November in the Garden 2025
November is a time when garden plants often descend into subtlety. Without frost and long spells of dry sunny weather, the potential for spectacular foliage displays begin to diminish. There are some exceptions. The sweet gums (Liquidambar species), many deciduous viburnums and a few Chinese maples can continue to increase in intensity even through […]
Garden Ecologies Podcast
Garden Ecologies is a podcast series that explores innovative ecological practices at UBC Botanical Garden, and some of the insights and pleasures to be gained from taking a more experimental and open-ended approach to gardening. Each episode centres around a conversation with a horticulturist who works in a particular area of the garden, exploring their […]
October in the Garden 2025
Autumn colour is mostly unreliable in the Botanical Garden, so I don’t often make a point of it, but at this time there are always tree fruits of many kinds, and looking back, I see that it is my habit to focus on them for the October blog. I suppose that mention of tree […]
Top 5 Things You Should Know about the World’s First Mushroom Powered Toilet
UBC Botanical Garden has just unveiled something you probably never expected to get excited about: a toilet. And for UBC students, this is more than just a school project; it’s a glimpse into how sustainability, research, and campus life can come together in surprising ways. As part of UBC’s Campus as a Living Lab initiative, the MycoToilet […]
September in the Garden 2025
In UBC Botanical Garden, it often feels like September is the beginning of the end of summer. This year in particular, autumn seems to be approaching more rapidly than usual (but then, what is usual?). September is more of a beginning at UBC. The start of classes for the university heralds much activity related […]
December 2023 in the Garden
Following on from our plunge into evergreen viburnums in November, I thought it appropriate to continue delving into UBC Botanical Garden’s vast collection of broad-leaved evergreens. The rhododendron family, Ericaceae, is a good place to start for December. Rhododendron is a veritable treasure-trove of assets in the Garden, and when not flowering, provides a verdant […]
UBC Botanical and Nitobe Memorial Garden join PaRx National Nature Prescription program
In Vancouver, PaRx has partnered with another major organization to improve access to nature for those who need it most. Beginning this month, the University of British Columbia Botanical Garden and Nitobe Memorial Garden are offering unlimited free admission to patients who display a copy of their PaRx prescription and matching ID at the gate.
Sunflowers’ invisible colours help them attract bees and adapt to drought
Jan 18, 2022 | For more information, contact Peter Meiszner It turns out sunflowers are more than just a pretty face: the ultraviolet colours of their flowers not only attract pollinators, but also help the plant regulate water loss, according to new UBC research. The dense collection of yellow petals of a sunflower (technically an […]
Learning from Mycorrhizal Networks to Inform UBC Campus Landscape Design Strategies
Student Nick Mantegna explores how UBC campus spaces can improve resiliency and biodiversity through biomimicry—the practice of applying nature’s design to sustainably solve human design challenges.
Birding at the Botanical Garden: Adapting to the Impacts of COVID-19
During regular operations, UBC Botanical Garden hosts Nature Vancouver’s monthly bird surveys, but the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent closing of the Garden earlier this year disrupted this citizen science project’s progress and data.