Flowerpot

Bruce Langridge chats to National Botanic Garden of Wales Science Officer Dr Abigail Lowe about her PhD in pollinating insects. Abigail explains how the Botanic Garden was used to examine the links between flowering plants, pollen, hoverflies, bumble bees and solitary bees. She also talks about how her relationship with the Garden began while she was still at school.  

Bruce Langridge chats to National Botanic Garden of Wales Heritage Officer, William Sims. 

William talks about the challenges of interpreting the heritage of the Middleton Estate, now the site of the Botanic Garden. He also talks about how he’s reached out to audiences that wouldn't normally think about coming to a botanic garden.

Bruce Langridge chats to Helen Whitear about 'Dyffryn Twyi - Hanes Tirwedd Ein Bro', a project to help conserve the cultural and natural heritage of the Tywi Valley in Carmarthenshire. Helen talks about the hedgerows, meadows, buildings, language and parklands that make the valley so fascinating.

Bruce Langridge chats to Paul Smith, Head of Education at the National Botanic Garden of Wales. Paul explains how he has been able to reach out to particularly vulnerable members of society by listening to what they need and by being very adaptable. You'll also hear how Paul sees the Garden's education service developing over the next 5 years and how the brownies almost went hungry on one of their sleepover nights in the Great Glasshouse.  

Bruce Langridge, Head of Interpretation at the National Botanic Garden of Wales, chats to the Garden's curator Will Ritchie who will shortly be leaving his job.

They talk about the changes that Will has observed in his 5 years as curator, including the changing culture of the horticultural staff, the growth of plant and fungi conservation and the Garden's role in adapting to climate change. 

Bruce Langridge chats to one of Wales' leading mycologists Emma Williams. She tells how a visit to the National Botanic Garden of Wales helped inspire her to get into fungi, how studying coal spoil fungi has changed her views on how fungi colonise new areas and how exciting new discoveries at the Botanic Garden are being recorded for future scientific study in the Garden's Fungarium. 

Bruce Langridge chats to Angharad Phillips about the landscape restoration that has attracted thousands of visitors to the National Botanic Garden of Wales in 2021. 

Bruce Langridge chats to Kathryn Thomas about the work she's been doing to improve the biodiversity of land managed by the Swansea Bay University Health Board. Her Biophilic Wales project team demonstrate how the National Botanic Garden of Wales can help to bring significant improvements to the lives of staff, patients and visitors in urban areas.  

Bruce Langridge chats to the Head of Marketing and Communications at the National Botanic Garden of Wales, David Hardy. David talks about how he has become passionate about the mission of the botanic garden having started out as someone who didn't even like plants.  

Bruce Langridge chats to Nottingham University student Thomas McBride about his year's placement at the National Botanic Garden of Wales. Thomas talks enthusiastically about his research into pollinating insects and the application of this new knowledge.

We also get to hear about Thomas's wonderful wildlife discoveries, including his impression of the noise of nesting barn owl chicks that he found in a beech tree.