Bumblebees, solitary bees, wildflowers, & the hidden magic of pollination 🐝 A rare chance to join me in #Stirlingshire for a bee talk & guided walk as part of a beautiful Summer Solstice Arts weekend Do come if you can! Or share with friends in the area... www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-other-...

The 'Other' Bees

A talk and walk as part of the Long Light, Deep Roots Soltice. An introduction to the fascinating worlds of bumble bees and solitary bees.

eventbrite.co.uk

For the first time in over 400 years, there is a beaver dam in #GlenAffric! 🦫 The ultimate example of their ecosystem engineering, #beaver dams create deeper pools, slow the flow of water, improve water quality, and provide rich habitats for #wildlife such as fish, frogs, otters and birds.

A beautiful but endangered species of #Gentiana #Gentianaceae from #Sikkim described as new to science by Indian researchers #CalcuttaUniversity, #GuruNanakDevUniversity, #MansarovarGlobalUniversity #Forest&EnvironmentDeptartmentSikkim in #OpenAccess #EJB @thebotanics.bsky.social: bit.ly/49adcvL

We have an announcement. OUR CHERRY TREE IS BUDDING! 🌸 Thank you to the Orkney Japan Association - our tree is one of 30 cherry trees planted across #Orkney as part of the Sakura Cherry Tree Project. 🌸❤️🌸

Orkney Library & Archive@orkneylibrary.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Exciting news - we now have a CHERRY TREE growing outside Orkney Library & Archive! ❤️ Massive thanks to the Orkney Japan Association. It's one of 30 trees planted in #Orkney as part of the #Sakura Cherry Tree Project which aims to plant 10,000 cherry trees across the UK. 🌸🌸🌸

As part of my ‘When Beasts Spoke’ exhibition we’ve created a children’s woodland den area! You can sit, read my illustrated art book and write a story about Squirrel. I’ll be choosing a winning story at the end of the exhibition and the winner will take home the original squirrel canvas!🪾🐿️🪾

Lovely, as always, to visit @thebotanics.bsky.social today. I have always admired the East Gates depicting Rhododendron calophytum. The gates are fitting recognition that the garden holds the world's largest collection of wild origin Rhododendron, some 650 species.

Doggo still thinks they're a puppy: #AGoodPlace Source: www.reddit.com/r/funnypets/...

Done! 30 wild flowers. Really enjoyed this project, was a bit like keeping a sketch book, but the pages were canvases. Made me try out things I may not have normally tried. Would recommend a little self-set goal like this to any artist! Honestly, been a joy. Plus I learnt some new flower names. 🌸🍃🌼🍃

Lundy has been dramatically described as 'Britain's Galapagos' but it's not an unreasonable comparison. It hosts the only British example of 'co-endemism' - an endemic species that is host to another endemic species (and perhaps even *two* endemic species...) Interested? Book a ticket!

Biological Recording Company@biologicalrecording.co.uk · 5mo ago

Lundy Cabbage: a cliff-top endemic 🌿 Found only on Lundy, this wild brassica supports its own flea beetle; both found nowhere else on Earth. Join us on on 5 May to find out more about the UK’s endemic plants. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1977171014... @bsbibotany.bsky.social @bsbicountries.bsky.social

Very interesting! Thank you @beccyscottuk.bsky.social theconversation.com/the-black-de...

The Black Death’s counterintuitive effect: as human numbers fell, so did plant diversity

New study finds that plant biodiversity collapsed in landscapes where arable production was abandoned during and after the Black Death era.

theconversation.com

The #CaledonianForest is more than trees 🌲 It’s a wildlife-rich web of life - home to iconic animals like red squirrel, crested tit, wood ant and Scottish wildcat. 🐿🐜 Some are found nowhere else in #Britain, and all depend on rich, healthy habitats for shelter and survival.🌳 #WorldWildlifeDay

@bsbibotany.bsky.social There is a beautiful display of snowdrops near me. But I took this on selfie mode just to get a glimpse of blue sky too.

Maths and biology conspired to make something beautiful: the world’s largest floating leaf (genus Victoria), spanning up to 3 m across. We decoded this enigma with mathematical modelling to show the lattice is an economy of material– the most structurally efficient way to cover a large surface area.

We're trialling something new this year at the BSBI - an activity designed to support absolute beginner botanists with identifying *and* recording their first ever 100 plants in 2026 🌿 If you know anyone that might like to take part then please spread the word: bsbi.org/take-part/ac...

BBC News - Special bricks to help birds put in every new home in Scotland www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/ar...

Swift bricks to be put in every new home in Scotland

The Scottish government has made it part of the law, that all new homes should have a special brick added to make a home for swifts

bbc.co.uk

If you are in the UK and were born between 1970 and 1990 you may not have had enough doses of MMR vaccine to be protected from measles. Contact your GP to get a booster course for free. www.nhs.uk/vaccinations...

MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine

Find out about the MMR vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella, including who should have it, when it's given and possible side effects.

nhs.uk

Kathryn Rose@artsyhonker.bsky.social · 6mo ago

So, hey, this isn't great: www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

BBC News - Courting capercaillies up 50% on Cairngorms reserve www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Courting capercaillies up 50% on Cairngorms reserve

Conservationists counted 30 lekking males on the RSPB's Abernethy nature reserve last year.

bbc.co.uk

Part2 #ExhibitionSneakPeek #ScottishWildcat #wildcat

My debut solo exhibition is this spring. I’m delighted to announce the details, and so excited to share what I’ve been working on 🤍

The journal editor... concluded the topic was not relevant to the scientific community. I was devastated. But my advisor encouraged me, saying the editor lacked vision: “Does everyone in plant biology really have to work on Arabidopsis?” he asked.

Juliane K. Ishida: From Grandmother’s Garden to the Frontiers of Parasitic Plants

Botany One interviews Dr. Juliane Ishida who has gone miles —literally— to undercover the mysteries of parasitic plants.

botany.one

May is the month of colours popping🌈🪻🎨🙌🎉 A sea of nemophila (ネモフィラ), known as 'baby blue eyes', welcomes visitors to the top of Mt Hiei. Up here the flowers of early spring are still going strong. #Hieizan #Kyoto #MtHiei #比叡山 #京都 #Japan #spring #babyblueeyes

🚨 New Edinburgh exhibition! Ever wondered what's in our world-renowned herbarium? Now's your chance to find out. Explore the stories behind diverse specimens and the vital role the collection plays in tackling biodiversity challenges. 📍 22 March - 29 June 2025 at the John Hope Gateway. Free entry.

Our #LochArkaig estate manager Henry Dobson shows the chilly location of a rare and threatened plant species we are conserving in collaboration with @thebotanics.bsky.social In Finland, this plant is known as "bear hay" because brown bears love to munch on it.🐻

So our Chancellor believes industry should “focus on getting things built, and stop worrying about the #bats and the #newts”. Please read @batconservation.bsky.social's response... and click on their link to find out what they're doing about these so called 'reforms' and how we can help 🦇 👇

Bat Conservation Trust@batconservation.bsky.social · 2y ago

🦇 (1/2) In response to the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s speech today: we believe that blaming the laws that protect bats, newts and other wildlife, as well as our wider environment, for planning delays is short sighted and misguided.

🤩 It’s official! We’re ready for Scotland’s Trade Fair 🤩 First day tomorrow. Looking forward to meeting lots of lovely people… (Feeling equally excited, nervous, and exhausted already 😆🙌🤞😬💛) Couldn’t have done any of today without you @brigitstrawbridge.bsky.social , thank you xxxxxxx

'Alright pal, got plans for the #BigGardenBirdwatch?' 'Nah, just the usual... hang out of sight whilst she's doing the count, then touch down once the hour's over. You?' 'Classic. Planning some fly-bys with a few of the boys, but we'll only land one at a time.' 'Niiice.'

Looking forward to the start of 'Monty Don's British Gardens' 8pm BBC2, today, especially to see Little Sparta, created by Ian Hamilton Finlay & his wife Sue. I wasn't sure what to expect when I visited, but loved this unique moorland garden, its diverse themes of artwork, landscape & planting.

Puppy raised lovely Cookie for Guide Dogs and we're so proud of her becoming a working guide dog earlier this year. Her guide dog owner sent me these lovely photos as it will be her first Christmas with them. So thoughtful to do that. It really made my day!

Reprising my favourite horticulturally themed Christmas photo! Mistletoe salesmen, 1926.