Autumn/Winter 2012/13 - Harcourt Arboretum - University of Oxford

The University of Oxford 

Botanic 

Garden & 

Harcourt 

Arboretum 

News 

82 

Winter 2012/13 

Contents | A few words... | Recent developments 

Plant portrait | Ginkgo biloba – an effective plant-derived therapy 

Education update | Garden and Arboretum events 

Friends’ news | Friends’ visits and events | The last word

2 Botanic Garden & Harcourt Arboretum News | No. 82 

A few words... 

by 

Timothy 

Walker 

Timothy Walker is Director of the Botanic 

Garden and Harcourt Arboretum 

One of the holy grails of gardeners, judging 

by the number of books on the subject, is 

a garden in which there is all-year-round 

interest. The reason for this is both simple and 

illogical. It is a simple pleasure to walk in one’s 

garden on any day of the year and see a plant, 

flower, fruit or stem which makes you smile, 

or stop and look more closely, or perhaps 

even reach for a camera. It might be illogical, 

however, to say that we actually want to be 

in the garden on 365 days of the year. There 

are some mucky days in the winter when it is 

almost the last place that I want to be. 

However, assuming that we are both 

simple and illogical, it is reasonable to ask 

how many plants, or how big a garden, 

would one need to realize the dream of an 

all-year-round garden. And what would 

be the plants that you could use Taking 

the latter question first, and using 

the Botanic Garden in Oxford as an 

example, two hectares (or 20,000 square 

metres) is enough. However, 800 square 

metres of the Garden is glasshouse and most 

of us do not have this in our plot at home (8 

square metres perhaps, but not 800). 

Does the lack of a glasshouse mean that 

your garden cannot be exotic The answer 

to this is “clearly not”. While you cannot 

grow a jade vine (Strongylodon macrobotrys) 

without a tropical greenhouse you can grow 

the equally odd coloured Puya berteroniana 

or the similarly shaped lobster claw 

(Clianthus puniceus). You may not be able 

to grow the Victoria water lily but ordinary 

hardy water lilies are equally beautiful 

and flower for much longer and in greater 

numbers. We cannot grow the sacred lotus 

(Nelumbo nucifera) in our outside water lily 

pond (and believe me we have tried, after 

seeing it surviving the winter outside in 

Pennsylvania in a frozen pond). However, 

we can grow Magnolia grandiflora which 

is taxonomically removed but which has 

superficially similar flowers. 

You may not be able to grow 

Amorphophallus rivieri but Dracunculus 

vulgaris is a piece of cake and the 

inflorescence lasts for longer but without 

quite the same stink. It used to be said 

that Roscoea is the only hardy genus in the 

ginger family (Zingiberaceae). However, 

today species and cultivars in Hedychium 

do very well without any winter protection. 

H. densiflorum ‘Assam Orange’ has survived 

for more than three decades at the base of 

the East Wall here at the Botanic Garden. 

Hedychium coccineum ‘Tara’ did very well 

for a few years at the base of the South Wall 

until the wall fell on it. 

The jade vine Strongylodon macrobotrys 

While the Madagascan spiny shrub 

Pachypodium lamerei does need the 

protection of the Arid House, common 

milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) in the 

same family is very happy in the Family 

Beds. The trivial fact in this edition 

of the newsletter is that monarch 

butterfly caterpillars feed exclusively on 

milkweed, increasing in size by 2,700 

times. More importantly the caterpillar 

becomes very toxic to predators, 

particularly jays. 

Sometimes hardy and tender plants 

are very similar. The hardy Passiflora 

caerulea is not that different from 

tender Passiflora alata, though some 

plants of the former can be very shy 

to flower and if you have one of these 

under-performing individuals give it 

one last chance and then dig it out. For 

many years we grew Begonia grandis ssp. 

evansiana in the west facing Fern Border, 

Dracunculus vulgaris 

Magnolia grandiflora

Botanic Garden & Harcourt Arboretum News | No. 82 

3 

Hedychium densiflorum ‘Assam Orange’ 

propagating it each autumn as insurance 

and covering the crown with bracken 

before the frosts began. Now it grows in 

the open on the Autumn Border. This 

is a begonia that is as exotic as anything 

under the staging in the Conservatory. 

There are now bananas that can be 

grown outside successfully such as the 

Musa basjoo on our Family Beds. This 

summer we have grown Musa lasiocarpa 

outside. This is a very strange banana in 

that it has an erect flower shoot as opposed 

to the traditional pendulous hands. The 

bees have shown a great deal of interest 

in the flowers but as yet there is no sign of 

any seeds setting. This species is supposed 

to be hardy; time will tell. 

So you do not need a greenhouse to 

be exotic but how many different plants 

do you need to guarantee a different 

showstopper on every day of the year 

365 would seem to be the minimum 

The banana Musa lasiocarpa 

but some plants will give flowers and fruit 

and autumn colour so you may get away 

with fewer. If we assume that we could find 

365 different plants, that according to the 

books flower on 365 different days, would 

we have a garden Gertrude Jekyll would 

have said “no” because she believed that 

only when colour was considered did your 

collection of plants become a garden. 

I am unaware of anyone ever having 

drawn up a list of plants that should give 

365 days of pleasure all-year-round. If you 

have one I would be delighted to see it. In 

the meantime I am working on it for Oxford. 

There is, though, one more problem: the list 

will be based on conditions in a normal year 

and as we all know (because Mary Spiller says 

so) there is no such thing as a normal year. 

Pachypodium lamerei 

Common milkweed Asclepias syriaca 

The blue passion flower Passiflora caerulea


Recent 

developments 

by 

Tom 

Price 

The Hardy Collection at the Garden 

The Garden has looked stunningly beautiful over the last few months, thanks 

in part to all the rain we have experienced, but also because for the first time in 

three years there are no blank spaces caused by redevelopments. 

Tom Price is Gardens Curator and leads a 

team of six Botanical Horticulturalists, plus 

several teams of volunteers, who cultivate 

all the outdoor areas of the Garden. Here he 

is seen with the Katsura tree (Cercidiphyllum 

japonicum), one of the plants whose seed he 

hopes to collect during his trip to Japan. 

The Kim Wilkie Master Plan is now fully 

realised, with the installation of the 

Medicinal Beds, Compost Area, Vegetable 

Collection, new Orchard and the Merton 

Borders. All of this has brought about a 

huge change to the face to the Garden, one 

that we are very proud to present. These 

developments have been on a large scale 

and over a relatively short time period 

for a 4.5 acre, 391 year old garden. Such 

achievements would not have been possible 

without the generous support of donors 

including the Monument Trust, the Finnis 

Scott Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and of 

course the Friends. 

The new areas are now widely utilised 

to support the work of the Botanic Garden: 

the Medicinal Beds, for example, are used in 

teaching at secondary and tertiary levels, and 

included in guided tours and in the Public 

Education Programme. The Vegetable and 

Orchard Collections are used in teaching at 

primary, secondary and tertiary levels. They 

are also a big hit with the general public and 

perhaps most significantly are being used to 

develop community outreach programmes 

to engage new audiences. This summer, 

members of the Donnington Doorstep 

Family Centre and Oxford Mind came to 

picnic events at the Garden where they 

joined Vicki Wood (HLF Education Trainee), 

Jim Penny (Botanical Horticulturalist), Ness 

Reaves and other volunteers to harvest 

vegetables from our plots, prepare food for 

the picnic and take part in food-themed craft 

activities. The events were a huge success, 

thanks largely to Vicki’s hard work and 

determination. We are now keen to build 

on this momentum and continue our work 

engaging with the local community. 

The Merton Borders have been looking 

impressive over the past few weeks, with 

more plants flowering than we had expected 

in the first year following sowing. The 

planting is beginning to knit together and 

will look much more established next year. 

The Merton Borders in late September, with the tall grass Stipa gigantea in the foreground 

on the right and the purple flowers of Aster sedifolius ‘Nana’ throughout 

Members of the Donnington Doorstep 

Family Centre harvesting vegetables with 

Botanical Horticulturalist Jim Penny 

Professor James Hitchmough visited the 

Garden in the autumn to reassess the project 

and to provide instruction on thinning and 

editing the scheme. We have received some 

very positive feedback on the Borders of 

late. It feels as though we have really turned 

a corner and that visitors can now see and 

fully understand why we chose to go down 

this route. The success of the Olympic and 

Paralympic Games, and the coverage of James’ 

contributions to the Olympic Park, have no 

doubt helped. 

The Compost Area is now fully operational 

and much admired by visiting college 

gardeners. We have recently spread the first 

batch of mulch on the Yew Bed in the Walled 

Garden. The process from garden waste to 

perfectly dark, friable mulch took 12 weeks, a 

record for the Garden. Having such a facility 

on site is of major importance; it allows us to 

communicate further the important aspects of 

gardening in a sustainable manner. Recycling 

our green waste to produce soil conditioner 

which is added to the beds and borders, 

replacing the nutrients removed by the plants 

themselves, helps to maintain a healthy, well 

structured, moisture-retentive and fertile soil. 

The Gardens team would like to 

acknowledge the commitment and hard work 

of our volunteers this year, and to thank them 

all for so generously providing many hours of 

time and bucket-loads of enthusiasm. Their 

help has had a hugely positive impact on 

the Garden. We hope that they have enjoyed 

volunteering with us, and will continue to join 

in as we improve the Garden even more over 

the years ahead. 

Finally, looking forward, staff from the 

Garden and Arboretum are about to embark 

on our first plant collection trip since the 

1980s. By working in conjunction with the 

University of Oxford’s Department of Plant


5 

The Glasshouse 

Collection at 

the Garden 

by 

Kate 

Pritchard 

Sciences we will develop and improve 

bio-geographical collections across both sites. 

This will begin with the flora of Japan. We are 

working in collaboration with the University 

of Bonn Botanical Gardens. In October and 

November, Ben Jones (Arboretum Curator) 

and I will be in Japan for four weeks. We will 

meet directors and curators from several 

botanic gardens in Tokyo to discuss our 

seed collection trip in 2013, before travelling 

through Japan from Hokkaido to Shikoku, 

meeting contacts and investigating suitable 

collection sites. The long-term aim is to 

collect wild origin seed of endemic plant 

species for inclusion in the collections at 

the Garden and Arboretum. We will support 

these collections by obtaining voucher 

herbarium specimens for accessioning into 

the University of Oxford Herbaria. This will 

allow us to communicate the importance 

of global plant biodiversity, the need for 

its preservation and important research 

conducted by the Department of Plant 

Sciences at Oxford. 

This exciting project has been kindly 

supported by a generous donation from the 

Impey Charitable Trust and the Friends. If 

you would like to follow the progress of the 

trip, Ben and I will be posting regular updates 

on the blog: http://oxfordbg.blogspot.co.uk/ 

Sally Orriss, Carol Maxwell and Volunteer 

Co-ordinator Mary Isaac at a party held 

at the Garden in September to thank 

volunteers for their hard work this year 

Every year we delude ourselves that this is the year when we will maintain 

the upper hand and that we will stay on top of the rampant growth in the 

Glasshouses. But by mid-summer the reality dawns that despite our best efforts 

to keep plants in check, to stop them bursting through the roof and the vents 

and uprooting the paths, the vegetation has won hands down yet again. As 

the days start to shorten, we find our optimism wanes in equal measure. 

Kate Pritchard is Glasshouse Curator and 

Plant Health Officer. She leads a team of 

four Botanical Horticulturalists. 

Autumn is the time of year when we 

venture into the impenetrable jungle of the 

Glasshouses; the season of slash and burn 

is upon us. With the aid of scaffold towers, 

ladders, pole pruners and power washers 

we start a month’s programme of pruning 

and cleaning. A team of hardened Botanical 

Horticulturists, machetes in hand and with 

enough drinking water to last several days, 

sally forth. With great skill and dexterity, 

they set about pruning and training, cajoling 

and encouraging the plants under their care 

to give some ground. 

With the cleaning of the glass, 

respectable levels of daylight return 

to the houses. The finish is not quite 

Waterford crystal, but it is amazing what 

a difference removing thick slime and 

composting leaves can make. Almost 

immediately plants begin to respond and 

so our optimism starts to wax once more 

as we pledge that this will be the year we 

triumph.We hope to have made room for 

visitors to pass through the Glasshouses 

unhindered. We would like you to emerge 

from the tropics full of awe and wonder, 

rather than having to be cut free from an 

entanglement of tendrils. Do visit us and 

judge for yourselves! 

On staff matters, Botanical 

Horticulturist Lili Friend has completed a 

series of bespoke training days organised 

with the tropical nursery team at Kew. The 

focus has been the cultivation of kindred 

glasshouse collections held by the two 

Gardens. We said goodbye to William 

Le Texier in October; William returns to 

France after two years at the Garden. His 

keen interest in plants and bonhomie will 

be much missed and we wish him well. 

We were fortunate to be joined by Neville 

Evans for a week in September, who ably 

assisted us under Glass during the slash 

and burn. Neville is a previous Trainee of 

the Garden and now works at The Eden 

Project. We also welcome this year’s 

Horticultural Trainees Jenny Kimmis and 

Jess Lee, who started at the Garden in 

mid-September and have joined us for a 

year. You will hear how they are getting on 

in the next edition of the newsletter. 

Horticulturalist Richard East powerwashing 

the glass of the Arid House


Harcourt 

Arboretum 

by 

Ben 

Jones 

Ben Jones is Arboretum Curator and leads 

a team of three Arboriculturalists 

From a plant point of view, the 

Arboretum has really benefitted 

from the wettest summer in a 

hundred years, with a variety of plants 

displaying an extraordinary amount 

of growth or simply enjoying a degree 

of health and vigor that previous 

growing seasons have not provided. 

Palmer’s Leys gave us 167 bales of 

silage, a staggering amount for a 30 

acre meadow. Whilst walking through 

Palmer’s Leys one morning, I counted 

nine red kites circling above, five of 

which settled in the same oak tree. 

Red kites on an oak tree at 

the edge of Palmer’s Leys 

Arboriculturalists Guy Horwood and Karl Lofthouse inspecting an oak 

As autumn arrived, the view from my office 

window changed from a range of greens 

to an ever-widening pallet of colours: reds, 

yellows and oranges from Acers, Hamemelis, 

Phellodendron and Cercidiphyllum. 

Walking down the Acer Glade gives one a 

strong sense of autumn developing. Acers are 

the obvious highlight in this area, but dawn 

redwoods and swamp cypresses really come 

into their own as well. This winter and spring 

2013 will see a number of areas replanted 

with exotic trees and shrubs and as they 

establish and mature, they will make their 

own contribution to the landscape, not only 

in the autumn, but with spring flowers and/ 

or winter structure. Next time you visit the 

Arboretum, have a look at the Quercus alba 

that was planted this spring on the Serpentine 

Ride. A native to North America, its common 

name is white or stave oak. Early European 

settlers used its timber for shipbuilding, but 

its close-grained impervious wood made it 

ideal for watertight barrel staves. Whilst this 

tree will give a deep red colour in autumn, it 

will display an equally vivid red with its new 

growth in the spring. 

An important autumn job is that of visual 

tree assessments. These provide us with an 

opportunity to gauge the general health of 

our trees and to ensure that the Arboretum 

and Garden’s trees are safe. Assessments are 

scheduled to coincide with the appearance 

of fungal fruiting bodies. A number of 

tree-related pathogens present a fruiting body 

in the autumn, and whilst the presence of a 

fungus does not mean that the tree needs to 

be removed immediately, it does help us to 

build a picture of the tree’s health. 

Griffola frondosa or Hen of the Woods 

The fungus Griffola frondosa is 

commonly known as Hen of the Woods, 

as its fruiting body can resemble a small 

hen! Its most common host is oak, but it is 

sometimes found on sweet chestnuts and 

other hardwoods. It affects the base of the 

stem and the roots, preferentially degrading 

the lignin, whilst the cellulose remains 

intact. Thankfully this occurs at a reasonably 

slow pace. 

October saw the start of our monthly 

Volunteer Work Party. The last Wednesday of 

each month will provide volunteers with the 

opportunity to work alongside Arboretum 

staff, carrying out a variety of tasks from 

general collection maintenance (an 

attempt to make weeding sound exciting!) 

to coppicing and hedge laying. If you are 

interested in joining us or would like 

more information, please contact our 

Volunteer Co-ordinator Mary Isaac on 

volunteers@obg.ox.ac.uk


7 

Plant portrait 

Sea Hollies 

Eryngium 

by Jim Penny, Botanical Horticulturalist 

Eryngium is the largest genus in Apiaceae, the carrot family, 

with about 250 species distributed across the world. The 

largest concentration is in South America and, of the 25 

species found in Europe, the Sea Holly (E. maritimum) and 

the scarce Field Eryngo (E. campestre) are native to the 

British Isles. 

Seed of three Eryngium species has been sown on the 

Merton Borders here at the Botanic Garden: E. maritimum, 

E. planum and E. yuccifolium. All three have germinated 

successfully with E. planum flowering profusely in its 

first year from seed. The intense metallic blue of the 

inflorescences is common in many Eryngium species and, 

combined with their striking architecture, makes them 

popular garden plants. Resentful of root disturbance, 

Eryngium establish well when sown directly. Species such as 

E. maritimum are adapted to the inhospitable environment 

of coastal habitats with extensive root systems and thick 

waxy foliage. The blue colouration of the inflorescence, 

caused by the pigment anthocyanin, may well protect the 

plant from strong sunlight. Extreme conditions, such as high 

light levels and poor soils, intensify this colour. 

Common names such as Sea Holly (E. maritimum) and 

the Watling Street Thistle (E. campestre) suggest that the 

genus is not typical of the Apiaceae. The dense, stalkless 

umbel [a cluster of flowers on short stalks of equal length 

spread from a common point, somewhat like a handleless 

umbrella] is surrounded by long, spiny bracts and does 

make the plant resemble a thistle. The leaves of many 

species such as E. yuccifolium have the strap-like structure 

and parallel vein pattern of monocots. 

Eryngium has been used as food and medicine across 

the world. E. foetidum is a popular culinary herb in India, 

imparting a taste somewhat like coriander. Roots of E. 

maritimum were collected widely in 17th century England 

to be candied as “Eryngoes”. These lozenges were credited 

with tonic and aphrodisiac properties. In The Merry 

Wives of Windsor Falstaff calls for the sky to “hail kissingcomfits 

and snow eryngoes; let there come a tempest of 

provocation.” Elizabethan Colchester became known for 

its production of “Oysters and Eringo Root”. E. planum has 

been used as a traditional remedy for whooping cough in 

Transylvania and some American species were believed to 

be effective against snake bites. Modern medical research 

has identified potential uses in the treatment of skin 

conditions. 

A variety of E. giganteum, “Miss Willmott’s Ghost”, was 

so called after the eccentric horticulturalist Ellen Willmott 

probably not, as Christopher Lloyd suggested “because 

she was pale and prickly,” but after her habit of sowing the 

seed wherever she visited in the late 19th and early 20th 

centuries . This fascinating and varied genus has retained 

its popularity as an ornamental perennial and its allure as a 

scarce wild plant of the British seashore.


Ginkgo biloba – 

an effective plant 

derived therapy 

by Rachel Thomas 

Plant-derived treatments incite strong opinions, which change almost 

seasonally. One plant which is commonly cited as a treatment for many 

ills - including concentration problems, confusion, tinnitus, and even 

cardiovascular disease - is Ginkgo biloba, the Maidenhair tree. It is thought 

to be one of the oldest tree species, and individual plants live for up to 

1,000 years in Korea, China and Japan. 

Rachel Thomas has a Bachelor of 

Biomedical Engineering and a Bachelor of 

Science from the University of Sydney, and 

a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery from 

Green Templeton College, Oxford. She has 

a strong interest in plant derived therapies 

and their potential future roles. 

Ginkgo biloba is cultivated globally to 

satisfy the demand for its leaves for 

medicinal purposes. Claims as to their 

therapeutic properties are frequently 

reinforced by personal experiences, or by 

the fact that Ginkgo biloba has been used 

for “thousands of years” in traditional 

Chinese medicine. Whilst these attitudes 

may be valid in some circumstances, the 

efficacy of treatments can only be judged 

by rigorous scientific analysis. High quality 

evidence - derived from multiple, large, 

randomised, double-blinded control 

studies - is required, particularly when 

the outcome is the licensing of a drug, the 

allocation of funding by health services 

and the creation of treatment protocols. 

Memory improvement, particularly in 

patients with dementia, is an area in which 

claims about Ginkgo biloba’s efficacy are 

commonly made. A review carried out 

by Birks et al in 2009 looked at its use 

in demented and cognitively impaired 

patients, surveying evidence from many 

studies. Thirty six trials lasted less than 

three months; several found positive 

effects but these were not confirmed in 

larger, more recent trials. Nine trials were 

longer (more than six months) but showed 

variable results: mood, depression and 

cognition were inconsistently related to 

the doses. Three of the four most recent 

trials found no difference between the 

placebo and Gingko biloba. However, one 

trial reported a very large impact from 

the use of Ginkgo biloba. This study, by 

Napryeyenko (2005), of 400 patients 

over six months, included only those 

with neuropsychiatric features of 

dementia. It has been hypothesised that 

patients with these features decline more 

rapidly, and thus may gain more benefit, 

from Ginkgo biloba. 

In the majority of trials studied by Birks 

et al, there was no significant difference 

between the side effects reported by the 

patients taking the placebo and by those 

on Gingko biloba. The review concluded 

that whilst Gingko biloba appears safe, and 

with no more side effects than a placebo, 

there is currently inconsistent evidence 

There are claims that the leaves of Ginkgo biloba can treat many ailments


9 

supporting its benefits for people with 

cognitive impairment and dementia. 

It is claimed that Ginkgo biloba may 

help with tinnitus (the perception of 

sounds in the ears when there is no 

external stimulus). Hilton and Stuart 

performed a review of studies in this area 

in 2009. They looked at thirteen trials 

and analysed three (ten were excluded for 

sub-standard methodology). Whilst one, by 

Ernst in 1999, showed a slight effect in that 

the volume of the tinnitus was reduced, 

there was found to be a large placebo 

effect in the other studies. The cause of 

the tinnitus may influence whether or not 

Ginkgo biloba has an impact: if it is due to 

a vascular insufficiency, then a positive 

impact may be more likely, whereas if 

it is primary tinnitus (where no cause 

is identifiable), then an impact may be 

less likely. The reviewers concluded that 

further research is needed, as most trials 

had unsatisfactory methodology. 

Gingko biloba may assist in treating 

cardiovascular disease, a whole body 

condition which can present as cerebrovascular 

disease (such as a stroke), or as 

a cardiac event (such as a heart attack). 

Alternatively, it may present as peripheral 

vascular disease, causing, for example, 

exercise-induced and rest-relieved calf 

pains (intermittent claudication). Studies 

have looked at the effects of Ginkgo biloba 

on some of these conditions. A review by 

Zeng et al, published in 2009, looked at 

the use of Ginkgo biloba extract in treating 

acute ischaemic stroke; it is used widely 

for this in China. Ginkgo biloba has been 

shown to increase cerebral blood flow and 

glucose uptake in the brain, and Zeng et al 

aimed to assess the evidence for whether 

this extract improved the functional 

outcome in stroke patients. They 

determined that in the 14 trials available 

(ten of which were sufficiently rigorous to 

be included in their analysis), there was 

no convincing evidence to support the 

routine use of Ginkgo biloba, and that 

again more quality research was needed in 

this area. 

Another review looked at Ginkgo 

biloba for the treatment of intermittent 

claudication (limping or cramps). 

Supervised graded exercise programmes 

(aimed at increasing the collateral blood 

Extracts of Ginkgo biloba 

may interact adversely 

with other medications 

supply by encouraging the formation 

of new vessels) and pharmacological 

therapies are commonly used in attempts 

to treat patients’ symptoms. The review, 

by Nicolai et al (2009) looked at Ginkgo 

biloba’s effect on how far patients could 

walk before pain set in. Eleven trials (on 

477 subjects) were analysed, comparing 

achievable walking distance having taken 

a placebo, to that with Ginkgo biloba. 

These studies reported that patients who 

had taken Ginkgo biloba could walk an 

average of 64.5 meters further than those 

who had not. Nicolai et al concluded 

that there is high-quality evidence to 

support the claim that Ginkgo biloba can 

improve walking distance in patients with 

intermittent claudication. 

The largest single clinical trial on 

Gingko biloba was the eight-year “Gingko 

biloba for the Evaluation of Memory” 

study, lead by DeKosky at four clinical 

sites in the USA, costing $36 million. 

This double blind, placebo-controlled 

study randomly allocated 3,069 patients 

with 120 milligrams of Gingko biloba, 

or a placebo, twice daily. Whilst the 

trial was initially conceived to look at 

Ginkgo biloba’s effect on dementia, the 

evidence produced was later used to look 

at other conditions as well. It showed 

that Ginkgo biloba did not slow cognitive 

decline, results consistent with previous 

reviews in this area. It also demonstrated 

that Gingko biloba did not lower blood 

pressure, nor reduce cancer risk. It did, 

however, show that Gingko biloba could 

reduce peripheral vascular disease, 

again consistent with the findings of 

previous reviews. 

Garden blog 

Keep up to date with what’s happening 

in the Garden with our regularly-updated blog 

http://oxfordbg.blogspot.co.uk 

As with any supplement or medication, 

there is potential for Gingko biloba to 

cause adverse effects, including skin 

reactions and headaches. Undesirable 

drug interactions are also a possibility: 

for example patients on anti-coagulant 

medications may have an increased 

tendency to bleed when taking Gingko 

biloba. However, the vast majority of 

studies, and reviews of these studies, have 

shown that the adverse effects of Ginkgo 

biloba are minimal (often equivalent to 

those of the placebo) and that the extract 

is safe. 

Gingko biloba has been hailed as a 

treatment for many ailments. When 

evaluating such claims, high quality 

evidence is needed. Independent 

analyses of the results from multiple 

studies into Ginkgo biloba have revealed 

similar conclusions: for many claims, for 

example that the therapy can assist with 

cognitive impairment, there is little or no 

supporting evidence. Other claims, such 

as to Ginkgo biloba’s positive effects on 

peripheral vascular disease, are supported 

by the clinical evidence. Ginkgo biloba 

may deliver benefits in other areas, but 

well-designed studies and tr ials are still 

needed to investigate these.


Education update 

by Lynn Daley, Kate Castleden, Sarah Lloyd 

and Leah Whitcher, Education Officers 

Family Friendly events at both the Garden 

and the Arboretum went very well over 

the summer, in spite of the challenging 

weather. We followed an Olympic theme 

with sessions ranging from “Record-breaking 

Seeds” at the Botanic Garden to “Is Speed 

Important” at the Arboretum. “Quest”, 

our geocaching treasure hunt, ran at the 

Arboretum during the school summer 

holidays and was as popular as ever, with 

over 900 people taking part. New activities 

were included in the treasure hunt this year 

and feedback has been very positive. 

Autumn arrived with the new school 

year and the primary school programme 

booked up very quickly at both sites. We 

are also running our seasonal Continuing 

Professional Development courses for 

teachers for a second year, and are again 

involved in Oxford Brookes University’s 

Cultural Weeks. These give PGCE students 

the opportunity to visit sites around 

Oxfordshire which offer school programmes. 

At the Botanic Garden and Arboretum we are 

providing sessions for students to show them 

the type of primary school programmes and 

events that we offer. This will help them to 

organise trips when they qualify as primary 

school teachers next year. 

The Arboretum has something to offer 

in every season when teaching secondary 

school biology sessions. In school it is 

sometimes easy to forget that biology is a 

subject about living things in real places, and 

we aim to encourage teachers to think that 

the best place to start teaching the subject 

is outside the classroom. Our woodland 

ecology programme runs in the coldest 

months of the year – not always popular 

with teenagers as many refuse to wear a 

Family Friendly fun at the Arboretum 

coat! But those that do visit are able to really 

appreciate the coppice as a productive part of 

the Arboretum. The area around the charcoal 

burner is now very accessible and a great 

place to bring a group together and talk about 

the sustainable use of natural resources. 

In October the Botanic Garden 

took part in national Biology Week 

(www.societyofbiology.org/ 

newsandevents/biologyweek) with a 

special school session and a trail for visitors. 

During the October half-term we celebrated 

bats at the Arboretum with a Family Friendly 

event linked to the Year of the Bat (www. 

yearofthebat.org). It was an exciting day, 

with the RSPB joining us to provide extra 

“batty” crafts and delicious teas provided by 

the Friends. The Family Friendly event at the 

Botanic Garden was “Autumn Inspired Art”, 

part of the national Big Draw event (www. 

campaignfordrawing.org). 

November 23rd is national Takeover 

Museums Day 2012 organised by the charity 

Kids in Museums (www.kidsinmuseums. 

org.uk/takeoverday). We are taking part 

for the first time, inviting local Year 6 school 

children to the Garden to help us develop 

and improve our explorer backpacks. 

Kate Castleden, who came back from 

maternity leave in June, takes over from 

Leah Whitcher, who is off to pastures new on 

the Devon coast. We wish Leah luck in her 

new ventures in environmental education, 

this time with a marine twist! Kate will job 

share with Emma Williams, who returns 

from maternity leave in November. 

The charcoal burning area at the Arboretum 

Creative use of natural resources!


11 

Garden and Arboretum events 

by Alison Foster and Liz Woolley 

Big Botanic 

Christmas Tree 

Come and see our festive tree adorned 

with natural decorations made by 

Oxfordshire school children. On 1st 

December there will be a free drop-in 

session from 10.30am - 12.30pm at which 

you too can turn natural treasures into 

beautiful decorations to hang on our tree 

or to take home. 

≠ Throughout December, 

in the Garden’s Conservatory 

Fairtrade Fortnight 

25th February – 10th March 2013 

Explore the Garden’s Glasshouses to find 

tropical crop plants like cotton and coffee, 

and learn what a difference Fairtrade can 

make to farmers. 

Family Friendly 

events during 

February half term 

Trees without leaves trail 

Monday 11th – Friday 15th February 2013, 

10.00am - 3.00pm at the Arboretum 

Take a closer look at trees without their 

leaves…who knows what you might find 

Free and no need to book, just come along 

and pick up a trail. 

Brilliant Banks 

Wednesday 15th February 2013, 

1.00 - 3.30pm at the Botanic Garden 

A free drop-in session to celebrate the 

birthday of Joseph Banks, one of Britain’s 

most eminent botanists and plant hunters: 

270 today! 

Performance artist Aaron Williamson at 

Parlour Jardin, an evening of the uncanny 

at the Garden, which kicked off our 2012/13 

Public Education Programme in September. 

The Public Education 

Programme 

See www.botanic-garden.ox.ac.uk/ 

whatson for a full programme. Places for 

events are still available, including: 

Woodland management 

at Harcourt Arboretum 

Saturday 23rd February 2013 

A guided walk led by Guy Horwood. Find 

out about the working woodland area at the 

Arboretum. Discover more about the value of 

this area – both in terms of biodiversity and 

the sustainable products it produces. There 

will also be a chance to purchase some pea 

sticks and charcoal at a discounted rate for 

the summer ahead. 

≠ 11.00am - 1.00pm 

≠ Tickets cost £15 

Willow weaving course 

at the Arboretum 

Tuesday 26th February, Wednesday 27th 

February or Thursday 28th February 2013 

Learn the art of willow weaving with willow 

sculptor Tom Hare while creating a story 

telling enclosure at Harcourt Arboretum. 

Participants will be taught the basics of willow 

weaving on each day, but can book for more 

than one day of the three. A story telling 

“magic circle” will be created in the coppice 

area of the Arboretum. 

≠ 10.00am - 4.00pm, Harcourt Arboretum 

≠ Tickets cost £60 per day 

Winter Lectures 

≠ 8.00pm, Said Business School, 

Oxford (adjacent to railway 

station). 

≠ Tickets cost £12 per lecture or £54 

for the whole series (ticket price 

includes a glass of wine). 

Andrea Wulf 

Founding gardeners: 

The revolutionary generation, 

nature, and the shaping of 

the American nation 

Thursday 24th January 2013 

This beautifully illustrated talk looks at 

the lives of the founding fathers and how 

their attitude to plants, gardens, nature 

and agriculture shaped the American 

nation. George Washington, John Adams, 

Thomas Jefferson and James Madison 

regarded themselves foremost as farmers 

and plantsmen, and for them gardening, 

agriculture and botany were elemental 

passions, as deeply ingrained in their 

characters as their belief in 

liberty for the nation they 

were creating. In a unique 

retelling of the creation of 

America, award-winning 

historian Andrea Wulf 

will show how plants, 

politics and personalities 

intertwined as never before. 

Chris Crowder 

Shaping history – 

the garden at Levens Hall 

Thursday 7th February 2013 

Gardens can be a living link with the past, and 

few reflect this more than the garden 

at Levens Hall whose layout and iconic topiary 

were first established more than three centuries 

ago. Chris Crowder, head gardener there for over 

25 years, will chart its evolution through historic 

documents, plans and paintings to present day 

photography. Chris will reveal a reverence for 

its past, whilst acknowledging that refreshment 

and renewal are vital in presenting great 

gardens to each new generation.


Sophieka Piebenga 

The landscape gardener, 

William Sawrey Gilpin 

Thursday 21st February 2013 

William Sawrey Gilpin (c1762-1843) was a 

landscape painter who, late in life, turned 

to landscape gardening. A nephew of 

the Reverend William Gilpin (writer on 

the picturesque aesthetic), W S Gilpin 

applied the principles of painting to the 

improvement of landscapes. During 

the 1820s and 1830s he established 

himself as a much sought-after landscape 

gardener, working for ‘some hundreds’ of 

landowners across the British Isles. One 

such owner is Edward Vernon-Harcourt for 

whom Gilpin is believed to have worked 

in the 1830s at Nuneham Courtenay and 

in particular at what is now known as the 

Harcourt Arboretum. 

Christopher Woodward 

The history of floristry 

and the cut flower trade 

Thursday 7th March 2013 

To coincide with the Garden Museum’s 

new exhibition, its Director Christopher 

Woodward sketches out the story of the cut 

flower trade in Britain, from the country 

house cutting garden and Covent Garden 

Market to the transformations in fashion 

led by Getrude Jekyll and Constance Spry 

- and the inspiration to artists. How did the 

trade become a $40 billion global industry, 

suddenly at the centre of ethical and 

ecological controversy 

Anna Pavord 

Historic gardens: 

Restoration or ruin 

Thursday 28th March 2013 

What are historic gardens for What motives 

determine their management, their future 

appearance, their style Are these gardens 

exercises in nostalgia, first cousins to theme 

parks, recreating the settings of a vanished 

way of life for us, as tourists, to wallow in 

Or are they museums, chronological 

chapters in a book of garden history, to be 

preserved forever in aspic These questions 

are asked by Anna Pavord, a member for 

ten years of English Heritage’s Parks and 

Gardens Panel and also chairman of the 

National Trust’s gardens panel. 

Fascination 

of Plants Day 

Saturday 18th May 2013, 

at Harcourt Arboretum 

Once again we will be hosting events as part 

of international Fascination of Plants Day 

(www.plantday12.eu) which is organised 

by the European Plant Science Organisation. 

The aim is to get as many people as possible 

around the world fascinated by plants and 

enthused about the importance of plant 

science for agriculture, for sustainable 

production of food, for horticulture, 

forestry, and for non-food products such 

as paper, timber, chemicals, energy and 

pharmaceuticals. The important role of 

plants in environmental conservation will 

also be a key message. 

Chemistry at the Garden 

A new audio trail told by 

Oxford chemists 

Following a successful collaboration 

with our colleagues in the University’s 

Department of Chemistry to celebrate 

International Year of Chemistry in 2011, 

we have teamed up once again to deliver 

a new audio trail entitled Chemistry at the 

Garden, available free of charge to all our 

visitors. During the summer, a group of 

enthusiastic science communicators got 

together to record the audio trail on location 

at the Garden. Helped by the very patient 

© National Trust Images, /Arnhel de Serra 

Josh Carr from the University podcast 

team, we told the stories of how plants 

have provided inspiration for chemistry 

research both in the past and today. 

The audio trail leads visitors around the 

Garden, where, at the appropriate places, 

you trigger the sound by pointing the nib 

of an audio pen on a specially designed 

map. You can hear about photosynthesis, 

how the lotus plant has inspired the 

development of new materials, what 

makes the wonderful caramel smell that 

wafts across the Garden on sunny days in 

autumn, and how the plants at the Garden 

helped an Oxford chemist win a Nobel 

Prize. Each of the trail stops lasts just a 

few minutes and gives you an insight 

into what motivates research chemists to 

pursue their work. 

Don’t forget that our other audio 

trail Tales of trees and other plants, told 

by our gardeners and featuring author 

Philip Pullman, is also available free of 

charge to all visitors when our ticket 

office is open. It can also be downloaded 

at: http://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/units/ 

botanic-garden 

One of the stops on the new chemistry audio 

trail: the medically-important chemical 

atropine, derived from the thorn apple 

Datura stramonium 

Friends’ seed collection 

We will have a limited number of 

packets of seeds to give away in early 

January. Each packet will contain a 

mixture of annuals, biennials and hardy 

perennials, collected from the Botanic 

Garden. To receive your free seeds, 

please send an SAE (at least postcardsized, 

and as soon as you like) to: 

Friends’ Seed Collection, Oxford Botanic 

Garden, Rose Lane, Oxford OX1 4AZ.


13 

Friends’ news 

by Richard Mayou, Chairman of the Friends 

The Friends’ Annual 

General Meeting 2012 

We held our AGM on 4th October and 

the Treasurer and I were once again able 

to report a successful year. The Friends 

have continued to grow, members have 

enjoyed visits and events and we have 

provided very substantial support to the 

Botanic Garden and Harcourt Arboretum. 

Our major donations were to the new 

car park at the Arboretum (now much 

used and with considerable new autumn 

planting) and to the Compost Area at the 

Garden (now in full production on a 12 

week cycle). Neither would have been 

possible without the Friends’ help. 

The outstanding event of 2012 was the 

Plant Sale on a beautiful May afternoon, 

with fantastic plants and refreshments 

amongst the trees. We raised £9,432. 

It was very satisfying to report to the 

AGM on our close and continually developing 

relationship with the staff of the 

Garden and Arboretum. It is rewarding 

to be involved with such a capable and 

friendly group. As always we are grateful 

to our multi-tasking Administrator Liz 

Woolley for all that she achieves in 12 

hours a week. 

The organisation of fundraising and 

events has depended on much hard 

work by a significant number of people. 

Friends have also given their time and 

impressive expertise as volunteers in the 

Garden and recently at the Arboretum. 

They have enjoyed working alongside 

staff and their help has been much appreciated. 

Whilst the volunteering scheme 

is not limited to Friends, it is another 

initiative for which we can claim much 

credit. If you would like more information 

about volunteering , please contact 

our Volunteer Co-ordinator Mary Isaac on 

volunteers@obg.ox.ac.uk 

Legacies 

Legacies are an important source of income 

for the Friends, as for all charities. The last 

issue of the newsletter contained notice 

of a bequest of £97,000 from a former 

member, Tim Baker-Jones. Since then you 

will have received a letter from me asking 

you to consider including a gift in your Will. 

Recent changes in inheritance tax make 

this an even more attractive way of helping 

to improve the Garden and Arboretum in 

the future. I have done this myself and I 

find it rewarding to feel that eventually my 

contribution will make a real difference to 

a Garden and Arboretum which have given 

me so much pleasure. If you would like 

more information about leaving a legacy to 

the Friends, please contact our Treasurer 

Martin Lamaison via secretary@fobg.org, 

01865 286690. 

Future projects 

The legacy mentioned above, and the 

reserve built up from subscription and event 

income, mean that we have a substantial 

sum to give to special projects which 

are part of the Garden and Arboretum’s 

strategy, beyond our annual contribution 

to core funding. We favour small Garden 

projects and further help to enable Harcourt 

Arboretum to gain full scientific, educational 

and visitor benefits from the recent large 

investment in the site. We have agreed to 

fund a feasibility study into the building of a 

visitor reception centre and the conversion 

of the lodge into a full time education 

centre. These and other exciting ideas would 

make the Arboretum even more interesting 

and enjoyable for visitors, and would help 

to ensure that it achieves its full potential 

as one of Britain’s very few historic arboreta 

with an internationally recognised scientific 

role. We will keep you informed as Garden 

and Arboretum plans unfold. 

The Bobarts Group 

This special Patrons group of the Friends 

goes from strength to strength. It has been 

a wonderful year for garden visits - all, 

remarkably, in fine weather. We are so 

grateful to owners of beautiful estates 

and gardens who open their grounds 

especially for us. We have had delicious 

teas, evening receptions and tours led by 

head gardeners or, in many cases, by the 

owners themselves. 

These very private gardens included 

the recently restored Thame Park; the 

newly redesigned Burmington Grange 

in Warwickshire; Sydenhams, a hidden 

gem near Cirencester; the enchanting 

Atcombe Court in Gloucestershire; 

Appleton Manor, designed by Arne 

Maynard in 2000 with its medieval moat; 

Rycote Park, the extensive and creative 

restoration of a Capability Brown park; 

Daglingworth House with its grotto and 

temple; and Daylesford House, a truly 

magnificent 18th century landscaped 

estate created in 1790 for Warren 

Hastings, greatly restored and imaginatively 

enhanced by the present owners. 

Next year we are planning visits to 

Kew to see the collection of botanical art, 

and later in the year to the RHS’s Lindley 

Library. Garden visits will include Tythrop 

Park, Hardwick Hill, Coach House and 

Highgrove. Please consider joining this 

Patron group; members enjoy a variety of 

specially-arranged visits in small groups 

to gardens rarely open to the general 

public, and are invited to private views 

of art exhibitions at the Oxford Botanic 

Garden. For further information see www. 

botanic-garden.ox.ac.uk/bobarts-group 

or contact the Friends’ Administrator on 

secretary@fobg.org, 01865 286690. 

Atcombe Court, Gloucestershire, 

visited by the Bobarts Group in June 

Gardens Curator Tom Price (far right) leading a tour of the Lily House 

following a party for volunteers in September 2012 

Burmington Grange, Warwickshire, 

visited by the Bobarts Group in May


Visits and events for 

Friends and their guests 

by Jane Annett, Harriet Bretherton and Pauline Coombes 

Friends’ coffee mornings 

On the first Friday of every month (except 

January and August) in the Garden’s 

Conservatory. After coffee a member of staff 

leads a tour of the Garden. 

≠≠ 

10.30 - 11.30am 

≠≠ 

≠≠ 

Fridays 7th December, 

1st February, 1st March 

Free, no booking required, 

just turn up 

Insight tours at the Arboretum 

Friends are very welcome to join these free 

tours on the first Wednesday of every month. 

They are a great opportunity for Arboretum 

staff to show off the latest developments, 

and for visitors to give their thoughts and 

opinions as well as to ask questions. 

≠≠ 

2.00 - 3.00pm 

≠≠ 

≠≠ 

Wednesdays 5th December, 

2nd January, 6th February, 6th March 

Free, no booking required, just turn up 

Sunday plant tours 

at the Botanic Garden 

These tours are with the Director Timothy 

Walker, structured around plants of 

particular interest for the time of year. 

They are crammed with botanical 

information and horticultural tips and 

are great fun. A plant list is provided. 

≠≠ 

10.00 - 11.30am 

≠≠ 

Sundays 2nd December, 

24th February, 12th May 

≠≠ 

Friends £2.00, guests £6.00 

(includes entry to the Garden) 

≠≠ 

No booking required, just turn up 

Garden visits 

Britwell House 

Sunday 10th February 2013, 2.30pm 

Britwell Salome, OX49 5LJ 

By kind permission of Mrs Celia Ackerman Kressner 

A beautiful garden renowned for its large 

collection of snowdrops, extensively 

planted over many years. The house and 

garden are of the Georgian period. The 

current owners have done a great deal 

of work on the garden and have recently 

restored the walled gardens. Many of the 

new trees were planted by the previous 

owner David Hicks. Tea is included. 

≠≠ 

Tickets £15.00, guests £20.00 

≠≠ 

Maximum 50 people 

Hanwell Castle 

Saturday 16th February 2013, 2.30pm 

nr Banbury, OX17 1HN 

By kind permission of Rowena Archer and Chris Taylor 

The owners are founder members of the 

Friends and have invited us to see their 

amazing ancient garden. They have a large 

collection of snowdrops in the extensive 

grounds. The garden also has a collection of 

community telescopes in it, which weather 

permitting, we hope to be able to use. Tea 

will be served. Boots or stout shoes are 

needed as there are a lot of different levels 

in this lovely garden. 

≠≠ 


≠≠ 

Maximum 50 people 

Please book using the accompanying booking form. Visits tend to get booked up 

quickly so to avoid disappointment please send in your form as soon as possible. If you 

have any queries, contact the Friends’ Administrator, Liz Woolley, secretary@fobg.org, 

01865 286690. Please note that apart from the coach trip to Bowood House, members 

and their guests must make their own way to visit venues. Unfortunately we cannot 

provide or arrange transport. 

We would like to thank all the owners and their gardeners for so kindly allowing 

us to visit their gardens throughout the year and for giving their time and knowledge 

so freely. It has given such pleasure for our members to visit their gardens. We also 

thank Friends for their continued support. We do hope that everyone has enjoyed 

the visits and we always welcome feedback and suggestions for future visits. 

The Herbaria at the 

University of Oxford 

Department of Plant Sciences 

Saturday 9th March 2013, 

two visits at 11.00am and at 2.00pm 

South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3RB 

By kind permission of Professor Liam Dolan, Head of the 

University of Oxford Department of Plant Sciences 

The Oxford 

University Herbaria 

were founded at 

the same time, 

and as part of, the 

Botanic Garden, 

and contain some 

of the world’s 

oldest dried plant 

specimens. Today, 

the herbaria are an 

internationally 

important research facility. This visit is a rare 

opportunity to see how plants have been 

collected, preserved and studied over the 

past 400 years. Dr Stephen Harris, Druce 

Curator of the Oxford University Herbaria, 

will lead the tours. Refreshments included. 

≠≠ 


≠≠ 

Maximum of 15 people at 11.00am 

and another 15 at 2.00pm 

Shotover House 

Saturday 23rd March 2013, 2.30pm 

nr Wheatley, OX33 1QS 

By kind permission of Mr and Mrs Alex Stanier 

We are very privileged to have a short tour of 

Shotover House preceded by an introductory 

talk. Then we will tour the gardens to see the 

wonderful plantings of daffodils, followed by 

tea in the house. 

≠≠ 


≠≠ 

Maximum 40 people


15 

Steane Park Garden 

Saturday 6th April 2013, 2.00pm 

Brackley, Northamptonshire, NN13 6DP 

By kind permission of Sir Michael and Lady Connell 

Steane Park Garden is approached via 

parkland, with an abundance of classic trees 

and drifts of wild flowers. The attractive 

formal gardens are framed by a stunning 

copper beech and cedar of Lebanon. A red 

chestnut leads to a more relaxed wooded 

area next to the lake, with wandering paths, 

wild flowers and an amusing folly. The effect 

is one of rural peace and calm. Tea included. 

≠ Tickets £15.00, guests £20.00 

≠ Maximum 50 people 

Miserden Park Gardens 

Friday 26th April 2013, 2.00pm 

Miserden, near Stroud, 

Gloucestershire, GL6 7JA 

From early spring until autumn, visitors 

to this Cotswold garden are rewarded with 

rich and memorable views. There are spring 

flowers, shrubs, fine topiary and, within the 

walled garden, herbaceous borders, roses, 

fine specimen trees and a newly planted 

parterre. Tea included. 



Bowood House and Gardens 

Saturday 4th May 2013 

9.00am coach leaves Redbridge Park and 

Ride, Oxford, arrives back at 6.00pm 

Calne, Wiltshire, SN11 0LZ 

By kind permission of the Marquis 

& Marchioness of Lansdowne 

We will visit the fine 18th century house and 

100 acre landscaped garden in the morning. 

The house has an orangery designed by 

Adam, a chapel and library designed by 

CR Cockerell and the laboratory where 

Dr Joseph Priestley discovered oxygen in 

1774. Outside, the house is surrounded by 

‘Capability’ Brown’s stunning park; there 

are magnificent 19th century Italianate 

terraces; a large landscaped lake; a 

‘picturesque’ rockwork garden with cascade 

and caves; and the renowned pinetum and 

arboretum. In the afternoon we will visit 

the 60 acre woodland garden. This oasis 

of azaleas, magnolias and rhododendrons 

is considered to be one of the most 

spectacular gardens of its type in the 

country. Refreshments will be included on 

arrival. Lunch can be bought in the café, or 

bring a picnic. This visit will involve a lot of 

walking as both gardens are large. 


(includes coach) 


Burmington Grange 

Saturday 18th May 2013, 2.30pm 

Burmington, Warwickshire, CV36 5HZ 

By kind permission of Mr & Mrs Patrick Ramsey 

The garden was redesigned in 2002 by 

the owners. It now includes a vegetable 

garden with brick paths and terraces 

dropping down from the house to create 

a sunken garden with spectacular views 

behind. There has been a great deal of 

tree planting which includes an avenue 

of Malus hupehensis and Pyrus salicifolia 

as well as specimen walnuts, oaks and 

Paulownia. Refreshments will be served. 



A future visit date 

for your diary 

Thursday 23rd May 2013, 2.30pm 

A double visit to 

The Sheiling and to 

Uplands, two gardens 

in Boars Hill, Oxford. 

There will be a booking form in the 

next newsletter (early March). 

Special events 

Christmas carols and crafts 

at the Botanic Garden 

Wednesday 5th December, 

5.30 - 7.00pm 

Join us for the return of our special 

Christmas event for Friends and their 

families and guests in the magical 

Botanic Garden, illuminated by fairy 

lights and candles. There will be carol 

singing with a local choir; homemade 

mince pies, mulled wine, hot chocolate 

and gingerbread; and craft tables in the 

Conservatory at which you can make 

cards, Christmas wreaths and candle 

decorations with natural materials 

and greenery from the Garden and 

Arboretum, including seed heads, 

mistletoe and pine cones. Alternatively 

you can buy items already made by 

volunteers. There will also be the 

opportunity to browse and buy items in 

our shop. 

≠ Friends £10.00, guests £12.00, 

children (5-15) £6.00, 

under 5s free 

The Arboretum celebrates 

50 years as part of Oxford 

Botanic Garden 

Saturday 1st June 2013 

An evening gala 

Sunday 30th June 2013 

A family friendly day of activities 

and entertainment 

In 2013 it will be 50 years since Oxford 

University (which had bought the 

Nuneham Estate from the Harcourt family 

a few years earlier) allocated the Harcourt 

Arboretum to the Botanic Garden. Since 

then the Arboretum has grown, been 

restored and prospered. The Friends 

have helped in many ways, most 

conspicuously with large contributions 

to the purchase of the Palmer’s Leys 

meadow and the recent creation of 

the new car park. We think that this 

deserves a celebration, in fact two 

celebrations, to which all Friends are 

very welcome. Please put the dates in 

your dairy now; further details will be 

given in the next newsletter. 

Please note that our website address 

has changed. You can see the Friends 

webpages at: www.botanic-garden. 

ox.ac.uk/support-us-join-friends or 

at: www.harcourt-arboretum.ox.ac.uk/ 

support-us-join-friends 

With postage costs now so high, we 

would like to encourage as many Friends as 

possible to receive this newsletter by e-mail 

rather than by post. If you would like to do 

this, please send a message saying so to: 

secretary@fobg.org. Thank you.


The last word 

by 

Timothy 

Walker 

In this edition’s A few words I mention Gertrude’s Jekyll’s definition of a 

garden as being where plants are arranged according to their colour. Most 

of the time this will involve a border filled mainly with herbs, be they 

perennial or annual. This will look very different from a wildflower meadow 

because in the meadow the different species are spread randomly according 

to habitat preference, reflecting local differences in aspect and soil type. 

What happens to this definition of a garden 

if you take a collection of well-known garden 

plants, both perennial and annual, and 

arrange them randomly as in a meadow Do 

people see a border like this as a garden, or as 

a meadow across which they walk or upon 

which they picnic Some might call it a wild 

flower garden, despite the fact that the plants 

are not all native. It is sometimes referred to 

as prairie gardening by those in the know, but 

they would be in the minority. 

Taking the Olympic Park as a statistically 

suspect sample of one, my belief is that most 

people will be confused. The flower borders 

there are definitely not full of British native 

species, and yet all the commentators I heard 

said how wonderful the wild flowers were. 

That was when the Olympics started at the 

end of July and the borders looked fabulous. 

By the beginning of September, when the 

Paralympics were in full flow, the beds were 

looking more autumnal but still beautiful. 

However, in places the plants had been cut 

down. In some cases this was because there 

was a clear pedestrian desire line that had 

become a footpath. Near the large screen in 

the middle of the park it appeared that the 

borders had been cut down because spectators 

had sat on them. I doubt that it would 

have occurred to spectators to sit on a more 

traditional herbaceous border. It made me 

wonder whether our definition of a garden 

is still very narrow. 

University of Oxford Botanic Garden 

November to February: 

open daily 9.00am to 4.00pm, 

last admission 3.15pm 

March, April, September & October: 



May to August: 



We are closed on Christmas Eve 

and Christmas Day 

No dogs allowed in the Garden 

(except assistance dogs) 

University of Oxford Botanic Garden 

Rose Lane, Oxford OX1 4AZ 

Tel: 01865 286690 

E-mail: postmaster@obg.ox.ac.uk 

Web: www.botanic-garden.ox.ac.uk 

University of Oxford Harcourt Arboretum 

November: 



December to March: 

open Monday to Friday 10.00am to 4.00pm, 

last admission 3.15pm; closed weekends 

April to October: 



We are closed 22nd December to 3rd January 

No dogs allowed in the Arboretum 

(except assistance dogs) 

University of Oxford Harcourt Arboretum 

Nuneham Courtenay OX44 9PX 

Tel: 01865 341576 

E-mail: postmaster@obg.ox.ac.uk 

Web: www.harcourt-arboretum.ox.ac.uk 

The Friends of Oxford Botanic Garden 

and Harcourt Arboretum 

Rose Lane, Oxford OX1 4AZ 

All Friends’ enquiries, including those 

about Friends’ events, should be made to 

Liz Woolley, the Friends’ Administrator 

Tel: 01865 286690 

E-mail: secretary@fobg.org 

Web: www.botanic-garden.ox.ac.uk/ 

support-us-join-friends or 

www.harcourt-arboretum.ox.ac.uk/ 

support-us-join-friends 

Please note that the Friends’ office is staffed 

only on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, between 

9.00am and 4.00pm. At other times urgent 

Friends’ enquiries will be dealt with by 

Garden staff. 

The newsletter is published by the University of Oxford Botanic Garden and is edited by Liz Woolley 

and Timothy Walker. The views expressed in articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily 

reflect the policy or views of the Visitors of the Botanic Garden. 

Design by RBDA Studio

Autumn/Winter 2012/13 - Harcourt Arboretum - University of Oxford

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?