Written by Aileen Scoular Falkland Palace Garden
We take expert care of many of Scotland’s most beautiful and important gardens so the whole nation can enjoy them.
Looking after gardens and designed landscapes has been among the Trust’s core activities since day one. We care for more than 100,000 plants and 38 amazing gardens – 30 of which are listed in Scotland’s Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes as outstanding examples of gardens that are historically interesting, horticulturally impressive or, quite simply, a work of art.
But although the Trust takes immense pride in knowing its gardens are globally regarded, our foremost responsibility is to the people of Scotland. ‘We try to make our gardens accessible to as many people as possible, and we’re always thinking about how we can make the experience real and meaningful for visitors,’ explains Ann Steele, Head of Heritage Gardening.
The ‘Souvenir du Docteur Jamain’ rose was rescued from a derelict nursery
Credit: Gap Gardens
Shopping for plants is one of my core horticultural skills. I have been putting this retail expertise into practice recently by ordering bare-root roses for a revamp of my tired, geranium-fixated London front garden.
Given the fact I have just published a book about Sissinghurst, perhaps it was only natural that I should be drawn to the “old” shrub roses that Vita Sackville-West championed. She ventured that the petals “recall the brocades of ecclesiastical vestments, the glow of mosaics, the texture of oriental carpets”.
She delighted in the soft, luxuriant pinks and off-whites of these varieties, as well as occasional flashes of vividness, like the rich red blooms of