Botanic Garden

Oxford Botanic Gardens are often asked how a botanic garden differs from other types of gardens. Botanic gardens are collections of plants that are grown for purposes other than purely aesthetic reasons – but in Oxford Botanic Garden we do try to arrange the plants in attractive, sympathetic and exciting ways. Many gardeners come here to seek inspiration. In the beds and borders you may find new plants that would be perfect in your garden at home and partly for this reason we strive to label clearly every plant in the Garden. Plants are grown in this Garden to support our teaching programmes, for research scientists in this University and elsewhere and as part of plant conservation projects. Furthermore this Garden is a national reference collection of 7,000 different types of plant, making it the most compact yet diverse collection of plants in the World – there is even more biological diversity here than there is in tropical rain forests and other biodiversity hotspots. The Garden consists of three sections. The Glasshouses contain plants that need protection from the extremes of the British weather. The area outside the Walled Garden contains classic garden features such as a Water Garden and Rock Garden as well as the innovative Black Border and Autumn Borders. Within the Walled Garden plants are grouped in a number of different ways such as by country of origin, botanic family or economic use.

Botanic Garden

All episodes

Title	Description	People	Date
Organisms Reading and Reference list	Reading and Reference list for Organisms lecture series.	Tim Walker	9 May, 2013
Organisms Lecture 4: The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation 2020	Fourth and final lecture in Professor Tim Walker's Organisms series in which he looks at how we can conserve the world's vital plants on a global scale.	Tim Walker	7 May, 2013
Organisms Lecture 3: What have Plants done for us?	Third lecture in Professor Tim Walker's Organisms lecture series in which he looks at what plants have contributed to human existence.	Tim Walker	7 May, 2013
Organisms Lecture 2: Biological Pollination	Second lecture in Professor Tim Walker's Organisms lecture series in which he looks at biological pollination - how bees and other insects pollinate plants.	Tim Walker	7 May, 2013
Organisms Lecture 1: Its all about seeds	First lecture in Professor Tim Walker's Organisms lecture series in which he looks at seeds and their imporance to organisms.	Tim Walker	7 May, 2013
Plants and People: Cotton, Sugar and Quinine	A lecture given by Timothy Walker to biology undergraduates as part of the Plants and People Course in which the close relationship between these three plants and human history are examined.	Timothy Walker	26 February, 2013
Plant conservation 4: there is no technical obstacle to the conservation of every plant species.	The fourth in a series of four lectures on the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) given to third year biology undergraduates. This lecture looks at how, despite recent advances, there are still gaps in our knowledge about plant conservation.	Timothy Walker	20 February, 2013
Plant Conservation 3: repairing the damage	The third in a series of four lectures on the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) given to third year biology undergraduates. This lecture looks at how we can restore plant communities to biological health.	Timothy Walker	20 February, 2013
Plant Conservation 2: protecting plant species	The second in a series of four lectures on the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) given to third year biology undergraduates. This lecture looks at how threatened species can be protected.	Timothy Walker	20 February, 2013
Plant Conservation 1: conservation conventions, strategies and policies	First in a series of four lectures on the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) given to third year biology undergraduates. This lecture looks at the events leading to the creation of the GSPC.	Timothy Walker	20 February, 2013
21. Thank you and goodbye	Thank you for exploring the Botanic Garden with our group of plant loving chemists.	Alison Foster	18 October, 2012
20. Pigments from plants	One small part of the plant kingdom makes a different type of pigment to all the rest.	Alison Foster	18 October, 2012
19. Plants in extreme environments	How plants manage to photosynthesise in extreme environments.	Alison Parkin	18 October, 2012
18. Why are plants green?	Why chlorophyll and hence plants, looks green.	Alison Parkin	18 October, 2012
17. Ancient pigments	How chemistry can change the colour of dye molecules from plants.	James McCullagh	18 October, 2012
16. Nitrogen fixation	Hear about natures natural nitrogen fixers.	Kylie Vincent	18 October, 2012
15. Nitrogen uptake by plants	Why nitrogen is important to plants and the communities of microorganisms living in the soil.	Kylie Vincent	18 October, 2012
14. The caramel tree	Why the Katsura tree smells of caramel and how analytical techniques have solved the problem of what is responsible for the smell.	James McCullagh	18 October, 2012
13. New medicines from plants	Many modern medicines are derived from plants.	Alison Foster	18 October, 2012
12. Healing molecules or poisonous plants?	The notorious history of healing molecules. Many molecules from plants can be used as medicines but are also toxic if the dose is too large.	Diane Lim	18 October, 2012
11. The machine inside plants	The photosynthetic machinery inside plants is explained.	Alison Parkin	18 October, 2012
10. Colourful vegetables	Pigments from plants are different colours depending on the chemical environment they are in.	Elizabeth Rayment	18 October, 2012
09. The hottest plant in the world	How chillis and a euphorbia are helping to produce new painkillers.	Ed Anderson	18 October, 2012
08. The chemistry of decaffeination	How chemistry impacts on decaffeination of the world's second most popular drink.	Gem Toes	18 October, 2012
07. The many tastes of ginger	Ginger contains a cocktail of different molecules. The different molecules in dried, cooked and fresh ginger lead to different flavours.	Ed Anderson	18 October, 2012
06. New materials from plants	The lotus plant has inspired the development of new self-cleaning materials.	James McCullagh	18 October, 2012
05. Energy from the sun	How plants use energy from the sun to make food from carbon dioxide and water.	Alison Parkin	18 October, 2012
04. Robert Robinson, a revolutionary chemist	Sir Robert Robinson used the Botanic Garden in his research investigating the structures of alkaloids derived from plants.	Ed Anderson	18 October, 2012
03. Take care with the word organic	Hear what the word organic means to a chemist.	Alison Foster	18 October, 2012
02. A few words about chemicals	Everything is made of chemicals - whether they are from a natural source or not.	Alison Foster	18 October, 2012
01. Welcome and Introduction	A welcome to the Botanic Garden and the Chemistry at the Garden audio trail from the Senior Curator, Dr Alison Foster.	Alison Foster	18 October, 2012
21. Philip Pullman	The celebrated author shares his passion for the Botanic Garden and reads from the end of the His Dark Materials trilogy.	Phillip Pullman	28 May, 2012
20. The gunnera	The plant growing on the island in the lower garden pond.	Timothy Walker	28 May, 2012
19. Green gardening	The new Merton borders - the latest Botanic Garden experiment.	Timothy Walker	28 May, 2012
18. The Madagascan palm	The palm that's not a palm!	Kate Pritchard	28 May, 2012
17. Same or different?	A cactus and a euphorbia - an example of convergent evolution.	Timothy Walker	28 May, 2012
16. The fight for light	The rainforest and the desert in the middle of the city of Oxford.	Kate Pritchard	28 May, 2012
15. The rosy periwinkle	A pink flowered plant that provides a life-saving anti-cancer drug.	Timothy Walker	28 May, 2012
14. The cocoa tree	The most important tree in the garden - the chocolate giving tree.	Lili Friend	28 May, 2012
13. Insect eating plants	How the venus fly trap catches its food.	Lili Friend	28 May, 2012
12. The Victoria lily	Lili talks about the water lilies she looks after every day.	Lili Friend	28 May, 2012
10. The black pine	Hear about JRR Tolkiens favourite tree!	Timothy Walker	28 May, 2012
09. The hornbeam	How photosynthesis explains why this tree has grown so large.	Timothy Walker	28 May, 2012
08. Mistletoe	A plant growing on a tree! Emma describes how it comes to be growing on this tree.	Emma Williams	28 May, 2012
07. The dawn redwood	No-one knew this tree still existed until the middle of the last century - hear about its name and its discovery.	Emma Williams	28 May, 2012
06. The handkerchief tree	At its best in May when it is covered in white handkerchiefs. Hear why the tree makes them.	Timothy Walker	28 May, 2012
05. The ginkgo	An ancient species that saw the dinosaurs come and go!	Timothy Walker	28 May, 2012
04. The yew tree	The oldest tree in the Botanic Garden is now an important source of an anti-cancer medicine.	Timothy Walker, Emma Williams	28 May, 2012
03. The two magnolias	The deciduous magnolia and the evergreen magnolia - disadvantages and advantages of two different ways to be a plant.	Timothy Walker	28 May, 2012
02. What do the labels mean?	An explanation of the features of the plant labels at the Botanic Garden.	Timothy Walker	28 May, 2012
01. Welcome to the Botanic Garden	An introduction to the Botanic Garden by the Director, Timothy Walker.	Timothy Walker	28 May, 2012
Manipulating plant genes - how do you actually do it?	We often hear in the news about GM (Genetic Modification or Manipulation) but what does it actually involve?	Liam Dolan	10 January, 2012
Achieving food security and sustainability for 9 billion	To ensure food security for the increasing world population in a environmentally sustainable way, we must double productivity on the same area of land.	Chris Leaver	9 January, 2012
Plants in a chemical world	Plants are able to metabolise a surprisingly diverse range of synthetic chemicals including pesticides and pollutants.	Rob Edwards	9 January, 2012
From hairy roots to new medicines	Modern medicine uses many compounds which are isolated from plants. For example, vinblastine, which is used to treat many types of cancer, is isolated from the leaves of the Madagascar periwinkle.	Sarah O'Connor	9 January, 2012
The gene garden	The spectacular variety of colour and growth form seen in our gardens is the result of the action of thousands of genes operating in pathways and networks.	Hugh Dickinson	9 January, 2012
Using Science to Enhance Root Function in Crops	Part of the Future of Crops Lecture Series held at the Oxford Botanic Gardens.	Liam Dolan	19 January, 2011
The OneOak Project:using science and art to revive Britain's wood culture	Part of the Future of Crops lecture series delivered at the Oxford Botanic Gardens.	Gabriel Hemery	19 January, 2011
Rice as a crop - a 100 year perspective from 1950 to 2050	Part of the Future of Crops lecture series delivered at the Oxford Botanic Gardens.	Jane Langdale	19 January, 2011
The Artemisinin Supply for Malaria Control	Part of the Healing Power of Plants lecture series given at the Botanic Gardens.	Dianna Bowles	21 December, 2010
A Spoonful of Sugar	Part of the Healing Power of Plants lecture series held at the Botanic Gardens.	Robert Nash	21 December, 2010
Streptomyces in Nature and Medicine: The Antibiotic Makers	Although plants are a very important part of a garden, we must not forget about the important contribution that soil makes. Bacteria living in the soil also produce compounds important as modern antibiotics.	Sir David Hopwood	17 November, 2010
The Botanic Garden - Your Modern Medicine Cabinet	The first talk in the series from the Oxford Botanic Garden. This talk will describe the development of this new area as well as explaining the involvement of some of the plants grown there in the discovery and development of modern drugs.	Alison Foster	15 November, 2010

Botanic Garden

Related

Series in this collection

Biology - Organisms Lectures

Plants and People

Plant Conservation

Botanic Garden Chemistry Audio Tour

Botanic Garden Audio trail

Botanic Garden

All episodes