The Plant Listener

Herbaceous perennials are smart cookies. During winter, they retreat underground allowing them to escape the ravages of the weather and hide completely from potential predators. They can live for a very long time but rarely look as old as they actually are.

Deciduous trees, like The Big Guy, go through this autumn senescence every year. It is a natural, programmed response to the coming of winter in order to protect themselves from wind and snow.

And so it was, on the hottest recorded day ever in Scotland, I took Astrid out of the car, sat her on the wall in front of my house and promptly forgot about her. By the time I remembered to move her into the shade, it was too late for poor Astrid. She already had a ba...

How my injured shoulder may have consequences for a group of Small Blue Butterflies

My wee seasonal bedding plants on the beach road are in double trouble. Blasted by the hot summer sun and, with the salt-laden sea breeze sucking moisture out of them at an alarming rate, they must be feeling permanently hungover.

The Weeping Larch at Kelburn is one of Scotland's 100 Heritage Trees. It covers an area of around a quarter of an acre and is thought to be about 180 years old. Its massive tangle of arms lie across the ground and reminds me of a giant, sleeping octopus.

Giving a plant everything it needs to help it through its pregnancy will reward us with bigger and better fruits.Regular watering of pregnant plants is essential. Periods of drought will cause the fruits to shrink as they dry up, and swell again when they are next wate...

I consider myself lucky. My partner and I live with our windows looking onto the Firth of Clyde. In 2009, a kayaking neighbour told us about a solitary dolphin, living practically right outside our window. We bought binoculars, we graduated to a telescope, the dolphin...

A few weeks ago, Miss Venus caught a small parasitic wasp and she seems to taking advantage of the nutrients supplied by the wasp to gradually regain her strength but she's got a long way to go before she looks anything like she used to. She and I have been togethe...