Events at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
DECEMBER 2009
Family Events
Green Christmas - Trees
Sat 5 - Sun 6 Dec
1.00 pm - 4.00 pm, Real Life Science Studio, John Hope Gateway, free, drop in, no booking required, ages 5+,
Find out more about ‘Christmas trees’ – where they’re grown, sustainable harvesting, different species used - and make a Celtic Tree Calendar pendant or key ring to give as a unique gift (remember to bring their birthday date!). Part of National Tree Week.
Green Christmas - Botanical Illustration
Sat 12 Dec
1.00 pm - 4.00 pm, Real Life Science Studio, John Hope Gateway, free, drop in, no booking required, ages 5+.
Learn some of the techniques used to make accurate drawings of plants and create unique Christmas cards and gift tags featuring your own illustrations of seasonal plants. With Louise Olley.
Green Christmas - Christmas Wreaths
Sun 13 Dec
1.00 pm - 4.00 pm, Real Life Science Studio, John Hope Gateway free, no booking required, all ages.
Join the team from Art-tastic to transform household materials into beautiful Christmas wreaths for your door or mantlepiece. Combine urban waste with natural materials to create a Christmas that is quirky, creative, thrifty and green!
Green Christmas - Christmas Spice
Sat 19 - Sun 20 Dec
1.00 pm - 4.00 pm, Real Life Science Studio, John Hope Gateway, free, drop in, no booking required, Ages 5+.
The ginger family contains a number of spice producing plants. Find out about the Garden’s living collection of gingers and the ongoing research into this diverse plant family. Make a spicy gift to take home!
Live Performances
Green Christmas - Talking Trees Storytelling
Fri 4 Dec, Fri 11 Dec, Sun 13 Dec, Sun 20 Dec
2.00 pm - 3.00 pm, Real Life Science Studio (Fri sessions)/Patrick Geddes Room (Sun sessions), free, John Hope Gateway no booking required, 5+,.
Join the Talking Trees Storytellers for special stories about winter and Christmas.
Exhibitions
The Wych Elm Project
[date tbc] 9.30am-6.00pm, 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.
Two Hundred Years of the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society
Tues 6 Oct - Wed 23 Dec
10.00 am - 4.30 pm, Library Foyer, free, no booking required.
In December 1809, seventeen men took steps to form the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society, known to subsequent generations as "The Caley."
Karla Black
Sat 14 Nov 2009 - 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.
Arts, Photography & Wellbeing Courses
Christmas Decorations from Straw
Sun 6 Dec
10.00 am - 4.00 pm, Gateway Community Room, Price £45 (£40.50 for Members). Please call 0131 248 2937 to book.
Celebrate Christmas the continental way by creating beautiful gifts and decorations from wheat and oat straw. Taught by Renata Edge.
The Confection Box!
Sat 12 Dec
10.00 am - 4.00 pm, Lecture Room 2, price: £45 (£40.50 for Members). Please call the 0131 248 2937 to book.
Make your own seasonal selection of herbal gifts just in time for Christmas. Includes Chocolate Orange Balm, Winter Spice Oil and Mulled Wine Mix. Taught by Catherine Conway-Payne.
Members' Events
Coffee Morning: John Hope, the man behind the Gateway name
Thurs 3 Dec
10.30 am, venue to be confirmed, £2 (Members only, payable on the door), please call 0131 552 5339 to book.
Jane Corrie, Research Associate at RBGE, will talk about John Hope, Regius Keeper of RBGE 1761-1786, and why it is so appropriate that the new Gateway is named after him.
Christmas in the Gallery
Sat 5 Dec
7.00 pm, Courtyard Gallery, £12 (£10 for Members), please return booking form or book at Benmore Café.
Come and enjoy a social event in the Courtyard Gallery with seasonal entertainment, mulled wine and a finger buffet.
Lecture: Gertrude Jekyll - Artist, Gardener, Craftswoman by Professor Michael Tooley
Thurs 10 Dec
7.30 pm, Lecture Theatre, RBGE, £5 (£3 for Members)please return booking form or call 0131 552 5339.
Joint lecture with the Garden History Society. Michael Tooley, Professor of Geography at the University of St Andrews, will talk about the famous designer of more than 400 gardens.
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
20a Inverleith Row
Edinburgh
EH3 5LR
T: 0131 248 1037
