Newsletter
A small team of volunteers have been producing newsletters three times a year since 1997. Each newsletter includes a report from the Curator, a range of articles that have wide appeal to gardeners, horticulturalists, botanists, and those with an interest in the natural environment and local history.
A list of our newsletters, with a summary of the articles in each one, and a link to the newsletter, can be found below.
The latest issue is not listed, as it is available only to members of the Friends for the first four months after publication. Newsletters are issued at the end of the following months: January, May and September.
Are you already a member? View the latest issue.
If you don’t want to wait four months then Join us.
Newsletter contributions
Would you like to contribute an article to our newsletter? Perhaps you have been facing a particular challenge in your own garden, or have been on one of our Friends of Treborth events, or have visited an interesting botanic garden, or have some thoughts on a current horticultural or environmental topic.
Do write about it – we’d love to hear from you! Please contact us
Issue 83 May 2025
Chair’s Introduction, May 2025 Page 3
Head of Botanic Garden Report Jan-April 2025 6
Nigel Brown, Honorary Doctor of Science 9
Identifying Species in Treborth’s Bamboo Collection 11
Biochar Doesn’t Just Store Carbon—It Stores Water and
Boosts Farmers’ Drought Resilience 12
Orchid of the Season. Brassia Chieftain W.W.G. Moir 1961 14
Friends of Treborth Botanic Garden Library 16
The Puss Moth 18
Interview with Dr. Pat Denne 23
Disease has Killed Most of the U.K. Elm Trees since the
1960s — But There are Signs They May be Making a Comeback 26
Treborth Meteorological Data December 2024-March 2025 28
In Defence of Woodlice and their Complicated Sex Lives 30
Guided Garden Tours at Treborth 33
XLAB Collaboration Transforms Plant Labelling at Treborth Botanic Garden 34
Cactus and Succulent Poaching 36
Issue 82, January 2025
In Memoriam: Ann Wood (Nigel Brown);
Beaumaris Allotments (Jon Keymer);
Fungus Forays are Fun and Fundamental (Nigel Brown);
Treborth Fungus Foray, Sep 24 (Charles Aron);
In Memoriam: Peggy Gollogly (Sarah Edgar);
Clifden Nonpareil Moth (Charles Aron);
Orchid Coelogyne mooreana (Simon Retallick);
Alaska’s Inside Passage (John Gorham);
Tan Dinas Quarry (Sarah Edgar);
Treborth Met Data 2024 (Pat Denne);
Sky Garden Project, Manchester: Castlefield Railway Viaduct (Gerry Downing).