Department of Plant Sciences
Series associated with Department of Plant Sciences
Back Garden Biology
| # | Episode Title | Description | People | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Creative Commons | Seeing the Wood for the Trees | In winter the bones of the trees are laid bare, giving us a chance to see their skeletons. Join Lindsay as she takes a tour round Wytham Woods in Oxford, showing you how to identify our common native trees from their bark and the shape of their branches. | Lindsay Turnball | 07 Jan 2021 |
| 2 | Creative Commons | One billion years a slave | Peering into a drop of pondwater allows you to look back in time and see key events in the history of life on Earth. | Lindsay Turnbull, Stuart West | 06 Aug 2020 |
| 3 | Creative Commons | Feed the birds? | What do birds like eating and what decisions do they have to make when visiting a bird feeder? | Lindsay Turnbull, Friederike Hillemann, Annette Fayet | 28 Jul 2020 |
| 4 | Creative Commons | Interview with a Vampire | Find out how plants like mistletoe and hayrattle extract resources from their hosts and how hayrattle engages in a game of rock, paper, scissors, that makes managing meadows a whole lot easier. | Lindsay Turnbull | 10 Jul 2020 |
| 5 | Creative Commons | Much ado about mothing | Dedicated to moths, this episode explores how and why these unsung heroes deserve more attention. | Lindsay Turnbull, Doug Boyes, Ben Sheldon | 30 Jun 2020 |
| 6 | Creative Commons | Stop the pigeon? Never! | Woodpigeons are common garden birds, whose familiar call has been likened to someone complaining about their feet. But woodpigeons make fantastic parents, and like all pigeons and doves produce a kind of 'milk' to feed their young. | Lindsay Turnbull | 15 Jun 2020 |
| 7 | Creative Commons | All that glitters. | Find out how birds, insects and plants exploit iridescence. | Lindsay Turnbull | 04 Jun 2020 |
| 8 | Creative Commons | Three little birds | Blue and great tits commonly use nest-boxes in gardens. In this episode we explore their nesting behaviour and get a priviledged view inside the nest-boxes at Wytham Woods. | Lindsay Turnbull | 29 May 2020 |
| 9 | Creative Commons | Why is the world green? | Lindsay searches for the truth about our verdant green world and tackles a mystery about her rose-bushes: who ate all the greenfly? | Lindsay Turnbull | 24 May 2020 |
| 10 | Creative Commons | Garden Safari: The Bug Five! | Did you know that just five groups of insects dominate your garden? And can you tell the difference between bugs and beetles? | Lindsey Turnbull | 12 May 2020 |
| 11 | Creative Commons | Seeds of Change | In this episode we take a look at the strange life-cycle of ferns and find out why they are so dependent on water. | Lindsay Turnbull | 10 May 2020 |
| 12 | Creative Commons | Hot as mustard. | In this episode we look closely at Garlic mustard or Jack-by-the-hedge, a very common plant throughout the UK. | Lindsay Turnbull | 04 May 2020 |
| 13 | Creative Commons | One is the magic number | Back Garden Biology takes a closer look at the insects in the garden including the solitary bee. | Lindsay Turnbull | 27 Apr 2020 |
| 14 | Creative Commons | Stinker! | In this episode we look at the cuckoo pint, which has an unusual flower with the central part, called a spadix, releasing a stench that to our nostrils is quite revolting. | Lindsay Turnbull | 20 Apr 2020 |
| 15 | Creative Commons | Queen Bee | Learn how to identify common garden bees and find out why they never seem to stay still. | Lindsay Turnbull | 20 Apr 2020 |
| 16 | Creative Commons | The Lillies of the Fields | The beautiful snake's-head fritillary is the flower of Oxfordshire. In this episode we look closely at the flowers it produces. | Lindsay Turnbull | 13 Apr 2020 |
| 17 | Creative Commons | Deceived with ornament | Plants attract pollinators through their colourful flowers but some plants aren't quite what they seem. | Lindsay Turnbull | 06 Apr 2020 |
| 18 | Creative Commons | Sex and the single primrose | In early spring, primroses and cowslips can be found in many gardens and parks. Their yellow flowers are certainly beautiful, but they also hold a secret: they come in two different types that can only mate with each other. | Lindsay Turnbull | 26 Mar 2020 |