EVENTS AT THE RBG EDINBURGH & regional RBGardens 2010

[Maggi Young]

EVENTS AT THE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDEN EDINBURGH

FEBRUARY 2010

Walks and Talks and Workshops

Paper Sculpture with Snowdrops
Sat 6 - Sun 7 Feb 2010
10.00 am - 4.00 pm, Gateway Community Room, price £60 (£54 for Members). Please call 0131 248 2937 to book..
Brighten up your winter by using the snowdrop as inspiration on this two-day workshop. Explore new skills and bring new life to watercolour paper, by creating exquisite watercolours, sculptures and jewellery. Taught by Karen Clulow



Biodiversity Festival - Snowdrop Morning Walks
Mon 1 - Sat 27 Feb 2010
11.00 am - 11.30 am, John Hope Gateway, free, no booking required, 7+.
Join the Garden Rangers on Monday 1st February, then every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday in February on one of our Snowdrop Walks and discover the Garden's wonderful collection of specialist snowdrops.

Biodiversity Festival - Snowdrop Afternoon Walks
Mon 1 - Sat 27 Feb
2.00 pm - 2.30 pm, John Hope Gateway, free, no booking required, 7+.
Join the Garden Rangers on Monday 1st February, then every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday in February on one of our Snowdrop Walks to discover the Garden's wonderful collection of specialist snowdrops.

Winter Tree Identification
Sat 20 Feb 2010
10.00 am - 4.00 pm, Exhibition Hall Classroom, price £45 (£40.50 for Members) please call 0131 248 2937 to book.
Winter identification of deciduous trees relies on things like the shape, colour, position and arrangement of buds. This one day workshop is designed for complete beginners and will give you the skills to identify trees throughout the year. Taught by Max Coleman.

Uncovering Evolution
Sun 21 Feb 2010
10.00 am - 4.00 pm, Lecture Room 1,
£40 (£36 for Members), please call 0131 248 2937 to book.
Learn how to uncover the evolutionary history of plants. Discover how plants are related to each other and how we can use this information to study, name, classify and conserve them.
Taught by Elspeth Haston.          (Dr Haston is an SRGC Member, of course!!)


Heralding Spring
Sun 28 Feb
2.00 pm - 3.30 pm, Leaving from the John Hope Gateway, £4, booking advisable on 0131 248 2937, or in person at the Palm House.
Defeat winter blues, put a spring in your step by joining a walk to enjoy the early flowering bulbs, shrubs and herbaceous plants throughout the Garden

Moss Identification: Level 2
Sun 28 Feb 2010
10.00 am - 4.00 pm, field site to be confirmed,
 £45 (£40.50 for Members), please call 0131 248 2937 to book.
This workshop will include the ecology and distribution of bryophytes and the construction of keys. Previous attendance on Moss ID for Beginners or other experience required. Taught by David Chamberlain.

Family Events

Biodiversity Festival - Alexander Hamilton
Sat 6 - Sun 7 Feb 2010
1.00 pm - 4.00 pm, Real Life Science Studio, John Hope Gateway, free, drop in, no booking required, ages 5+.
Award-winning artist Alexander Hamilton and the RBGE phenology team record the coming of spring in a unique art/science collaboration. Techniques such as photograms and images made from capillary-action join scientific methods to show seasonal change in our native woodland flora

Biodiversity Festival - Nature's Job Centre
Sat 13 - Sun 14 Feb
1.00 pm - 4.00 pm, Real Life Science Studio, John Hope Gateway, free, drop in, no booking required, ages 5+.
Temping for trees? Flexi-time for fleas? Discover the variety of roles different species play in the environment at Nature’s Job Centre. Recruit the right critter for the right job, and find out if it’s a lichen’s livelihood or business for bees!
With the University of Edinburgh

Biodiversity Festival - Phylogeny
Sat 20 - Sun 21 Feb 2010
1.00 pm - 4.00 pm, Real Life Science Studio, John Hope Gateway, free, drop in, no booking required, Ages 5+.
All living things are linked by a common ancestor. The ‘Tree of Life’ is a powerful visualisation of an important scientific idea. Explore life’s unifying principal with RBGE scientists and artist Hamer Dodds.


Biodiversity Festival - John Muir Trust
Sat 27 - Sun 28 Feb 2010
1.00 pm - 4.00 pm, Real Life Science Studio, John Hope Gateway, free, drop in, no booking required, ages 5+.
John Muir (1838-1914) is considered by many to be the founding father of the modern conservation movement.  Find out more about the John Muir Trust, the leading wild land conservation charity in the United Kingdom. www.jmt.org

Live Performances

Talking Trees Storytelling
Sun 21 Feb 2010
2.00 pm - 3.00 pm, Patrick Geddes Room, John Hope Gateways, free, no booking required, ages 5+.
Meet the Talking Trees Storytellers for their monthly session of stories of trees and travellers, magic and marvels.


Exhibitions

The Wych Elm Project
Until Sunday, 21 March 9.30am-7.00pm, John Hope Gateway, free
The Wych Elm Project features work by some of Scotland's leading makers using material from a giant and much loved wych elm that was felled in the Botanic Garden in 2003.

Karla Black
Sat 14 Nov  - Tues 9 Feb 2010
10.00 am - 3.30 pm, Inverleith House, no booking required, admission free. Inverleith House open Tuesday - Sunday, 10am to 3.30pm.
Highly acclaimed internationally, Glasgow-based artist Karla Black (b. 1972) will make new installations for the seven rooms of Inverleith House, using ephemeral materials to create powerful works evoking the landscape.


Spring Bouquet
Tues 2 - Fri 26 Feb 2010
10.00 am – 4.30 pm (Monday – Friday), Library Foyer, 20a Inverleith Row.
Snowdrops have featured prominently in previous February exhibitions.

[Maggi Young]

Listings for March 2010 events at the Royal
Botanic Garden Edinburgh and the three regional Gardens at Logan, Dawyck
and Benmore.

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

MARCH 2010


Walks Talks and Workshops
Lichen Identification
Sun 14 Mar 2010
10.00 am - 4.00 pm, Teaching Lab, £45 (£40.50 for Members). Please call 0131 248 2937 to book.
An introduction to the fundamental features of lichens. The day will include a lab-based session providing an introduction to the lichens, their structure and function and identification techniques.
Taught by Louise Olley.

Arts, Photography & Wellbeing Courses

Digital Plant Photography Workshop I
Sat 6 Mar 2010
9.30 am - 3.45 pm, Board Room, £75 (£67.50 for Members). Please call 0131 248 2937 to book.
Spend two days learning how to get the most out of your digital camera and discover the advantages of taking plant photographs digitally. Taught by Liz Cole.

Simple Art of Meditation
Sat 13 Mar 2010
10.00 am - 4.00 pm, Conference Room, £40 (£36 for Members). Please call 0131 248 2937 to book.
This one day workshop is designed for all those interested in working with the mind in a clear and relaxed way...

Digital Plant Photography Workshop II
Sat 27 Mar 2010
9.30 am - 3.45 pm, Board Room, £35 (£31.50 for Members).Please call 0131 248 2937 to book.
A one-day advanced course, suitable for those who have attended Digital Plant Photography I or who have experience of using a high-end digital camera. Taught by Liz Cole.

Exhibitions

The Wych Elm Project
Sat 1 Aug 2009 - Thurs 1 Apr 2010
10.00 am, details tbc
The Wych Elm Project features work by some of Scotland's leading makers using material from a giant and much loved wych elm that was felled in the Botanic Garden in 2003.

Events at Benmore, Logan & Dawyck

Colour Fields [D]
Mon 1 Feb - Sun 25 Apr
10.00 am, Studio, free, no booking required.
John Nelson produces paintings which he hopes encapsulate his natural joie de vivre and love of colour.

Additional categories: Exhibitions

Pteridomania - The Renaissance
Mon 1 Mar - Sun 16 May
10.00 am, Benmore Courtyard Gallery, free, no booking required.
Marking the opening of the restored Victorian Fernery in Benmore Botanic Garden, this exhibition sets a remarkable building in the context of the fascinating world of ferns from Victorian pteridomania to the current conservation work of the Garden.
Exhibition closes half an hour before the Garden.
Additional categories: Exhibitions


Members' Events

Early Signs of Spring
Tues 9 Mar
10.30 am - 11.45 am, Discovery Centre, £4 (normal Garden admission applies),  no booking required.
Come along and enjoy a tour to see what's been happening over winter at Scotland's most exotic garden. The guided tour will examine the Garden's latest developments and see what blooms are on display.
Additional categories: Walks and Talks

Lecture: The Phoenix Tree by Dr Max Coleman
Tues 16 Mar
7.30 pm, Lecture Theatre, RBGE, £5 (£3 for Members), please return booking form or call 0131 552 5339.
The wych elm has a long association with people but has recently become something of a forgotten tree due to the bleak prospects created by Dutch elm disease. Max Coleman, RBGE Science Communicator, will talk about the recently published book 'Wych Elm'.

Coffee Morning: Fallen petals; rising stars
Wed 24 Mar
10.30 am, venue to be confirmed, £2 (Members only, payable on the door), please call 0131 552 5339 to book,
Tony Garn, Garden Supervisor, will talk about some of the highlights and curiosities to be seen in the Garden at this time of year.

[Maggi Young]

For any questions about the RBGE and regional R.B.Garden events, please contact:
Sandra Donnelly
Press & Marketing Officer
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

Tel: 0131 248 1037 

[mark smyth]

Lichens and photography would be good