Plants
Blossom four weeks earlier than usual
According to the National Trust, the (likely) warmest February on record has led to flowering trees and blossom emerging four weeks earlier than usual.
Regulation
Preventing the spread of invasive plants from gardens
Invasive non-native plants and animals are one of the top drivers of biodiversity loss and cost the economy over £2 billion a year.
Plants
Endangered conifers planted at RHS Rosemoor
The last of the six endangered Wollemi Pines were planted at RHS Rosemoor as part of a special worldwide conservation programme led Forestry England.
Plants
Welsh gardeners offered vouchers to dig up their Cotoneaster
The North Wales Wildlife Trust (NWWT) offering gardeners £20 vouchers to remove Cotoneaster plants from their gardens as an incentive.
Research
Scientists reveal why blueberries are blue
Researchers at the University of Bristol have revealed that the tiny external structures in the wax coating of blueberries give them their blue colour.
Plants
Toby’s Garden Fest: Pocket Meadow Project
Marking the tenth anniversary of Toby’s Garden Festival, the host Toby Buckland has teamed up with Paul Jupp of ‘Meadow in My Garden’ to raise awareness of the plight of bees and pollinators.
RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2024
The Caley Brothers: Accessible mushroom growing
Mushrooms are having their moment and on their way to becoming a staple in the gardener’s grow-your-own arsenal.
Events
Plant Health: a glimpse behind the scenes
Exclusive trade event held at Fera’s Plant Health laboratory in York on plant health on the 14th of February 2024.
Research
Lichen survives in space
Attached to outside of the International Space Station, lichen survived 18 months raising prospect life could exist on Mars.
Plants
Pioneering start-up enlists public as citizen scientists to save Britain’s Ash trees
The biochar start-up, Earthly Biochar, has announced the launch of its government-funded project to try and save Britain’s ash trees.
Media
Channel 5: Secret Life of Trees
Channel 5 has commissioned a new three-part series charting ‘The Secret Life of Trees’, to be filmed over the course of a year, throughout the UK and Europe.
Charity
David Austin Roses donates £10,000 to Grow to Know
The donation by renowned rose breeders is for the West London-based community of guerrilla gardeners, Grow to Know founded in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017.
Plants
Flowers are evolving to self-pollinate
Findings published in the New Phytologist show that scientists have discovered that flowering plants growing are increasingly depending less on insect pollinators.
Plants
OATA urges retailers to stop selling Gunnera
Retailers are advised to cease stocking and selling Gunnera due to the likelihood that the plant is result of a crossing with the banned Gunnera tinctoria.
Worth a listen
Houseplants on Hort-Talk
Comprehensive podcast about the houseplant market, customer base, drivers & benefits, featuring Jonathan Miller from Hortihouse, Alex and Mike Opperman from Opperman Plants, and Dr. Tijana Blanusa from RHS & Reading University.
Regulation
Flower industry call for further grace period on post-Brexit border checks
Both the Dutch and UK flower industry express concerns regarding impending introduction of phytosanitary certificates on medium-risk products scheduled for 31 January 2024.
Plants
London Borough of Hounslow is giving away trees
The council is giving away 750 free fruit trees to borough residents, schools and local community groups.
Plants
Plant fitness, sustainable planting & the conceptualisation of understanding plants
Professor James Hitchmough delivered the 2023 RHS John MacLeod Annual Lecture which took place in November at RHS Wisley and is now available to view online.
Plants
Kew experts predict 2024 horticulture trends
Kew horticulturists predict the trends for 2024 from drought-resistant planting, increased urban trees, grow-your-own mushrooms, all year round interest winter plants to becoming more resilient by growing ‘future’ foods.
Business
Houseplants: saviours of the last-minute Christmas shopper
Around one in seven of all houseplants sold in UK garden centres are purchased in December.