Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh - alpine house and news

[Maggi Young]

More photos tweeted by John Mitchell from the final stages of  the Takikistan trip - Iris hoogiana https://twitter.com/jmitchell_RBGE/status/468732154789117956/photo/1  ,  Iris cf tadshikorum https://twitter.com/jmitchell_RBGE/status/468733071278084096/photo/1  and Dionysia involucrata https://twitter.com/jmitchell_RBGE/status/468731117827153920/photo/1 growing by Varsob Dushanbe ; 
Story and more photos : ( and note the tea and biscuits!!)
http://stories.rbge.org.uk/archives/11563

Kit and Richard - recording and pressing....


All reports so far :
http://stories.rbge.org.uk/archives/11325 Expedition to Tajikistan
http://stories.rbge.org.uk/archives/11449  Tajikistan 2014: Onward to Khorog
http://stories.rbge.org.uk/archives/11486 Tajikistan 2014: Ishkaham and on to Langar
http://stories.rbge.org.uk/archives/11563 Tajikistan 2014: Final Stage of Trip

[Maggi Young]

Kit Strange is managing to tweet from Tajikistan, too -


John M. photographing Dionysias on the sheer granite cliff faces


Lovely Eremurus growing at the base of a granite cliff in Varsob

[Maggi Young]

John M. shows that pressing the specimens is not always straightforward......

[Maggi Young]

Nearly the end of the trip:
"Splitting herbarium material on second last day of expedition in Tajikistan"

[Maggi Young]

The final hurdle, cleaning the living material





The final pictures from the expedition  - all material packed away safely

[Maggi Young]

John M. is seeing more Iris now he is back in Edinburgh - here is Iris barbatula at the RBGE


John is not only an RBGE employee, he is also the convener of the SRGC Edinburgh and the Lothians Group.

[Maggi Young]

Back at RBGE after the Tajikistan expedition - unpacking and checking......

[Maggi Young]

Al E has been tweeting again.....

Cardiocrinum giganteum flowering in the RBGE Woodland


Meconopsis punicea


Endemic Nepalese species flowering

[Maggi Young]

Annoying to read of another  sneaky theft from a botanic garden. This time the RBGE -  From a  BBC news report  19 June 2014  :
"Thieves steal Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh plants to sell on eBay"


Security measures installed

The Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh has been forced to step up its security after thieves stole rare plants from its collection to sell on eBay.
Officials said the thieves must have specialist horticultural knowledge as it is their endangered plants that have been taken from the garden.
Now CCTV cameras are being installed at the world renowned scientific site.
Visitors to the garden are being asked to report anyone they see removing vegetation or cuttings from the garden.

'Pretty gutted'

Simon Milne, regius keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, said: "We were noticing some plants were being damaged and indeed some plants being removed.
"We are pretty gutted, not just the fact we spend hours looking after these rare and threatened plants, it also undermines the very work we are trying to do, particularly in conservation, education and our scientific research.
"We are having to now up security measures here, one example would be to up CCTV and that sadly is diverting resources away from the conservation of plants.
"Our message to the public is if you see anyone vandalising plants, taking cuttings or removing them to please tell a member of staff."

There is clearly a supposition that the plants  have been taken to sell on - so keep an eye out on ebay for anything suspicious. I don't know what type of plants have been stolen.

[angie]

Maggi I hate reading stories like this. Yet again these people spoil it for everyone else.

Angie 

[alanelliott]

For anyone who wants a bit more info
http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/botanics-hit-by-green-fingered-thief-1-3452307

[Tim Ingram]

I have a photograph taken way back in 1984 of the alpine house at the Botanics and a collection of 'vegetable sheep' behind wire netting, so this isn't especially new. What must be so annoying is that such plants need the sort of care that those who take them probably will not understand, let alone all the frustration of losing important plants. Although these things are hitting the headlines they must have always taken place and it's hard to contemplate surrounding collections of plants with security cameras and surveillance all the time. The thing about plants is that they can be propagated, so to an extent making rare plants available to be increased might reduce the problem: a seed collector like Jim Archibald, for example, who had such wide contacts in the gardening world, enabled specialist nurseries like ourselves to grow many of these sorts of plants, and those who bought seed from him often also supplied him with rare and unusual seed. Botanic gardens are not able to do this, as they may have done to an extent in the past, because of the laws associated with obtaining plants from the wild in many cases; but distributing seed (for example by Gothenberg and the Chelsea Physic Garden amongst others) has always been a fundamental purpose of such gardens. Are the regulations surrounding plants becoming part of the problem?

Mind you, green fingered thieves are likely to be opportunists so I don't suppose it can be easily combatted without specifically watching the most valuable plants. It is interesting how the open discussion that goes on on this Forum often highlights dubious practices on ebay and elsewhere.

[alanelliott]

Whoever is pinching the plants is not an opportunist they are targeting material that is not available in cultivation. Also it is doubtful that those responsible are at all interested in cultivating the plants. It is far more likely they have seen an opportunity to make money by selling something that is not available on the market.

Take the upcoming Orchid fare. There will be no RBGE orchid material on display in the Gateway. It has all be bought in by from Holland by the Taiwanese because its just too risky
Fingers were burnt during the Rhodo conference last year with people at the conference helping themselves to plant material that was put on display specifically for it.

[Tim Ingram]

Alan - it is really sad to hear this because it implies that the problems are only set to get worse if these are 'professional' thieves. And at least from my point of view a great stimulation of growing plants comes from showing them to others; that must be particularly true for a Botanic Garden.

[Maggi Young]

I'm afraid I find it impossible to remain calm about such thefts - these are thefts from all of us, from a national institution which exists to educate as well as to entertain the public. 
It infuriates me  - I regret that electric traps are unlikely to be available!