Plant science in heavy metal

Arabidopsis cleaning up bomb sites? Carrots mining for gold? Black Sabbath encouraging bigger blooms in lilies? This might seem like the stuff of science fiction, but in this blog post, I'm going to be talking you through all three.

Camellia: tea from your garden

What started out as a morning scroll on Twitter, turned into a productive little experiment. Researching Camellia japonica, I realised I could not only make tea from my plant, but I could do it in less than a day and with minimal effort - ideal!

Plant science in Animal Crossing

With the recent release of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, I wanted to explore the many plants featured in this viral sensation. Discover the science behind the medicinal, parasitic and toxic plants growing in your virtual garden.

Common Dog Violet

If you're taking a walk through the woods, instead of admiring the majesty of the tree canopy, take a look at the meek, ground-dwellers below. Among them, you may come across the common dog violet (Viola riviniana). Flowering from April to June, this wonderful little plant is of great ecological importance.

Common Daisy

When you ask a child to draw a flower, a simple yellow circle, surrounded by ovate petals is usually the result. Daisies (Bellis perennis) are what most would consider to be a typical flower. However, I hope that in the next few paragraphs I can convince you that daisies are anything but common within the world of flowers. Plot twist: daisies are not even flowers at all.