Cambridge University Botanic Garden

We’re back with another instalment of the botanical treasure hunt!

Here’s five plants across the Garden that are looking lovely at the moment, can you spot them all on your next visit this week?

🪻Daisy (Eurybia x herveyi)
🪻Eryngium pandanifolium
🪻Yucca gloriosa var. tristis
🪻Chestnut rose (Rosa roxburghii)
🪻Blue evergreen hydrangea or Chinese quinine (Hydrangea febrifuga)

What has caught your eye in the Garden? Share in the comments below!

Find more Plant Picks here: https://bit.ly/4wiDohA

Grass flowers rule our world – but how much do we know about them? 🌾

Tomorrow marks the final Science on Sunday talk of the year so, if you have 30 minutes, why not join Dr Madelaine Bartlett of the Sainsbury Laboratory to explore the amazing plant that gives us rice, wheat and corn?

📌Sunday 16 August, 2.30pm
🎫Free with normal Garden admission

Find out more here: https://bit.ly/4bLofNd

Thank you Rowan! You can pick them up at our Station Road entrance gift shop!

Chris and Sasha visited the Cambridge Botanic Garden Shop to present our latest creations. This includes cards, wrapping paper, and two collections of jewellery, all inspired by student visits to the Cambridge University Botanic Garden. The shop is open daily from 10am 🌷

🌺 A rare tropical orchid has flowered for the first time in the Garden!

Meet Dimorphorchis lowii, a fascinating orchid from Borneo that produces two different types of flowers – and only one of them has a lovely scent.

But why does it produce two different flowers? We don’t know for sure, but there are two theories:

🌸 The scented flowers could attract the pollinator, which then pollinates all the flowers – meaning the plant only needs to put energy into producing scent for some of them.

🌸 Or, the different flowers could attract different pollinators, helping to maximise seed production.

Studying pollination can be complicated and time-consuming, which could be why so little is known about this unusual plant.

Relatively rare in cultivation, this orchid has been at the Garden since 2020 and can be found in the Glasshouse Range – come and see it in all its glory! It’s originally from Borneo, and we’re delighted to see it flowering for the first time! 🌿

📸 Howard Rice.

🌱 We’re hiring: Seed Bank Coordinator

Could you help safeguard and grow one of the UK’s most important living plant collections?

We’re looking for a Seed Bank Coordinator to join Cambridge University Botanic Garden in this new, fixed-term role.

You’ll play a key part in the day-to-day running and development of our seed bank, supporting horticulture, conservation, research and seed exchange.

The role will involve coordinating seed collections, managing records and databases, overseeing the movement and distribution of seeds, and helping shape the future of our seed conservation work.

If you have a professional horticultural qualification, excellent organisational skills and a meticulous eye for detail, we’d love to hear from you.

🌿 Find out more and apply: https://bit.ly/4fR0lCn

📅 Closing date: Sunday 16 August

Know someone who could be a great fit? Please share this opportunity to work in a world-leading beautiful garden in central Cambridge.

Looking for a new way to explore the Garden this week?

See if you can find these five plants that are currently looking beautiful across the garden

One confuses bees in order to be pollinated, another emits a blackcurrant aroma from its leaves, and one is used to produce dye.

🌿Palm-leaf marshmallow (Althaea cannabina)
🌿Japanese pagoda tree (Styphnolobium japonicum)
🌿Salvia ‘Nachtvlinder’
🌿Stanhopea oculata
🌿Ironweed (Vernonia altissima)

What caught your eye during your last visit? Let us know in the comments 🌱

Find more Plant Picks here: https://bit.ly/4wiDohA

🌿 We're hiring: Horticultural Participation Coordinator

Love helping people connect with nature? Join the team at Cambridge University Botanic Garden in this brand-new role, working across our Horticulture and Learning teams to inspire people through gardening.

You'll help deliver our volunteer programme, community participation and Social & Therapeutic Horticulture activities, while supporting our living collection and public spaces.

This is a fantastic opportunity to make a real difference at one of the UK's leading university botanic gardens.

📅 Closing date: Sunday 16 August

Find out more and apply: https://bit.ly/3Uki7W7

Know someone who'd be perfect for this role? Tag them below or share this post! 💚

🏡 Gnome is where the heart is...

..and this winter, we hope it's at Cambridge Botanic Lights! ✨

We're creating a magical new gnome display, and we'd love your help to bring it to life.

If you have a good quality, waterproof, family-friendly garden gnome that's ready for a new adventure, why not give a gnome a home?

Simply donate your gnome at one of the collection boxes at our entrances, and it could become part of this year's illuminated trail.

Then, book your tickets to Cambridge Botanic Lights and see if you can spot your gnome in its new home amongst the lights! 🌟

Please remember that donated gnomes won't be returned, so only donate one you're happy to part with.

After all, no gnome should be left behind 💚

Find out more: https://bit.ly/4c3atpa

🌿 Step into the tropics – without leaving Cambridge! 🌴

Have you ever wandered into our Tropical Houses and felt like you've been transported to a rainforest? Towering leaves, vibrant flowers and warm, humid air create a world unlike anywhere else in the Garden.

So how have these extraordinary plants adapted to thrive in hot, humid rainforests?

🌳 Masters of survival

From buttress roots and waxy leaves to orchids that grow high in the canopy, tropical plants have evolved incredible ways to make the most of their environment.

💚 Meet our tropical stars

Discover remarkable plants including the dazzling jade vine, which flowers in spring, spectacular titan arum, which flowers only every 7 to 10 years, and even the cocoa tree, all growing here at the Garden.

🏡 Bring the tropics home

Many tropical plants also make fantastic houseplants, and our latest article shares tips for growing your own.

👉 Find out more in our Head of Horticulture Sally Petitt's column for this month's Cambridge Edition magazine: https://bit.ly/4wbuyky