Postbag Edition: Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

Questions and timecodes are below. Where applicable, plant names have been provided.

Q – Can plants survive without being watered for a month? (04’06”)

Q – My soil lacks worms – why is this? And how can I repopulate the soil with them? (07’05”)

Q – What Mediterranean plans would survive in the rocky mountains of Colorado? (10’41”)

James Wong –

Opuntia, prickly pear

Neil Porteous –

Yucca aloifolia, yucca

Yucca rostrata, beaked yucca

Puyas

Q – A Tropaeolum speciosum I planted years ago has taken over my garden! How do I get rid of it? (13’29”)

Feature – Discussion on glasshouses and maintenance (18’08)

Neil Portoeus –

Cycas, sago

Encephalartos

James Wong –

Agave attenuate, foxtail agave

Q – How do I use a glasshouse? Can I grow tomatoes and cucumbers in it? (20’28”)

Kirsty Wilson –

Lathyrus odoratus, sweet peas (annuals)

Narcissus, daffodils

Neil Porteous –

Perpetual strawberries

Q – I can’t seem to grow curry leaves. Could you offer some tips and tricks? (24’34”)

James Wong –

Murraya koenigii, curry tree

Q – The roots of my ash tree keep invading my crops. What can I do to stop it? (28’02”)

Kirsty Wilson –

Lettuces

Rocket

Beetroot

Feature – Kirsty Returns to the Queen’s Mother’s Garden which she helped to design whilst working at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh

David Knott –

Rosa Gertrude Jekyll ('Ausbord'PBR) (S), rose [Gertrude Jekyll]

Kirsty Wilson –

Rosa Olivia Rose Austin ('Ausmixture'PBR) (S), rose [Olivia Rose Austin]

Q – What other plants could I include in my railway garden that will provide height and fulfil my other requests? (33’00”)

Neil Porteous –

Veronica 'Pewter Dome' (H), hebe 'Pewter Dome'

Ophiopogon japonicus, mondo grass

Liriope muscari, big blue lilyturf

David Knott –

Ilex crenata, Japanese holly

Taxus, yew

Salix 'Boydii' (f), willow ‘Boydii’

Salix herbacea, dwarf willow

James Wong –

Pratia pedunculata

Kirsty Wilson –

Cyclamen

Cyclamen hederifolium, ivy-leaved cyclamen

Cyclamen coum, eastern cyclamen

Galanthus, snowdrops

Scillas

Muscaris, grape hyacinth

Q – What should I do with my thriving Christmas cactus? Should I pot it up – if so, when? (37’50”)