NATIONAL TRUST FOR SCOTLAND
Beginning in June 2022 and running until March 2025, three regionally based teams will inventory the plants within our gardens and work to update the data held in our plant records database, IrisBG. The resulting database will have taxonomy descriptions and unique object numbers for every plant collection in our 38 major gardens and designed landscapes.
This is an incredibly important project for the Trust and will help us identify collections at risk of disease and to treat and respond quickly to outbreaks. It will provide proof of the legal and ethical sourcing of our plants and make it easier to report on nationally important plant collections and track conservation scheme material.
Since the PLANTS project launched in June 2022, more than 62,000 record descriptions have been added and/or edited in our plants catalogue. With this important information, we will be able to analyse the diversity of our collections so that we can plan for the future and provide reliable information to use in interpretation and visitor engagement.
The National Trust for Scotland cares for 38 historic gardens so there is no shortage of sites to explore! We asked the PLANTS team to share just a few of their favourite finds:
Spring into early summer is a special time to visit Branklyn Garden, a peaceful haven within walking distance of Perth city centre, with the garden full of colour. Giant lilies, Cardiocrinum, lady-slipper orchids Cypripedioideae, and primulas captivate through late spring, with blue poppy, Meconopsis, season starting in May and continuing into June.
Branklyn Garden is home to three national collections. One of the most fascinating is their collection of the stunning spring-flowering genus Cassiope. Named after the figure of Cassiopeia from Greek mythology, it has long been a favourite on alpine show benches for its sheer flower power. They are very hardy, coming from the Himalayas and the Arctic and scientists use this plant to monitor climate change in the Arctic. The collection at Branklyn forms the oldest national collection in Tayside and the first record of these plants being grown in the garden dates from 1928. A form unique to Branklyn is currently being registered under the name Cassiope ‘Thomas Erlend’.
Threave Garden is often recognised for its daffodil collection, but it is not just daffodils that Threave is known for. Keltonhill Wood is carpeted with bluebells in spring and the walled garden is home to blooms including Iris reticulata ‘Katharine Hodgkin’, and the pink and white blossoms of the apple and pear trees. Those looking for a more exotic sight this spring can walk among cacti, orchids, and bromeliads, in the warmth of the glasshouse.
Threave is a training ground for heritage gardeners and that is reflected in many of the rare species found here – in many cases Threave Garden has the only known species of the plant. One of these is the Sitka spruce, Picea sitchensis ‘Kelton Hill’. It was grown by a head gardener, Bob Brown, from cuttings taken from the wood on Kelton Hill (east of Threave House). The three specimens of Picea ‘Kelton Hill’ registered by the team in the garden may be the only three in existence.
One of the best examples of the link between a former owner and the plants in the garden is at Broughton House. Here we discovered a garden treasure box where it was hard to pick just one favourite!
Filled with an interesting collection of plants, this ½-acre Kirkcudbright garden was developed by the artist Edward Atkinson Hornel and the team discovered that some of Hornel’s original planting has survived. Hornel was heavily influenced by Japan and there are a number of unusual and rare Japanese plants in the garden. These include the Wisteria, a Japanese cherry tree, Prunus serrulata, which may have been planted by Hornel himself, and Paeonia suffruticosa ‘Kamada-fuji’.
Hornel was not the only gardener to live at Broughton House. His sister Tizzy, with whom he shared a home, was a knowledgeable plantswoman who spent much of her time working in the borders and in the greenhouse. She kept up a lively correspondence with nurserymen and had several plants named after her. During the audit, the PLANTS team came across a hardy orchid, Dactylorhiza, named ‘Tizzy Hornell’. When you visit the garden look out for the arching green leaves and vibrant purple columns of flowers.
These are just three of the 100,000 different plants for you to discover in Trust gardens this summer. Plan your trip today by visiting nts.org.uk.