Mark Matthews

Hi all, very rarely use this anymore but hoping someone can point me in the right direction of whoever looks after the cacao in the Palm House or Princess of Wales Conservatory at @kewgardens (pic of T. cacao pod grown here in Rainforest Biome, Eden Project for attention)

Had a great time in the Herbarium @rhswisley last week before the storm cut it short! Big thanks to @WSYherbarium, @MandeepMatharu9 and team for looking after me and getting me involved in most aspects of Herbarium work, such as digitising this Paeonia!

@ApprenticeEmily It's gorgeous! And like you say, unexpectedly so!

@mark_hortic P. lanceolata doesn't get enough attention, IMO. But I remember it looking remarkably ornamental in this run-down park bed near Kew better than I remember some of the stuff I saw at Kew during that visit... just because it was unexpectedly lovely.

Plantago lanceolata arguably just as beautiful as the orchid though 😍

@emma_duley No way, that's so cool!! Never really paid it much notice but it is much more on my radar now 😍

@mark_hortic YES! it’s so under rated and I love it 🥰 I wrote about its medicinal uses in ethnobotany module last year- better than dock for stinging nettle stings! so many other uses too...

Nice to see Orchis mascula on a walk last night ☀

@Cornwall_SciEnv @edenproject Thanks 😊

Looking up through the leaves of Philodendron bipinnatifidum 😍 @edenproject

Heavily attacked by slugs and snails as emerging but Fritillaria michailovskyi has managed to produce a couple of flowers despite the onslaught 🐌

Corydalis flexuosa 'China Blue' is also on the way 🎉

Corydalis solida 'Firecracker' has erupted in my garden in the sun the past few days ☀️ Planted 1st lockdown so still got some establishing to do but nice to see it trying 🎉

📢 Help keep the Society at Burlington House! Due to unaffordable and rapidly rising rent, the Society is at risk of being priced out of its home. Today, we join our neighbours in a campaign to find an affordable arrangement with the Government. Thread ⬇️ #LinneanAtBH 1/8

Sunset over the Conifer Lawn Crocus carpet @RHSWisley tonight.

Ended up on the news for a few seconds last night 😂 so just gonna leave this here in your feeds, autographs available 👀

I know Cornwall can be a bit ahead in the season than some places but I have no idea what this Fritillaria imperialis thinks its doing right now 😂

I love Grevillea and this G. 'Mason's Hybrid' is looking great in the Mediterranean Biome here @edenproject

The beautiful inflorescences of Aloe marlothii (Mountain Aloe) in the Mediterranean Biome @edenproject

Prunus dulcis (Almond) coming into flower in the Mediterranean Biome @edenproject 😍

Mysterious packet just arrived at the door containing my @AlpineGardenSoc seed order 👌 A lovely surprise, but even better is the fact they're labelled this year... no more cross referencing with the catalogue 🎉

A little glimpse of a different view on my way home after work tonight. ❤ @RHSWisley