Achamore House Isle of Giha, Argyll and Bute.

Photo © 2004 - 2007 Isle of Gigha Heritage Trust

More recent in their creation, these gardens were only begun in 1944. The Island has moderate rainfall and is virtually frost-free and wildflowers flourish in profusion. Planted with rare trees and rhododendrons by Sir John Horlick, the garden also features dells carpeted with Candelabra Primulas, a brilliant azalea garden, glades of wild hyacinth and a walled garden which affords protection to such treasures as R. Sinonutti, Metrosideros, Echiums and Azara dentata. N.B. This is a very 'early' garden and is probably at it best in early-mid May.

Ardkinglass Woodland Garden Cairndow, Argyll and Bute.

Photo © Ardkinglas Woodland Estate

Contains one of Britain's finest collection of conifers, including Britain's largest conifer dating back to 1790, and a spectacular display of rhododendrons. Ardkinglas Estate was purchased in 1905 by Sir Andrew Noble. An outstanding collection of rhododendrons was established by Sir John Noble around 1920. Encouraged by his early success and with the assistance of his son Michael (later Lord Glenkinglas), he set about planting a gift of rhododendrons from fellow enthusiast Lord Aberconway. Two railway carriages were dispatched from Bodnant, North Wales and sent to Arrochar station in 1935. These plants can presently be found upon the aptly named Bodnant Bank.

Lord Glenkinglas and his wife, Anne, continued to garden at Ardkinglas until the mid 1980’s. Their influence is demonstrated throughout the Woodland Garden every March to mid-June with the flowering of the many hybrid rhododendrons that resulted from their extensive breeding programme

Ardanaiseig Gardens (V) by Loch Awe, Argyll and Bute.

Photo © www.ardanaiseig.com

Ardanaiseig Gardens are made up of 100 acres of Victorian woodlands on the shores of Loch Awe. Set out in 1834 when Ardanaiseig House was built, the garden still contains many of the original trees, rhododendrons, azaleas and magnolias Many other rare shrubs line the extensive walks and the walled garden has a colourful herbaceous border. Now sadly neglected, they are being restored in a way which will retain their romantic charm and mysterious atmosphere.

Arduaine Garden (NTS) nr. Kilmelford, Argyll and Bute.

Photo © 2006 The National Trust for Scotland

On A816, 20m south of Oban and 17m north of Lochgilphead. A haven of tranquillity nestling on the west coast, Arduaine Garden is most spectacular in the late spring and early summer when the rhododendrons and azaleas are at their glorious best. With informal perennial borders giving a delightful display of colour throughout the season, the garden offers pleasant surroundings for a relaxing walk through the woodland garden to the coastal viewpoint, or simply an opportunity to sit and enjoy the peaceful atmosphere of the water garden.

The spectacular rhododendrons bring enthusiasts from far and wide, and azaleas, magnolias and many other shrubs fill the garden with scent and colour. Blue Tibetan poppies, giant Himalayan lilies and Chatham Island forgetme-nots are just part of a perennial collection flowering well on into autumn. From the tall trees of the woodland garden to the water lilies in the ponds, Arduaine takes the visitor on a horticultural journey across the temperate world.

Armadale Castle Armadale, Isle of Skye.

Photo © Clan Donald Lands Trust

The 40 acres of exotic trees, shrubs and flowers which make Armadale Castle Gardens, on the Isle of Skye, Scotland, are remarkable for their beauty and for their very existence. The warm, generally frost-free, climate of the west coast of Scotland - a result of the Gulf Stream allow the sheltered gardens to flourish. Although there have been gardens at Armadale since the 17th century, it was just over two hundred years ago, that the planting began which was to create the gardens you see today. There was further development in Victorian times, with expanses of lawn intermittently planted with trees and shrubbery. A walled kitchen garden and glass-houses would have provided the Castle with freshly grown produce. When the Clan Donald Lands Trust took over, the gardens were overgrown and neglected. Several years of hard pruning and rebuilding and planting around the centrepiece of Armadale Castle has resulted in 40 acres of fascinating woodland gardens and lawns that provide a tranquil place to sit or walk.

Balmacara Estate & Lochalsh Woodland Garden (NTS) nr. Kyle of Lochalsh, Highland.

Photo © 2007 The National Trust for Scotland

The Lochalsh Woodland Garden, 2 miles east of Kyle of Lochalsh on the A87, provides pleasant walks beside the loch. Mature Scots pine, oaks and beeches with developing collections of bamboo, ferns, fuchsias, hydrangeas and rhododendrons give the garden its attractive diversity.

Benmore Botanic Garden Benmore, nr. Dunoon, Argyll and Bute.

Set in mountainous terrain, the Benmore Gardens are a sub-station of the Edinburgh Botanic Garden. Reflecting the two collections that dominate the Garden, Benmore has been rightly described as both a living textbook of the genus Rhododendron, and with its unrivaled diversity of coniferous trees, as a National Pinetum. The Garden also has the Bhutanese Glade and, for the end of the decade, a new Chilean Glade is under construction. Such new developments will ensure that Benmore remains an enthralling place for future generations of visitors to explore.

Bolfracks Aberfeldy, Perth and Kinross.

Photo © Bolfracks Estate Office

Walled garden with borders of trees and perennials. Burn garden with rhododendrons, azaleas, primulas and meconopsis. Good autumn colours. There has been an ornamental garden here since the mid 18th century. Most of what can be seen today originates from 1970’s and is the work of the late Mr J Douglas Hutchison. The stream garden was planned and constructed by Ian Lawrie of Dundee in 1928 along the course of the Bolfracks Burn. It was restored and replanted from 1983-85.

The gardens at Bolfracks are renowned for their impressive collections of rare and unusual plants, including a superb collection of rhododendrons, azaleas, acers, old fashioned roses and an array of herbaceous perennials.

Branklyn Garden (NTS) Dundee Road, Perth, Perth and Kinross.

Photo © 2007 The National Trust for Scotland

Hard by a busy main road, this is a haven of peace and colour. It is a small but magnificent garden with an impressive collection of rare and unusual plants. Among the most breathtaking is the Himalayan blue poppy, Meconopsis x sheldonii. There is a rock garden with purple maple and the rare golden Cedrus. Seasonal highlights in May and June are the alpines and rhododendrons and in autumn the fiery red Acer palmatum.

This attractive garden in Perth was developed by John and Dorothy Renton with the help of seed collections from plant hunters such as Forrest, Ludlow and Sherriff. Gardeners and botanists from all over the world come to see the outstanding plants - rhododendrons, alpines, herbaceous and peat-garden plants.

Branklyn also holds National Collections of Cassiope and Lilium (Mylnefield lilies), and is developing a collection of Rhododendron taliense.

Cawdor Castle Nairn, Highland.

Photo © 2005 The Dowager Countess Cawdor

The oldest garden north east of the castle was enclosed with walls and bastions in 1620, and was cultivated in the old-fashioned manner where soft fruits, flowers, vegetables and fruit trees were mingled closely together.  Today this garden has been remodelled with a holly maze, a paradise garden, knot garden and orchard.  The flower garden south of the castle was laid out at the beginning of the 18th century by Lord Cawdor's brother, Sir Archibald Campbell.  In 1850 Lady Cawdor added oval rose beds edged with lavender, which are still unchanged today.  The garden has a distinctly Victorian feel, with a great variety of colours in the summer.  The steep wild garden between the castle and the rocky stream of the Cawdor Burn was planted in the 1960's and is a shaggy informal ramble of azaleas, rhododendrons, daffodils, primulas, willows and bamboos, set among tall old trees.  The Cawdor Big Wood, 755 acres of old woodland, mainly oak, Scots pine, beech and larch includes 5 nature walks of varying lengths.

Cawdor Castle and Gardens are open to the public annually from May 1st to the second Sunday in October, daily from 10am to 5pm.

Cluny House nr. Aberfeldy, Perth and Kinross.

Photo © VisitScotland Perthshire 2005

This 2.4ha Himalayan/North American woodland garden overlooking the scenic Strathtay valley, was planted and developed by the late Bobby and Betty Masterton from 1950. A feature of Cluny is its natural appearance, with many woodland plants regenerating and expanding freely beneath a canopy of rhododendrons, acers, rowans and birches.

Woodland garden with many rhododendrons specimen trees, shrubs . An outstanding collection of massed primulas in a woodland setting. Also mecanopsis, nomocharis, cardiocrinums, and other Himalayan plants. Superb autumn colours. See also the Gardens Guide pages.

Crarae Gardens (NTS) Minard, Argyll and Bute.

Photo © 2007 The National Trust for Scotland

The gardens in Argyll which have been described as "Scotland's Himalayas" were gifted to the Trust in 2002 by the Crarae Garden Charitable Trust, following a successful £1.5 million appeal. Crarae has one of the most extensive fern populations in the UK, ranging from huge golden scaled male ferns, to the tiny filmy ferns, growing alongside introduced species such as the magnificent Tasmanian tree fern, Dicksonia antarctica. One of the finest gardens in Scotland for autumn colour. A huge variety of maples, birches and rowans from around the world provide an unparalleled display in September and October. Lesser known plants such as Disanthus cercidifolius ensure that the shrub layer is just spectacular.

It’s a magical spot at any time of year, with the earlier flowers of countless rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias and magnolias being replaced later in the season by the rich tints of foliage and fruit. Includes a National Collection of Nothofagus.

Crathes Castle & Garden (NTS) nr. Banchory, Aberdeenshire.

Photo © 2007 The National Trust for Scotland

The garden beside this romantic chateau-like Scottish tower house, with its little round towers and square overhanging turrets, was very much the brainchild of Sir James Burnett and his wife Lady Sybil. It was their brilliant imagination and plantsmanship earlier this century which gradually evolved the distinctive, compartmentalised, ornamental thematic displays throughout the whole walledgarden that we see today. National Collection of Dianthus.

The 3.75 ares of walled garden, which incorporates herbaceous borders and many unusual plants, providing a wonderful display at all times of the year. The great yew hedges, fascinating examples of the art of topiary, date from as early as 1702. See also the Sisley Tours web page for this property.

Cruickshank Botanic Garden (NTS) nr. Banchory, Aberdeenshire.

Photo © 2005, University of Aberdeen

The Cruickshank Botanic Gardens were built on land bequested by Miss Anne Cruikshank to commemorate her brother Dr. Alexander Cruikshank. The 11 acre garden is located in a low-lying and fairly sheltered area of Aberdeen, less than 1 mile from the North Sea.

Drum Castle and Garden (NTS) Peterculter, nr. Aberdeen.

Photo © 2007 The National Trust for Scotland

The grounds contain the Old Wood of Drum, an ancient oak woodland with Site of Special Scientific Interest designation with mixed woodlands, three waymarked walks and an arboretum. Within the old walled garden is a fine collection of historic roses.

Drummond Castle Gardens Crieff, Perth and Kinross.

Photo © 2007 www.drummondcastle.co.uk

Scotland's most important formal gardens are among the finest in Europe. The upper terraces offer stunning views and overlook a magnificent parterre celebrating the saltire, the three rivers of Perthshire and the famous multiplex sundial by John Milne, Master Mason to Charles I.

Glenarn Rhu, Argyll and Bute.

Photo © 2007 Glorious Gardens of Argyll & Bute

Glenarn is a private garden largely created and originaly made famous for its collection of species rhododendrons by the Gibson family. Established in the 1920s and 30s,the garden lies in a protected hollow with a steeply sloping glen running its length and providing shelter for large leafed and tender rhododendrons.

Early in the spring, tall Asiatic magnolias create dramatic interest while other plants such as Crinodendrons, Reryphias and Pieris give colour at different times. A large rock garden built around the old quarry and natural rock outcrop provides a variety of habitats for Meconopsis, Primulas and many bulbs in season. Plants for sale.

Glen Grant Distillery Garden Rothes, nr. Elgin, Moray.

Three years of painstaking work, using historical evidence, old maps and the vivid memories of the local people have restored Glen Grant Gardens to the magnificent sight it was in Victorian days. Old woodland walks have been recreated and log bridges and Major Grant's Dram Hut were rebuilt on the evidence of old photographs.

As they worked the restorers uncovered beautiful mature orchards, the remains of a lily pond and many thriving specimens of rhododendrons and native ferns. Now the glorious garden is a testament to the vision of Major Grant himself and the extraordinary dedication of the restoration team.

Inverewe Garden (NTS) Poolewe, Gairloch, Highland.

Photo © 2007 The National Trust for Scotland

Here you will see the tallest Australian gum trees in Britain, sweetly scented Chinese rhododendrons, exotic trees from Chile and Blue Nile lilies from South Africa, all growing on a latitude more northerly than Moscow? The answer is Inverewe, a 54 acre woodland garden in a remote corner of Wester Ross, but also a sheltered garden blessed by the North Atlantic Drift. In a spectacular lochside setting among pinewoods, Osgood Mackenzie's Victorian dreams have produced a glorious Mecca for garden lovers. National Collections of Olearia and Rhododendron.

Inshriach Alpine Nursery Aviemore, Highland.

Photo © 1999 Kincraig Web Association

This is also known as Jack Drake's Nursery, though he is no longer the proprietor. There is a fascinating small garden that is attractive in spring and early summer and can be viewed on any day except Sunday. Lots of nice bulbous plants, dog tooth violets, trilliums, primulas, meconopsis, dwarf rhododendrons etc., and a burn lined with a striking display of yellow skunk cabbage. There are new plantings of larger rhododendrons and other plants in a recent extension across the road.

Kerrachar Gardens Kylesku, Sutherland, Highland.

Photo © www.kerrachar.co.uk

The main emphasis is on herbaceous perennials and the gardens grow an enormous range of these. Meconopsis are one of the main features with most other major genera on display. The gardens contain an increasing range of shrubs, many from the southern hemisphere and many quite tender plants successfully overwinter in this maritime location.

The garden owners also propagate many of the plants on display which are offered for sale during the growing season when the garden is open to visitors.

Kinlochlaich House Garden Plant Centre nr. Appin, Oban, Aryll and Bute.

Photo © 2005 Kinlochlaich House

The old walled garden, built circa 1790 by John Campbell, sits hidden against the highland landscape.  Like many gardens in the Highlands,  the mild climate of the Gulf Stream allows many different plants to thrive.

We have developed the Garden Plant Centre within the ornamental gardens here since 1975,  to become one of the leading plant nurseries in Scotland.  We are pleased that an historic garden is once more in full production and offering employment.

There are various plantings throughout the grounds and within the hexagonal walled garden offering year round interest.  These are constantly being added to and are maturing well.

Leith Hall and Garden (NTS) Kennethmont, Insch, Aberdeenshire.

Photo © 2007 The National Trust for Scotland

A 286 acre estate with ponds, trails, a bird observation hide, a hilltop viewpoint, unusual semicircular 18th-century stables and an ice house. The 6 acre formal and informal gardens, with extensive borders, are noted for their colour and diversity. Features extensive herbaceous borders and a fine collection of alpines and primulas in the rock garden. The rock garden has recently been enhanced by the Scottish Rock Garden Cub.

Mount Stuart House and Gardens Isle of Bute, Argyll.

Photo © Mount Stuart Trust

Consists of 300 acres of designed landscape around a spectacular High Victorian Gothic house with astrological designs, stained glass and marble. The secluded 'wee garden', the Victorian kitchen garden, the garden pavilion, Pinetum and Arboretum, Limetree Avenue and magnificent rhododendrons.

Pitmedden Garden (NTS) Pitmedden, Aberdeenshire.

Photo © 2007 The National Trust for Scotland

The centrepiece of this property is the Great Garden which was originally laid out in 1675 by Sir Alexander Seton, 1st Baronet of Pitmedden. The elaborate designs, now carefully re-created, were inspired by the garden at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh. Pitmedden features over 5 miles of box hedging arranged in intricate patterns to form six parterres. These parterres are filled with some 40,000 plants bursting with colour in the summer months. Over 80 varieties of apple trees adorn the high granite walls, offering a spectacular show of blossom and scent in spring.

Pitmuies House and Garden nr. Friockheim, Arbroath, Angus.

Photo © www.pitmuies.com

An 18th century house and garden. Two semi-formal wall gardens adjoin 18th century house and shelter long border of herbaceous perennials, superb delphiniums, old fashioned roses and pavings of violas and dianthus. Spacious lawns, river and lochside walks beneath fine trees. A wide variety of shrubs with good autumn colours. Massed spring bulbs, interesting turreted doocot and "Gothick" wash-house. The principal garden features include kitchen garden, rose garden, trellis walk, alpine meadow and hornbeam walk.

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Early Scottish Gardens Sheila Mackay	Scottish Houses and Gardens Ian Gow	Scottish Plants for Scottish Gardens Jill Hamilton