Tutor: Ros Bennett
Date: Thursday 13th and Friday 14th July 2023
Time: 10:00 – 16:00
Cost: £135
Location: Classroom

By July many of our finest native plants have finished flowering, with the notable exception of glorious shows of thistles, ragworts, dandelions and mayweeds – a great time therefore to concentrate on the Asteraceae or the Compositae as we used to call them.

The Asteraceae is the biggest flowering plant family in the world and is also the family that is most strongly represented in the British Isles. It therefore seems appropriate for anyone seriously interested in our native flora to feel confident in identifying them. Despite the apparent confusion between hawkweeds and hawkbits, mayweeds and chamomiles, this is not in fact a difficult task to do! Much of the course will be devoted to helping participants increase their confidence and competence in using scientific keys to identify the look-alikes that are such a notorious feature of this family.
The Botanic Garden harbours a rich selection of members of this family. Studying garden species often helps to put our native species into better perspective. This course will be designed for those who have previously shied away from these notorious look-alikes. It is not designed for the more advanced botanist who may wish to learn to distinguish between the different microspecies of Hieracium (Hawkweeds) and Taraxacum (Dandelions).

Tutor: Gwenda Kyd
Date: Thursday 14th September 2023
Time: 10:00 - 16:00
Cost: £70
Location: Classroom

The Bach flower remedies form a system of complementary therapy based on treating the emotions. While the system has been used successfully worldwide for over 80 years, the 36 plants from which the remedies are obtained are sometimes forgotten. In this full-day workshop, after a brief introduction to the remedies, the plants will take centre stage. Traditional and modern uses of the plants will be explored including their use as sources of materials, their other medicinal benefits, culinary uses and numerous other weird and wonderful applications. Weather-permitting, we'll also visit some of the remedy plants growing in the Garden. By the end of the day, you'll have a deeper understanding of this very special group of plants.

Tutor: Alison Foster
Date: Monday 18th September 2023
Time: 10:00 - 13:00
Cost: £25
Location: Online

2023 has been declared the International Year of Millets by the United Nations. Millets were among the first plants to be domesticated and became a major staple food across Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia for 7 000 years. However, since new high-yielding varieties of rice and wheat were introduced in the 1970’s, the cultivation and consumption of millets has plummeted.
Millets have a high nutritional value and are able to grow on relatively poor soils and under adverse, arid conditions, with comparatively fewer inputs to other cereals. This makes millets a vital part of the global strategy towards food and nutrition security.
This course will explore how millets compare botanically and chemically to other cereal crops like maize, rice and wheat that have become global commodities. We will follow the journey from wild species through domestication and cultivation to commercial production bringing together anthropological, botanical, chemical and ecological considerations.

Tutor: Owen Mountford
Date: Monday 13th November 2023
Time: 10:00 - 13:00
Cost: £25
Location: Online

Heaths are amongst the most threatened habitats in lowland Britain. Treatment with lime and fertilisers has eliminated heathland from counties such as Cambridgeshire, though significant areas survive in Breckland and in Bedfordshire. The course will look at local heaths and compare them with more extensive examples in the north and west of Britain. It will introduce the flowers of heathland and how heaths are shaped by climate and management.

Tutor: Ros Bennett
Date: Thursday 23rd November 2023
Time: 10:00 – 16:00
Cost: £70
Location: Classroom

November is an irresistible time to turn our attention to our native trees. At this time our broad-leaved trees have just lost their blaze of colour and the conifers stand out in majestic contrast. But by late November we can no longer rely solely on the foliage and fruits, we must now look to twig formation and winter buds to help us identify these important members of our natural heritage. This course is concerned with identification and is suitable for beginners and all those who love trees. No previous knowledge will be assumed.
Depending on weather conditions, much of the day will be spent in the classroom, sorting through specimens and getting to grips with the terminology of the features of the bare stems, the winter buds and (in the case of our few conifers) needle arrangement and cones/’berries’. We shall also practise working with different keys to identification. Simplified keys will be introduced. Regardless of the weather, we shall also spend plenty of time exploring the Garden for our native trees in order to put into practice what we have learned.
Be prepared for short bursts of brisk walking whilst outdoors. However, there will be longer periods of standing still while studying different tree specimens and, whatever the weather, you may become cold at these times, so do bring appropriate clothing.