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Cambridge University Botanic Garden
@cubotanicgarden.bsky.social
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One of the largest university-owned botanic gardens in the world, CUBG's diverse collection of 8,000+ plant species supports leading scientific research. Welcoming 350,000+ visitors annually, it also inspires a love of plants, learning & horticulture.
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✨Cambridge Botanic Lights Photography Competition returns!

📸Open to all ages from 28 November to 23 December.

📍Find out more and enter here: https://www.botanic.cam.ac.uk/cambridge-botanic-lights-photography-competition/

#CambridgeBotanicGarden #PhotographyCompetition #WinterLights
Colourfully illuminated tree at night with vibrant red, yellow and blue lights, with a silhouette of two people kissing. Illuminated fountain at night with colourful lights reflecting in the water and lighting up the trees and shrubs behind. Vibrantly illuminated trees and artistic lily light installations reflecting on water at night. Nighttime view of trees illuminated with purple and blue lights under a misty sky with a visible moon.
November 26, 2025 at 7:25 PM
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We’re joining @thetreecouncil.bsky.social for #NationalTreeWeek by shining a spotlight on one of our much-loved trees, the Cambridge Oak (Quercus x warburgii).📍Find it in the Gilbert Carter Woodland & see it in a whole new light as part of #CambridgeBotanicLights this year.
The Cambridge Oak (Quercus x warburgii) in September at Cambridge University Botanic Garden.
November 25, 2025 at 4:23 PM
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Celebrate the festive season in the beautiful landscapes of Cambridge University Botanic Garden.🌟From enchanting events like Cambridge Botanic Lights to the tranquillity & winter beauty of the Garden, there's something for everyone to enjoy. See more on our website: bit.ly/3KknXSK
November 25, 2025 at 3:14 PM
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Celebrations and festivities!

🌟 Friends enjoyed wreath-making, find out more about Friends and events: https://www.botanic.cam.ac.uk/join-support/friends/

🎂 We celebrated Dave, one of our Visitor Services Team Leaders, birthday and retirement - we wish you all the best!

#CambridgeBotanicGarden
Person holding a handmade wreath, standing in a craft room with baskets and dried plants on a table. Person smiling and standing behind a birthday cake with lit candles on a decorated table.
November 24, 2025 at 6:15 PM
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🌟A very busy – and very cold – week in the Garden.

🌳A very special visit from a beautiful fox, sharing the news about the endangered Fen Orchid back from the brink of extinction, our first frosty mornings, installations going up for Cambridge Botanic Lights and our Winter Garden coming into bloom!
Frost-covered leaves, including a brown oak leaf and a vibrant orange leaf, nestled among green foliage. Close-up of a branch with white blossoms, set against a blurred background of a garden under a clear blue sky. Individual in a video conference mentioning Fen Orchids at the Cambridge University Botanic Garden. A fox sitting among shrubs and grasses, looking attentively to the side, with red berries and a brick wall in the background.
November 22, 2025 at 4:07 PM
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🌱Have you seen some new features in the Garden?

✨Displays for Cambridge Botanic Lights are being installed - the countdown is on for its return!

🌟Intrigued by what you see? Why not book tickets to see the trail in its illuminated glory?

#WinterLights #CambridgeBotanicGarden
wire mess sculptures of sycamore seed lie on the grass in a garden, with trees and patches of sunlight in the background. A metal archway adorned with small lights spans a pathway in a garden, with trees and a clear blue sky in the background. View of a pathway lined with arches made of metal mesh, leading through a lush green garden under a clear sky. Dandelion-like sculpture in a garden on a sunny day, with trees and a clear sky in the background.
November 20, 2025 at 5:08 PM
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✨It's just over a week until Cambridge Botanic Lights!

⭐The Garden will be filled with light and sound, some exciting new displays plus plenty of other surprises!

🌟Will you be joining us?

💚This lovely footage captured by visitors from last winter has us counting down the days

#WinterLights
November 19, 2025 at 9:29 PM
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A cold, sunny start to the week at the Garden ☀️
Visitors soaking up the sun, staff charmed by a gorgeous fox 🦊 and the Winter Garden filling with colour.

New installations will soon shine for Cambridge Botanic Lights ✨
Tickets: https://www.botanic.cam.ac.uk/cambridge-botanic-lights-2025/
Person sitting on a bench next to a glasshouse, enjoying a sunny day in a botanical garden. A fox sitting attentively among shrubs with red berries and tall grasses in the background. Close-up of pink cherry blossoms on a branch, with a blurred background of branches and greenery. A unique installation featuring a pyramid-shaped structure made of suspended green wheelbarrows, set against a backdrop of a clear sky and lush greenery.
November 17, 2025 at 6:45 PM
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🌿Rain or shine, the Garden is looking beautiful
⛲Our Fountain is freshly cleaned and running again, and Little Robin’s festive family trail 🪶 is now open - free for children.
✨ You may also spot Cambridge Botanic Lights installations going up… not long now!

#CambridgeBotanicGarden
The fountain at Cambridge University Botanic Garden, drained and cleaned. A trail guide and an informational placard named "Holly" displayed outdoors next to a stump, surrounded by holly. A night-time view of the illuminated Glasshouse at Cambridge University Botanic Garden, with its glass panes glowing in vibrant pink and purple hues against a cloudy sky.
November 15, 2025 at 3:48 PM
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🎄 Our Garden has gone festive!

🌿 Follow Little Robin’s trail at the Garden: pick up your map, visit the festive plants, make a rubbing at each stop and create a Christmas bauble.

📍 Free for children under 16. More info: https://www.botanic.cam.ac.uk/whats-on/little-robins-christmas-trail-copy/

A colourful flyer titled "Little Robin's Christmas Trail" held against a holly bush background. An outdoor display featuring a Little Robin's Christmas Trail flyer on a wooden stump beside a triangular easel board.
November 14, 2025 at 4:13 PM
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⛲ The Fountain at the Cambridge University Botanic Garden has had a well-deserved clean!

Our Horticulture Team drained and refreshed the water - now it’s sparkling and ready for visitors again. ✨

#CUBG #Cambridge #BotanicGarden
November 13, 2025 at 4:48 PM
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Here’s a sneak peek of the festive treats awaiting you at Cambridge Botanic Lights! 🌟
Warm up with:
☕ Gingerbread or Baileys hot chocolate
🍷 Mulled wine
🍎 Hot apple punch - all from the Garden Kitchen Café!
Tickets: https://www.botanic.cam.ac.uk/cambridge-botanic-lights-2025/
#CambridgeBotanicLights
November 12, 2025 at 4:06 PM
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A peaceful scene from the West Walk, as we pause to reflect and remember this #RemembranceDay2025
November 11, 2025 at 10:59 AM
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🌿 This Week 🌿
We were thrilled to welcome @plantlifeuk.bsky.social and @channel4news.bsky.social to celebrate the Fen Orchid - brought back from the brink of extinction!
See our latest Plant Picks and don’t miss #CambridgeBotanicLights: https://www.botanic.cam.ac.uk/cambridge-botanic-lights-2025/
A small yellow orchid with green leaves. A flower with white petals and purple spots, with green foliage in the background. A close-up image of a plant in bloom, featuring a strikingly dark purple and blue flower against a backdrop of lush green leaves. A vibrant display of purple flowers growing from a fleshy, green-leafed plant in a terracotta pot, situated in a greenhouse environment.
November 7, 2025 at 3:07 PM
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✨ Are you coming to Cambridge Botanic Lights? ✨
The spectacular event returns in 3 weeks! 💫
Enjoy dazzling light displays, more food & drink stalls, extra dates & our lowest adult ticket price 🌟
🎟️ Book now: https://www.botanic.cam.ac.uk/cambridge-botanic-lights-2025/

#CUBG #winterlights #Cambridge
Two children walking arm in arm down a footpath with fairy lights in hedges either side of them. A man smiles at the baby he is holding, with lights and foliage in the background. A man and a woman doing a star jump in a tunnel made out of white fairy lights.
November 6, 2025 at 4:49 PM
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As we head into winter, our Head of Horticulture, Sally Petitt, offers some simple ways you can support wildlife at this time of year, no matter the size, shape or style of your garden. Look out for her latest column in this month's Cambridge Edition & read more here: bit.ly/43QIUey
Bright yellow flowers of Mahonia x media 'Winter Sun' attracting a bee Dipsacus fullonum (teasel) seed heads covered with frost Tall upright seed heads of Phlomis russeliana (Turkish sage)
November 4, 2025 at 4:53 PM
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🌿As the evenings are drawing in, the Garden is now closing at 4pm each day until February.

🪴Our opening times are 10am to 4pm every day – see you soon!

#CUBG #Cambridge #botanicgarden
November 1, 2025 at 7:29 AM
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What a wonderful half-term at the Garden! 🌿

Our prickly rhubarb is tucked up for winter, families and students made beautiful clay plant prints 🎨 and we’ve had Halloween fun!👻

Join us this weekend for tree stump prints, free tours & bite-sized plant talks! 🌳

#CUBG #Cambridge
Rhubarb leaves and stems piled up in a garden A group of people hold up clay artworks in a classroom. Three children press plants into clay in a classroom. A person dressed as a pumpkin sits on a bench looking scared, while a person dressed as the Grim Reaper stands and smiles.
October 31, 2025 at 4:18 PM
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We’ve gone spook-iful at the Boo-tanic Garden! 🎃🌿

Our glasshouse has turned to the dark side and our plants are showing off their creepy costumes 👻

Check out our Spooky Species Showdown and rate their strength, scent, size & freaky factor!

#CUBG #Cambridge #Halloween
October 31, 2025 at 1:46 PM
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✨ Cambridge Botanic Lights returns in just 4 weeks - with a brand-new theme: Night Pollination! 🌙
🌼 Moths pollinate 30% of the world’s flowering plants.
🦇 500+ species rely on bats - including the agave for tequila!
Celebrate our amazing night pollinators!
#CUBG #WinterLights #Cambridge
October 29, 2025 at 12:55 PM
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☀️ Come and enjoy some half-term activities with us this autumn! ☀️

🌿 Free Daily Garden Tours
🌱 Bitesize Plant Talks
🎨 Autumn Art Adventure
🪶The Magpies Magic Forest trail

Find out more:
https://www.botanic.cam.ac.uk/whats-on-in-the-garden-this-autumn-2025/

#CUBG #halftermactivities #Cambridge
A cluster of small pale purple flowers in the foreground with a bee. A water fountain in front of autumnal trees, a lawn and glasshouses. A view of a lake between a tree trunk and orange and green foliage. A lake surrounded by orange, brown and green trees and foliage, reflected in its water.
October 27, 2025 at 3:53 PM
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Who would you take to Cambridge Botanic Lights? 🌟 Enter our Instagram giveaway for the chance to win 4 free tickets! ✨

👉 Like the Instagram post & page to join.
More info: https://www.botanic.cam.ac.uk/cambridge-botanic-lights-2025/win-four-tickets-to-cambridge-botanic-lights/

#CUBG #WinterLights
A group of people stand smiling and posing in front of a green background with yellow lights at Cambridge Botanic Lights.
October 22, 2025 at 11:00 AM
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It’s been a colourful autumn week at CUBG 🍂 Apple Day prep is underway 🍏 Sally Petitt joined BBC Radio Cambs 🎙 and we welcomed Dr John Grimshaw’s lecture 🌱 Plus, our new community-created Garden map is on display: https://www.botanic.cam.ac.uk/community-shares-ideas-for-cubgs-future-landscape/
#CUBG
Purple and yellow crocuses at the base of a tree A flag with 'Apple Tasting' written on it on a lawn next to a marquee. A speaker gives a talk to a group of people in a lecture hall. A group of people stand and kneel around and illustrated map of Cambridge University Botanic Garden.
October 17, 2025 at 3:23 PM
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✨Have you got your tickets for Cambridge Botanic Lights? ✨

🌟 New theme & returning favourites
⭐ More festive food & drink
🌟 Flexible, affordable tickets
⭐ Earlier entry & longest run ever

Book now 👉 https://www.botanic.cam.ac.uk/cambridge-botanic-lights-2025/

#CUBG #Cambridge #winterlights
A photo collage of different parts of the Garden illuminated with multi-coloured lights and people smiling.
October 15, 2025 at 3:22 PM
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🌱 Last night Friends of CUBG enjoyed Dr John Grimshaw’s Annual Lecture, Gardening in a Changing Climate - exploring the challenges and positive solutions
🌿Support the Garden & enjoy benefits like free entry & events: https://www.botanic.cam.ac.uk/join-support/friends/
#CUBG #Cambridge #climateaction
October 15, 2025 at 11:52 AM