Helensburgh & Gareloch Horticultural Society

Great evening with excellent speaker, Brian Cunningham last night, with a comprehensive history of Scone from Roman times through the ages, and how the estate developed to become a lavishly planted garden with beds, borders and a huge, 4 acre walled garden tended by squads of gardeners, through its decline, and current more modest revival. There remain the remnants of a majestic 14 ft high cast- iron framed peach house; one of at least three glasshouses, which sadly would tak

As a keen but novice gardener and photographer I was charmed by Andrea Jones' photographs and anecdotes. I had been unsure whether to attend Andrea's talk as, armed with a small garden and only an iPhone, I wondered what I could take away. The answer of course was - a lot! The talk was well suited to all standards of photographer. I was delighted to acquire a number of tips and an easy to follow photograph sequence plan which I used the following day at Andrea's workshop whe

What can one say about Mr De Prato’s absorbing talk? As promised, sex, violence and skulduggery abounded. I for one have seen a view of a bird’s behind that cannot be unseen (though Heaven knows, I wish it could!) Stan’s interest in nature, and plant-based lore ranges from the academically fascinating to the gleefully salacious. He shared with us the source of the brand Castrol (one of many times that evening I, and many others I suspect, mentally exclaimed, ‘I didn’t know

Our first talk of the new season was delivered by Dougie Boatman, who is Managing Director of Scotplants in Beith. His presentation entitled: “Well-behaved plants: riotous colour without similar growth behaviour” was divided into two parts. In the first half, he talked about some of his favourite plants and shrubs and brought specimens of each for all to see. He provided tips on where to plant them, how to look after them and how to keep them under control and looking their b

Kate gave us a very interesting presentation which certainly whetted the appetite of those going on the outing later in the year. She told us how the young woman Ella Christie was an adventurer of her time both in terms of her domestic situation and in terms of her determination to change them and to carry on her father's work in the establishment of the garden. She went on an extensive tripto the far East and came back through Russia at a time when ladies travelling on their

On the 14th of March, Rob and Jackie Potterton visited Helensburgh on a wild and windy day all the way from Lincolnshire, and shared the experience of building a nursery from scratch. It was a fascinating story of how a family arrived at the point where they have over four hundred varieties of alpines, and nearly as many bulbs all carefully raised on site in what one of our audience described as ‘a different world’, far removed from our own damp and verdant west coast. Th

Colin Crosbie came to us with impeccable horticultural credentials, and a love for Japanese culture, people and gardens that was absolutely evident from his first words of the evening. He took us on a tour of some of the finest gardens in Japan, with glorious images, and just as importantly, many insights into the rationale, history and culture behind the Japanese style of gardening. One thing Colin made absolutely clear in the course of his lecture was that any garden outsid

Mark Paterson explores the differences between gardening with the Gulf Stream in the South West to gardening in the North East of Scotland. Right from the start it was clear that Mark had a real appreciation of the big picture of our planet, of the vital contribution of Gardeners, and of the benefits of gardening to all who grow things. He opened with world maps showing the influence of currents like the Gulf Stream – how this benefits not only the West coast, but also the S

This talk was a journey – I would like to take it again, and wish that those who missed it could have another opportunity, even though Sue and Mike did once decide to do no more talks! We started in a Glasgow we wouldn’t recognise, in the early 18 hundreds, when Blythswood Square was a dairy, and Queen St Station was woodland. Here lived Andrew McGeorge, who enjoyed holidaying in Helensburgh (Yes!), fascinated by the latest technological advances like steamers on the Clyde (i

Ed Bollom, our October speaker has been at Gordon Castle for over three years where he is now Head Gardener. Ed gave us some of the interesting history of Gordon Castle Walled Garden from its creation in the 18th Century when over 40 gardeners supplied the needs of the residents of the grand castle that existed that time. Following two world wars the garden declined and most of the castle was demolished due to dry and wet rot, and after years of producing raspberries for sal

A well attended meeting reflected the interest in Helensburgh that this hugely ambitious Park Regeneration Project has produced. Melissa Simpson, Project Development Officer of Hermitage Park, gave a thorough account of the tremendous amount of work and enormous sums of money that have been sourced with boundless energy from all involved. The presentation was summed up in the vote of thanks: Bad news for BIG trees, but new lease of life for others; the once overgrown burn is

On 8th November , Nursery Manager, Ian Christie entertained and informed us with some of the insights he has gleaned in his over 35 years of experience growing woodland plants.  He’s known for his snowdrops, and had a few interesting tips to share about meconopsis, including the fact that exposure to sunlight changes the colour within hours – a fact of which many of us present were totally unaware. But the stars of the show, due to both  the stunning photographs and Ian’s

Callum Pirnie, Garden Manager at Dun Dubh in the Trossachs took us on a journey, which began nine years ago. He explained how the Neglected late Victorian garden, west of Aberfoyle, had for decades been quietly disappearing into a sea of invading Rhododendron and how he had lovingly restored and developed it to the highest quality expected of its owner. The garden along with its setting are spectacular, perched on the side of Dun Dubh hill, it looks down the length of Loch A

The first meeting of the HGHS 2017/ 2018 programme started with a superb evening with Lesley Watson and Dougal Philip, both senior RHS Show Garden judges for many years. For those of us who often wonder why a certain garden wins Best in Show e.g. James Basson's Abandoned Maltese Quarry Garden, or other gardens, such as Chris Beardmore's Morgan Stanley Garden, fail to do so, their lively, illustrated presentation, peppered with humorous anecdotes, certainly gave great insight

On Wednesday 8th March over 90 members and guests experienced the boundless enthusiasm of a true plantsman, Billy Carruthers. As well as a stunning presentation, he arrived with a van load of wonderful plants for sale. It was like a rugby scrum - touch and go whether we had a talk at all! But we did - on spring flowering plants, and above all , Peonies, which, with over 250 varieties and flowering spread over many months of the year are glorious plants for the garden. There

Carol Rowe of Kilarden certainly helped to brighten a dreich, cold February evening as she took us on a photographic tour of her beautiful garden at Rosneath. Arriving with eight trailer-loads of rhododendrons from their former garden in Edinburgh, she and her late husband Jimmy over the last 17 years have transformed 20 acres of woodland and rhododendron into what it is today. Faced with the vagaries of west coast winds and rain, and marauding deer and slugs Carol continues

On a dreich mid-January night, we were delighted to welcome Joanna Gough to talk about Making the Most of fruit in your garden. We were also delighted by the numbers of members that attended on such a bad weather night - all enthusiastically looking forward to the better weather and Spring arriving. Joanna challenged Society members to think differently about fruit, and took us on a journey of more trendy and 'exotic'(well, at least for the west coast of Scotland) fruit. We w