

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Other events of interest August 25/26 Royal Horticultural Society of Aberdeen. Summer Flower Show, Duthie Park Open from 11am until 6pm on Saturday and 10am until 5pm on Sunday Entry forms and full information at: www.rhsofaberdeen.co.uk Non-RHSA members are permitted up to ten entries, and there are classes for photography, craftwork, baking, preserves, wines and beers etc. as well as plants, cut flowers, fruit and vegetables.

August 31-September 2 Dundee Flower and Food Festival, Camperdown Park This three day event incorporates competitive sections for vegetables, fruit, pot and cut flowers, baking, craft work as well as gardening sales and advice. Features this year include a ‘Chilli Festival’, presentation by Alys Fowler from TV’s Gardeners World, cookery demonstrations by Mary Berry and the world Jampionships! Opens from 10am to 5.30pm (from 11am on Friday) www.dundeeflowerandfoodfestival.com September 8/9, 15/16 and 22/23 Castle Fraser, Sauchen Annual sale of spring bulbs and garden produce from noon till 4.30pm over three weekends in September. Check the National Trust for Scotland website for their many garden events this summer: www.nts.org

Can you help for 2-3 hours? The Friends’ Committee plan to promote the Cruickshank Botanic Garden again by staffing a display at the RHSA Summer Flower Show. We have large display boards, laminated posters and photographs of the Garden prepared. Could you assist by staffing this display for a couple of hours at the weekend? We can expect more Aberdonians to attend this year since the location is the Duthie Park, so this is a good opportunity to let them know of our ‘hidden treasure’ in Old Aberdeen.

Please contact the editor (see back page) by mid August so that a rota of

Friends can be arranged. Full information will be provided.

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Words from the Garden Well, there are floods over large part of the country, heavy rain, hailstones the size of golf balls, dark dismal days, haar and fog blocking out daylight and an occasional U.F.O (believed to be called the sun) spotted in the sky. T.V adverts indicate reduced prices on holidays, camping and BBQ equipment - it must be British summer. How are you all coping with the weather conditions? We’ve gone from one of the hottest and driest months of March on record to the wettest April through to June since 1931. It was only a few short years ago that gardening programmes were advocating that everyone should build dry gardens as our climate was changing to be almost as dry as a desert with very little rain. It does seem strange that in March farmers were busy planting early potatoes, yet some were trying to get the maincrop in the ground between rain showers in June. Be prepared for high prices of potatoes later in the year. Well here in the Cruickshank, apart from our special micro climate, we have suffered much the same as anyone else. All hands on decks are busy fighting the weed menace, full time staff, summer student and volunteers. During the last week of the university term we were particularly busy getting ready for the graduation of the School of Biological Science students, cutting and edging grass and weeding. We erected the marquee in Monday’s haar, only to be told the following day that due to the wet conditions it would not be required. It took the rest of the week for the marquee to dry out enough to be taken down. It is quite surprising in poor weather conditions what does raise your spirits. The waft of the scent of Lilac hits you as you go round the path near the beech lawn. The bright col-ours of a Dog rose in the conservation hedge reminding you that soon it will be followed by hips as the autumn sets in. The spectre of Dutch elm disease still hangs over the Garden. Every elm tree that drops a leaf makes you look at it and wonder if it will be next. However, the majority of elms in the garden seem unaffected at the moment so maybe the wet weather is affecting the beetle as well. We certainly have a lot of positives here in the Cruickshank. Seeds sown this spring have germinated bringing with them the promise of new plants to be introduced into the Garden. The new path is leading more visitors to the Arboretum, many being unaware of its existence previously. One of the recent highlights was a member of the Friends who is in her nineties coming to visit along with her grand-daughter. On being introduced to the couple I commentated to her grand-daughter how sprightly her mother was which certainly set everyone laughing. I then drove ‘granny’ as she liked to be called around the Garden on the Gator (a gift from some Friends a few years ago), stopping every few yards to show her various plants and listening to her stories. We even managed to get into the Arboretum aided by a couple of hand brake turns and wheel spins. This was the highlight of her visit. The Cow Parsley, Queen Anne’s lace as she called it, was at its best and

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deliciously scenting the entire hollow. (See the June picture in our 2012 calendar to share this splendid sight). It is a pity it does not bloom for long and we have to cut it down before it seeds everywhere. Our National Collections are slowly developing. We recently planted out five different species of Baptisia and two Nomocharis in the garden. The one illustrated by Hazel Carnegie is in the Peat Bed, though past the flowering stage by now, while others are either being bulked up or planted in the nursery stock beds. Many thanks to the Friends for funding their purchase last autumn. Recently the Friends committee also approved £300 from their funds to replant the bed under the Holm oak in the eastern part of the Rock Garden, so do keep an eye on how we spend ‘your’ money. Audrey is busy adding new plants to the Rock Garden and weeding the bottom of the sunken garden. George is trying to get the Rose Garden looking well before he turns his attention to hedge cutting. Victor and Eveline are working as a hit squad going where the need arises along with Eu-an and other student volunteers busy working on projects throughout the garden. We are making progress of course but with better weather conditions we would do so more quickly. Richard Walker, Head Gardener Produced during the Poet-Tree workshop for primary school pupils held last summer

My imagination Flowers in sight Radiant with brightness Trees so high in the bright blue sky Grass so soft. Birds up high singing songs The tall thin trees waving around. The beautiful breeze going through the grass People sneezing from the pollen around. Many flowers going into season for summer Bees and insects crawling along leaves Peace and quiet to think and relax Close your eyes and let your imagination flow. Feeling the breeze flowing through my hair Just listening to the sound around me Looking at the great surroundings everywhere The peaceful garden for my imagination.

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Nomocharis parthadina ‘Mairet’ illustrated by Hazel Carnegie

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Friends’ Gardens open for Charity

5 Rubislaw Den North, Aberdeen Tom Smith Open afternoon on Sunday August 5 from 2 - 5pm Often described as the best private garden in the North East, Tom’s design and plant combinations are a delight to the eye and soul. Phone to arrange a visit otherwise. If you have not managed to visit before, you must ask yourself why ! Tel: 01224 317345 These gardens are open by appointment only, so please phone ahead. Laundry Cottage, Culdrain, Gartly, Huntly Simon and Judith McPhun An informal, cottage-style garden of about 1.5 acres with the upper garden around the house of mixed borders, vegetables and fruit. Steep grass banks to the south and east are planted with native and non-native flowers, specimen shrubs and trees. Narrow grass paths lead down to the River Bogie. It is located four miles south of Huntly on the A97. E-mail: simon.mcphun@btinternet.com Tel: 01466 700 768 Ploughman’s Hall, Old Rayne, Mr and Mrs A Gardner The one acre garden has rock, herbaceous, herb, kitchen and woodland areas. Turn off the A9, nine miles north of Inverurie at Pitmachie. Tel: 01464 851253 Kirkside of Lochty, Menmuir, by Brechin James and Irene Mackie The garden has a huge range of plants, many rare or unusual in formal planting round the house as well as a fern collection, wildflower meadow and woodland paddock. Leave the A90 toad two miles south of Brechin towards Menmuir. The house is two miles further on behind a long beech hedge. Tel: 01356 660431 ———————————————————————————-

Other local gardens open to the public for the first time under the Scotland’s Gardens Scheme

Gardens of Alford Eight gardens within and near the village on July 22 between 1.30 and 5pm Westfield Lodge, Contlaw Road, Milltimber The garden has undergone considerable redevelopment recently and has a tropical house, several water features with associated planting and a walled garden. Cream teas too! Visitors are welcome by appointment from August 27-31 between 10am and 4pm. Tel: 07590 808178 www.gardensofscotland.org

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Cruickshank notes, early July 2012

So this isn’t going to be the year of the long hot summer, indeed judging by the last few days we seem to have by-passed summer altogether and moved straight into autumn! There has been roughly one and half times the usual rainfall and temperatures below normal for the time of year - apart from a super week of almost Mediterranean temperatures at the end of May, and a warm spell in March which served to bring plants on so that they were damaged by the subsequent snow and frost! Around here even Geans, Prunus avium, have sustained long term damage. A thirty foot double Gean, P. avium ‘Plena’ of mine has a top knot of green leaves while the rest is leafless with many dead twigs. Native plants - weeds in particular - continue to thrive in the cold and wet. There haven’t been many good hoeing days, and the tomatoes and cucumber in our tunnel are definitely sulking. So to a misty, moist, mosey round the Cruickshank, as I take a brief break from cutting sodden grass. As usual at this time of year, my favourite lawn weed, Giant Hogweed, Heracleum mantegazzianum, is poking up above the grass in the wee bulb lawn under the beech by the Chanonry entrance. Round the corner in the courtyard the double Gean P. avium ‘Plena’ is looking far healthier than mine, whilst sheltering underneath its spreading branches an attractive specimen of ‘Drooping juniper’, Juniperus recurva var. coxii looks suitably, if elegantly, depressed by the weather. The wood of this conifer is burned as incense in Buddhist temples in its native area, though rather incuriously, I have not yet tried this at home! In the rebuilt peat bed (now a log bed!) on the far side of the courtyard, the egg-yolk yellow of a ‘mini Red-hot poker’ Bulbinella hookerii, from New Zealand catches the eye. Though not utterly hardy inland, this is a good bet for a damp, shady spot forming a pleasing clump of bronze foliage and flowering freely with spikes of warm yellow flowers. In the same bed is a pleasant patch of the Northern marsh orchid, Dactylorhiza purpurella, its dark purple spikes contrasting pleasingly with the bulbinella. In the bed on the left as you turn towards the Weeping elm from the peat beds, Deutzia globosa is in fine flower despite its shady situation under deciduous trees and further on in the shrub border, leading down to St. Machar Drive can be seen another shrub which perform well in these conditions, Skimmia japonica with fine red berries - always looks better and healthier in shade. At the northern end of this bed the splendid Weeping elm, Ulmus glabra ‘Camperdownii’ flies an increasingly lonely flag for its genus - Dutch elm disease slowly claiming the mature elms in the Cruickshank and around. Roses are, I fear, essentially plants of sunshine, and while species or cultivars with single flowers survive the wet - various cultivars of the excellent and vigorous rose, R. moyesii are charming in the bed at the southern end of the Rose Garden, the more complex multi-petalled double flowers have a distinctly bedraggled air and the floribundas in the sunken area - already near the end of their productive life, look particularly unhappy. By the path down into the sunken garden underneath the southern European ash,

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Fraxinus angustifolia ‘Raywood’- an attractive medium-sized tree with pleasing purple autumn foliage, the fan-like sprays of Sisyrinchium striatum add a pleasing sculptural note to a otherwise naturalistic planting. In the sunken garden itself can be seen a fine red-flowered monocarpic Meconopsis, ? M. napaulensis and various plants of the American Baptisia australis, a herbaceous member of the pea family, with blue flowers used as a dye and for medicinal purposes by both native Americans and later by settlers. Nearby in the sunny! ‘South African’ bed on the northern slope of the sunken garden, various species and forms of the Cape figwort, Phygelius capensis and Phygelius aequalis, provide welcome splashes of colour aided by a pleasant mat of a compact form of Osteospermum jucundum. The herbaceous border, well staked as always, is just getting into its stride, with the early flowerers providing colour at the moment; Tanacetum coccineum with crimsom daisies, the tall yellow flowered Meadow rue, Thalictrum lucidum, blue-flowered Goat’s rue, Galega officinalis, the orange-flowered pea relative, Lathyrus aureus, the splendid weed-supressing Geranium macrorrhizum, here in a strong deep pink form, and a fine elegant early yellow flowered Day lily. The Chilean fire bush, Embothrium coccineum, near the summer house is in fine orange /red flower, while underneath it Colutea x media ‘Copper beauty’ is covered in charming burnt orange pea flowers. Further along the wall near the sculpture a fine stand of tall lilies are about to blossom in a similar colour. Whilst the Spring flower fest is drawing to a close in the Rock Garden, there is still much to delight; various hardy gingers, Roscoea alpina with deep purple orchid-like flowers, R. purpurea and an unnamed yellow-flowered species, all reliable candidates for any reasonable garden soil in sun or part shade, a fine stand of the un-primula-like Primula vialli, its flowers arranged like a mini red hot poker, and a vibrant red rhododendron, ‘Elizabeth’. Then back to damp gardening amidst the encircling gloom, dreaming of the long hot summer of 2013. David Atkinson

A note to life Members It will soon be 30 years since the Friends were formed and, at the beginning, life memberships were encouraged so that there was sufficient funding to get the organisation up and running. Many of you, like myself, will understand what a ‘bargain’ you have had over all these years and I ask you to consider whether you are now in the position to make a new donation or possibly even set up a small annual donation. If so, please contact me by E-mail (see back page) or send a cheque made out to the Friends of Cruickshank Botanic Garden to: Joan McKenzie, treasurer, South Warrackston, Tullynessle, Alford AB33 8QR

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Teacher and student: Dr Noel Pritchard and the antipodean Director of Kew Professor Stephen Hopper, Director and Chief Scientist of Royal Botanic Garden Kew, steps down in September to become Winthrop Professor of Biodiversity at the University of Western Australia. On planning his summer field research on the flora of granite outcrops in Scotland, he realised that this provided an opportunity to mark his respect for an early mentor, Noel Pritchard, and so gave a well attended guest lecture in Aberdeen University on July 11. His theme was the importance of good academic teachers across the world, and he began by demonstrating how Charles Darwin was influenced by John Henslow, Professor of Mineralogy at Cambridge University. Darwin had earlier abandoned his medical studies in Edinburgh, but Henslow recognised and encouraged his intellectual curiosity and was instrumental in obtaining him a position on HMS Beagle. Darwin, who was able to draw and record plants in fine detail, became aware of local botanical geography and endemism, and in 1868 developed his biological concept of species. He required great courage later to challenge the concept of creationism in his publication ‘The Origin of Species’, which went against most previous teaching as well as his family’s religious beliefs. In 1971 Noel Pritchard, then a lecturer in the Botany Department here in Aberdeen, went out to the University of Western Australia with his family for a sabbatical year. Stephen Hopper was a second year student when they were both on a week’s field trip to Gin Gin cemetery, 80 km north of Perth. We were shown slides of the colourful and varied flora of this then undisturbed site where Noel used the variations in Kangaroo paw plants, Anigozanthos, to demonstrate fundamental botanical concepts. Noel was known for his powers of careful observation and recording as well as his ability to convey enthusiasm. This fired Stephen’s interest and, on becoming aware that there was little or no literature on these plants, chose them as a means of further research. This proved to be a turning point in his career as he was then considering whether his future lay in the world of rock and pop music. In 1973 Stephen published his BSc Hons thesis on ‘Specialisation in Kangaroo paws of SW Australia’ and later, using Kangaroo paws as a model, showed why SW Australia is so rich in plant species. Among the findings was that 15% of plants in this area are pollinated by birds and mammals, shown by photographs of honey-eating possums and wattle birds seeking nectar. He was now well on the way as a researcher and able to challenge some of his supervisors on their previously held tenets. His career progressed and he was appointed to Kew in 2006 where he further developed its international standing by setting up the ‘Breathing Planet Programme’ among many others. Stephen’s illustrated talk was a tribute to Noel Pritchard as a superb lecturer, inspirational teacher and leader. We Friends are well aware of Noel’s contribution to the development Cruickshank Botanic Garden, so it was salutary to learn that his influence was international, and were glad that Mrs Pritchard and family were able to share the occasion. Hazel Witte

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Sharp Gardening: gardening with architectural and exotic plants in Britain

Christopher Holliday was the RHS-funded speaker for our meeting in April. Originally in the hotel business, his interest in horticulture began with the sight of a superb specimen of Ceanothus impressus (Santa Barbara ceanothus) thirty years ago. Work took him to Grange-over-Sands in South Cumbria and a home in a sheltered position overlooking Morecambe Bay. Visits to Mount Stuart garden in Northern Ireland and Tresco Abbey gardens in the Channel Isles fed his increasing interest in the larger and more spectacular plants, and his own garden gradually developed along those lines. Phormiums are a particular interest and he has held a National Collection of them since 1990. All require good drainage and a gravel mulch to ensure that the plant necks do not rot. Phormium cookianum subsp. Hookerii ‘Cream Delight’ with broad bands of creamy-yellow and ‘Tricolor’, with red and yellow margins do well with him and provide a range of colour. One P. Tenax, ‘Goliath’, New Zealand flax, has grown 3m in five years. He reckons that Cordylines, Cabbage palms, are best in groups in a large bed, planted at least two metres away from the path to allow for future growth. They develop to form the upper section of his preferred three layers of planting. His Dwarf fan palm, Chamaerops humili is slow growing to 1.5m, and died back during the two recent severe winters, so he was intrigued to notice some young ones in the Cruickshank Garden’s nursery beds. We were shown pictures of Californian pot gardens where most plants were grown in troughs and large earthenware pots to suit their individual requirements. Travel to Australia added to his appreciation of Agaves, Cycads and Aloes with encouragement to try some of them at home. Echium pininana from the Canary Islands can grow to over 3m and self-seeds. A biennial/triennial, it needs to be in the greenhouse for its first winter and kept dry in subsequent winters. Not all in his garden is sharp and spiky. Santolina rosmarinifolia with its finely cut leaves and yellow flowers forms a good foil for the more architectural plants, as does Cistus x pulverulentus ‘Sunset’ which flowers longer than most other varieties. He showed a large bed of Red hot pokers, kniphofia caulescens in full bloom to indicate how effective they are en masse. Aware that conditions in the North East are unlikely to suit most of his preferred plants, he suggested that anyone wishing to follow the spiky gardening route might consider Bear’s breeches, Acanthus spinosus (the more common A. mollis has a softer leaf), Cardoon thistle and Eryngium giganteum, Miss Willmott’s ghost. As pointed out in discussion, gardens such as these are no place for young children. Hazel Witte

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The VanDusen Botanic Garden in Vancouver, Canada Rain and low cloud can have an unexpected bonus! We abandoned our plan to trek high in the mountains above the city, so took the Metro line which was constructed for the Winter Olympics. The Garden was formerly a golf course but when this was abandoned, local pressure led to formation of the VanDusen Botanical Garden Association, with government and local authority funding and was named after a local philanthropist. It was difficult to accept that the garden was only opened in 1975 due to its superb mature trees, particularly Western red cedars, Thuja plicata which are so important in the culture of the West Coast First Nations, who used them for canoes, totem poles, house posts and healing. The Golden false acacia, Robinia pseudoacacia ‘Frisia’ was just one among many golden-leaved trees which are popular in domestic gardens here.

Volunteers staffed the new visitor centre and led guided walks as well as buggy tours throughout the 22 hectares, but we took the self-guided tour leaflet and avoided puddles along the lengthy rhododendron and camell ia walk, which must have been splendid a month ear l ie r . Paths and planting were designed to lead the visitor

through dozens of specialist areas, with a surprise round each corner. The Heather Garden with its many species, gained height among large rocks and led to a gazebo, providing the opportunity to contemplate one of the five lakes below. Water lilies do well here as in the wild, and they ranged though deep pink, white and yellow hues. We crept forward after noticing some movement under the huge Gunnera leaves and were surprised to see a coyote, apparently quite common in the larger city gardens. The Meconopsis Dell consisted mainly of M. betonicifolia and M. napalensis, the latter hybridising to produce a variety of colour forms, all set off by the surrounding ferns. There was so much to appreciate including formal and heritage rose gardens, borders of superb Pacific giant delphiniums, medicinal plants and vegetable demonstration plots. You can see this for yourself via their comprehensive website: www.vandusengarden.org A highly recommended visit! Hazel Witte

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Elder: sacred tree of life and tree of the dead Elder, Sambucus nigra, has as many uses and magical tales as it has creamy white flowers and shiny black berries. A distinctive muscatel fragrance in the summer hedgerow, elderflower is collected to make wine but the bush surprisingly also provides nails, dyes, blow pipes, hen perches and fly killer. Sambucus nigra is indigenous to Europe. The genus has 20-25 species three of which are listed in ‘The Wildflower Key’ (2006 edition) growing wild in the British Isles: Elder, Dwarf Elder, S. ebulus, and Red-berried Elder, S. racemosa. They cannot be con-fused: S. nigra is a large shrub to 10 metres; S. ebulus is a perennial growing to 80cm that you can see in the Zoology border; and S. racemosa is a small shrub with white flowers in pointed heads. It is S. nigra with white flowers in flat topped masses that is sacred for many cultures. These sacred beliefs are collated by Cleene and Lejeune in the Compendium of Symbolic and Ritual Plants in Europe (2002). Elder is a pharmacy with all parts used for healing: roots and bark are purgative; leaves are good for chilblains and bruises; berry juice for rheumatism, skin disease, respiratory infections; and flowers for fevers. In our household we reach for Elderberry Rob, a tonic made from the berries, at the first hint of a cold. Sarah Head showed me how to remove berries from the stalks using a small table fork. www.springfieldsanctuary.co.uk/ I derive great pleasure liberating berries, turning the freed glistening fruits in the bowl and repeatedly running my fingers through to pick out recalcitrant stems: a crucial step in making Rob. Heat the berries gently in a pan with water (125ml to 1kg of berries); a cinnamon stick; fresh ginger; nutmeg chips; allspice berries; and cloves. Boil for 20 minutes; strain the resultant juice through muslin. Bring to the boil again, add honey (350g to 400ml juice), boil to a syrup, cool, pour in as much brandy as you like and bottle. Drink Elderberry Rob diluted with three parts hot water to prevent a cold. I planted five bare root S. nigra whips in December last year, bought from Ben Reid to make a hedge with Hazel, Hawthorn, Blackthorn, Dog Rose and Rowan. Elder is fully hardy, withstands winter water-logging and will grow in any soil that doesn’t dry out in summer. If you want to harvest flowers throughout the summer then plant S. canadensis, the American Elder, as one plant grown alone in the garden will not set fruit. A wide selection of cultivars, such as S. nigra ‘Donau’, used in commercial orchards, can be bought from http://www.agroforestry.co.uk/plantorders.html Agroforestry Research Trust. Tess Darwin wrote in The Scots Herbal that Elder, the bour tree, was second only to Rowan for protecting against evil spells. In Aberdeen the five Elder and five Rowan in my new hedge stand sentinel as grey-faced youths pass down the street like spectres; with drug-distracted, unsettling strides. Colette Jones

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Material World at the Natural History Centre An excellent opportunity to celebrate the importance of the plant kingdom with school children was afforded when, as part of the preparations of the forthcoming British Science Festival, the Natural History Centre joined forces with the Reading Bus whilst also launching their new science literacy project. Primary school children from Aberdeen city were tasked to create a collage with textiles that they had found around them. The winning entry ‘Our Garden’ was produced by Westpark Primary 4 class and is currently on display in the Zoology Museum. The prize of a full day’s workshop had numerous aspects which focused on the use of plants in textiles whilst specifically featuring the stinging nettle, an early textile also known as Scotch Cloth and the children rotated around several activities:

Grace Banks from Forest Schools led a session on ‘Nettles in their Habitat’ in the Arboretum of the Cruickshank Botanic Garden. The children discovered how and where nettles grow, their importance in sustaining many species of moths and butterflies and their use since antiquity in both cordage and cookery. The children then helped prepare and taste a nettle omelette.

Using the NHC microscopes the children were introduced to some basic but close up botany and found out how the nettle protects itself through its stinging hairs.

During a ‘hands-on’ session the children were introduced to a variety of plants and examples of the fibres, yarns and other products associated with the plants. These included cotton, flax, coir, jute, banana, bamboo and nettle. Historical links showing the antiquity and importance of these were introduced.

A demonstration of spinning from Elaine Morley from the Guild of Spinners, Weavers and Dyers, was then followed by the children attempting to spin their own yarn.

Additionally a short demonstration of how natural dyes were derived from oak galls, onions, cabbage and nettle was followed by a talk from Caroline Clough, a science and fiction author, who spoke about her own writing. The sessions were documented in writing, still and time-lapse photography and podcast. The children had a wonderful time expanding their awareness of the lesser known benefits offered to humanity by plants. The work was showcased in late June at the Scottish Parliament as the pilot for a large Reading Bus science literacy project in the coming year and will also be displayed as one of the NHC’s exhibitions during the British Science Festival. Marie Fish, Natural History Centre, University of Aberdeen

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Obituaries Professor Forbes W Robertson, FRSE Born in Canada in 1920, his family later moved to Aberdeen where Forbes was educated at Robert Gordon's College and gained first class honours in Zoology at Aberdeen University. He worked in Birmingham and Edinburgh before becoming head of the new Genetics Department in Aberdeen and was later appointed professor. Always a keen gardener and plant enthusiast, he became the first Hon President of the newly formed Friends of the Cruickshank Botanical Garden in 1982. He retired to Edinburgh in 1985, became increasingly active in the Royal Society of Edinburgh and was awarded the RSE’s Bicentenary Medal in 1996. Forbes had a lifelong interest in botany and published several books, among them ‘Scottish Rock Gardening in the 20th Century’ with Alastair McKelvie, and scholarly papers. He created magnificent rock gardens at his homes and pioneered a new type of garden history that focussed on plants and the people who grew them rather than garden design. His latest book ‘Patrick Neil, Doyen of Scottish Horticulture’ was published in his 91st year. Forbes died on June 1 this year. Mary Beith Journalist and author Mary Beith died aged 73 in Talmine, Sutherland on May 13th 2012 but will continue to influence knowledge of Gaelic traditional medicine through her book ‘Healing Threads’. ‘Healing Threads’ describes a variety of remedies used in the Highlands and islands of Scotland and places them firmly in a wide historical context of the local healing tradition. The book, first published in 1995, includes a herbal of 127 plants used for healing by the Gaels or their Celtic ancestors; from agrimony to yarrow. In her introduction to the herbal Mary acknowledged that “much work remains to be done in organising a comprehensive ‘Highland Herbal’ […] I would make a plea for ecologists, botanists and Celtic scholars to join forces and funding to research thoroughly and publish a Gaelic Flora.” The ‘Flora Celtica’ project with its book on plants and people in Scotland published in 2004 has started to answer Mary’s plea. You can read more about Mary’s life in the West Highland Free Press http//www.whfp.com/ where she was a columnist for over 20 years.

Suggested economies Would you like to receive the Friends’ newsletter as an E-mail rather than the paper version? Postal charges have increased considerably so we will be pleased to reduce our postal costs as far as possible. Just let the membership secretary know, (see back page) and you could be the first to receive our quarterly news.

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Office Bearers of the Friends, 2012 – 13

President: Hazel Witte Tel: 01224 732738 Secretaries: Evelyn Massie (General) Tel: 01224 310125 Colette Jones (Programmes) Tel: 01224 592390 Treasurer: Joan McKenzie E-mail: joan.warrackston@btinternet.com Membership Secretary: Leona Whiteoak Tel: 01975 581248 Heather Cottage, Cushnie, Alford AB33 8LA E-mail: leona@alford.co.uk Subscription rates Non-earning £10.00 Ordinary £20.00 Life £200.00 www.abdn.ac.uk/botanic-garden Scottish Charity number: SC004350

The next issue will be published in September 2012. Please contact the editor with ideas and any information which you wish to be shared with other Friends. Articles should be sent in by September 2.

Hazel Witte, Monearn, Maryculter, Aberdeen AB12 5GT Tel: 01224 732738 E-mail: witte@btconnect.com