Kew magazine blog

Today marks the 100th anniversary of the day Captain Robert Falcon Scott and his team reached the South Pole, only to find that the rival Norwegian team, led by Roald Amundsen, had got there before them, and not just by a few days but by over a month.
 

Captain Scott writing in his cabin

It must be the world’s largest understatement to say they must have been disappointed. The near super-human effort involved in getting there all for naught. But was it? Many forget that this was not simply a race for the Pole. For Scott this time in Antarctica had always been about science and thankfully many authors and commentators now bring this to the fore and recognise his dedication to this element of the expedition.

Letter from Scott to Hooker

It was on this subject that Captain Scott wrote to Sir Joseph Hooker when he was planning his first trip to Antarctica in 1901 on the Discovery. Until I saw the letter in the exhibition in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art I had no idea that the two men had corresponded, but there it was – Scott’s letter to Hooker thanking him for his encouragement on his pursuit of science and the idea of setting up balloon experiments.

The letter dated 21 May 1901 reads: ‘It was your suggestion and the great weight of your practical experience alone that caused me to consider a balloon experiment as a practical possibility. Thank you very much for your generous support. I hope we shall manage to realise our wish.’ 
 

Scott's letter to Hooker currently displayed in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery at Kew Gardens

Joseph Hooker - Antarctic botanist

Hooker was of course, despite his much greater age at the time of this letter (he was 83), an experienced man in terms of Antarctica. He was there, on HMS Erebus, on Captain Clark Ross’s four-year southern ocean expedition (1839-1843). It is from that expedition that so many places in Antarctica take their names – McMurdo Sound, Mount Erebus and Mount Terror, the Ross Ice Shelf, to name a few.

As we all know, despite Scott’s great wealth of experience and his dedication, his second expedition on the Terra Nova (1910-1913) ended with all five of Scott’s Pole team dead only 18 km from a refuelling station. But with them they had scientific specimens and drawings, ones they had stopped to collect on the arduous journey back. And, of course, others survived with their completed experiments, measurements and specimens, including Apsley Cherry-Garrard and the famous emperor penguin eggs.

It is in fact for this we should remember Scott and all his team today, for it is this legacy that has had the most impact on Antarctica and its history. As the famous words, from Tennyson, on their memorial read: ‘To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield’. They speak for all scientists as well as polar explorers.

- Christina -
 

 Find out more

• Come and browse through some fascinating artefacts in the Joseph Hooker exhibition now on at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art., Kew Gardens
• See more information on 'Joseph Hooker: Botanical Trailblazer' and get your copy from Kew's online shop

It came as a bit of a surprise, but a very welcome and lovely one. Every year Kew magazine enters the Garden Media Guild Awards - or the Garden 'Oscars' - and we have been very fortunate in recent years to get several finalist places, mainly in the Environmental category for features on Kew's conservation work. This year however our luck was in!
 

Editor Christina Harrison accepts the award on behalf of Gail Vines for her article in Kew magazine

And the first prize goes to...

At a star-studded event complete with many TV gardening presenters and respected authors and photographers, Kew magazine won the first award of the evening - the 'Plants and Well Being' category - for a feature showing how plants are of benefit to people. The piece in question was by one of our best regular contributors, Gail Vines, who wrote a wonderful article about the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership's MGU Useful Plants Project, called Growing Your Own.

This project helps communities in Africa and Mexico to grow the plants they want in community gardens. This helps local people in their daily lives and also helps to conserve the plants they would otherwise have to take from the wild. Some species are particularly hard to germinate or propagate and Kew's expertise provides the answers and practical support.

In the finals

Kew magazine also received a finalist place in the same category for Stephen Anderton's article, Flower Power at Chelsea, on Kew's involvement in The Times Eureka Garden at the 2011 RHS Chelsea Flower Show, which promoted the beauty of useful plants.

In the Environmental category we also bagged a finalist place for Andrew Jackson's Little things mean a lot. Andy, who is head of Wakehurst Place, writes for the magazine in his regular column, Wakehurst View, but in this instance he took readers to the Francis Rose reserve at Wakehurst - the first reserve for lower plants or 'cryptogams'. He explained their importance, conservation and just why they need a reserve.
 

It was a fantastic day at the awards, and I hope all our readers agree that our hard working writers deserve such recognition. Kew magazine is dedicated to bringing plant conservation issues, plant science and horticulture to our readers and supporters, and spreading the word about their importance. Receiving such awards really helps us to promote Kew's work, so we feel like winners all round!

-Christina-
 

More information

• Find out more about the work of the Millennium Seed Bank
• Discover Wakehurst Place

Living not far from Kew Gardens and Richmond Park, I have to admit to being lucky, as I can easily escape from the busy streets of west London. One of the things I enjoy most when walking in these areas is coming across plants and fungi that I’ve never seen before. Last week I spotted a large zoned rosette fungus (Podoscypha multizonata) in the Park and have since learned there’s an even bigger one in Kew under an ash tree. I am determined to hunt it out. See Tim Entwisle's blog Talking Plants - there's a great picture of it there!

If, like me, you love to spot fungi why not take a look at our feature in the latest Kew magazine about the amazing range you can discover in Kew’s grounds. There is a vast array of colours, shapes and sizes and they are all intriguing. You can also read our fascinating interview with Kew's mycology expert Dr Brian Spooner, about how he became interested in this field.

Earthstar fungus at Kew

Record breaker

One Kew specimen, Rigidoporus ulmarius, now sadly thought lost, earned a place in the Guinness Book of Records in 1995 for being the largest fungal fruiting body on Earth (at 4.8 metres in circumference)! But fear not – around 2,750 other species have been spotted here, so you’ll definitely see some if you come along on your own fungal foray. You’re especially likely to spot fresh mushrooms a couple of days after a good rain shower, and by looking in mulched flowerbeds and in Kew’s Natural Areas at the southern end of the Gardens.

Rigidoporus ulmarius was once the largest fruiting body on Earth!

The amazing fungarium

Kew’s work with fungi dates back many years and there is a ‘fungarium’ collection that houses 1.25 million specimens here. Britain has around 13,000 species of fungi (compared to 2,100 species of native flowering plants and ferns) but the overall total number is unknown. It is thought that 90 per cent are still yet to be discovered. A mind-boggling thought.

Kew also works with Natural England and with other organisations including the University of Aberystwyth on research projects. One aims to discover how many waxcap species exist in Britain, in order to determine how best to conserve them. 

• You can find out much more by following the links on the Kew magazine page.
• Please do not pick fungi from the wild – leave them to disperse their spores naturally and be appreciated by others.

 - Christina -
 

Related Links

• All about the work of Kew's mycology team
• Learn more about fungi
• Discover fungi in autumn
• Check out mycology books at kewbooks
  
• Explore profiles of Kew's plants and fungi
• Talking Plants blog

One of the main attractions of Kew, for me, has always been the trees. For some people they are just the backdrop to the large impressive glasshouses, but to me they are an integral part of what Kew is about. The wealth of species, sizes, shapes and colours is extraordinary. There are the heritage trees – some dating back to the mid 18th century and the beginnings of Kew as a botanic garden, through to the young new specimens grown from seed collected in the wild by Kew staff. They represent both Kew’s history and its current scientific direction. There some fabulous flowering specimens to enjoy – the Catalpa trees at Kew have been beautiful this summer, as have the Paulownia (foxglove trees), and Styrax (snowbell trees) which have the most wonderful scent as well.

Flowers of Catalpa bignonioides

See stunning autumn colour

Autumn is of course the main performance season for many of the trees in the Arboretum and it’s well worth planning a trip to the Gardens in a month or so to see the brilliant shades of copper, scarlet and gold that spread out over Kew’s 320 acres. If you can catch the turning of the American ash (Fraxinus americana), liquidambars (Liquidambar styraciflua) and shagbark hickory (Carya ovata) to name but a few then you’re in for a real treat. There are also plenty of beautifully berried species to spot.

We've just put the finishing touches to the autumn edition of Kew magazine (out 7 September) and we have some true autumn finery for you. As well as features on fungi, conservation in Madagascar and the latest exhibition at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art, we have a few features on Kew's trees.

Champion trees at Kew Gardens

Last year we asked renowned tree photographer Edward Parker to photograph some of Kew’s more impressive ‘champion’ trees in full autumn colour for us and he really managed to capture their character. ‘Champion’ trees are designated by The Tree Register, and are the largest, tallest or broadest of their kind in the UK. You can find a list of the best in the country in the new book Champion Trees of Britain and Ireland by Owen Johnson. Kew has an enormous number of champion trees so we asked head of Kew’s Arboretum, Tony Kirkham, to take you on a tour of some of his favourites for our magazine feature. Included in his list is the famous Ginkgo biloba, planted in 1762 – one of Kew’s Old Lions. This species is endangered in the wild in its native China, but was first introduced to Europe in the 1730s. Its common name is the maidenhair tree and it is the only surviving member of an ancient group of plants that were widespread at the time of the dinosaurs (180-200 million years ago).

This specimen was planted next to a hothouse built for Princess Augusta when she lived at the White House (next to the Orangery). It may have been one of the first planted in Britain. Both the White House and the hothouse are now long gone but the ginkgo is still thriving. This tree was honoured by the Tree Council in 2002 when it was named one of 50 Great British Trees for the Queen’s Golden Jubilee.

Champion tree - Ginkgo biloba at Kew Gardens

 So, why not come along as the colours change this autumn, see some of our characterful trees and make sure you look out for our feature in Kew magazine.

-Christina-

Related links

• Subscribe to Kew magazine.
• Discover Kew's Big Trees
• Did you know that you can sponsor a heritage tree at Kew? Go to our Support Kew pages for more details.
• Find out more about the International Year of Forests.

The summer edition of Kew magazine has just hit the stands and we’re focusing on the fascinating – and very relevant – topic of useful plants in this issue. The Times Eureka Garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show this May gave us a great excuse to concentrate on this subject. Kew was involved in the theme, choice of plants and in the building of the garden, and right now it’s being re-built at Kew for everyone to enjoy over the summer. Its theme was ‘plants useful to science and society’ so, as well as taking an in-depth look at the garden, we picked out several plants from the design, including iris, lady’s mantle (Alchemilla mollis), and peony, to tell their stories. Such plants have a long history of being used for medicine, clothing, shelter and all manner of bizarre uses, but many are being investigated today for vital drugs to help patients suffering from Alzheimer’s, cancer and diabetes. Check out the main feature on the garden, and watch this fascinating video on Kew’s work on medicinal plants.

The summer issue of Kew Magazine
 

To bring this topic right back to the essence of Kew’s work we also interviewed Tiziana Ulian – who leads Kew’s Useful Plants Project. This international project based at the Millennium Seed Bank at Wakehurst, helps communities in Africa and Mexico to raise useful plants from seed rather than gathering them from the wild. This helps both the communities and preserves wild populations of plants under threat. You can read a pdf of the article here. You can also support this work.

You can see Tiziana in the new Kew Views video on 'why plant diversity matters'. One in five plant species are threatened and four more species face extinction every day. Diversity equals resilience and the ability to adapt to change, and such diversity is becoming ever more vital. The work of Kew and its partners in initiatives such as the Useful Plants Project is proving crucial to the survival of both people and plants in a changing world. Why not join Kew’s Adopt a Seed to Save a Species campaign to help make a difference?

-Christina-

Related links

• Get your special souvenir copy of the summer issue – here’s how.
• Find out more about the plants featured in Kew's Chelsea Garden
• Behind the scenes - installing the Chelsea Garden at Kew