BRODIE GARDEN NEWSLETTER Summer 2014
B
Brodie
Garden
Newsletter
Summer 2014
Welcome to the latest issue of the
Brodie Garden newsletter which
contains a round-up of
developments in the garden to
date, tells you what to look out
for in the garden at the moment
and outlines our plans for the
future.
Staff and Volunteers
The garden currently has one full-
time gardener, Frances Keeton,
and one seasonal gardener, Chris
Pepper, who works three days a
week. There are also four
wonderful volunteers, Allison
Thomson, David Jamieson,
Malcolm Davidson and Angela
Wright. Our work would be very
much harder without them and
we are always happy to welcome
new volunteers. Looking after the
grounds are Peter Mitchell, the
estate manager and Craig
MacDonald, the grounds
assistant.
Daffodils 2014 After the prolonged cold spring of
2013 we were very relieved this
year when the milder weather
meant that the daffodils flowered
in time for our annual Daffodil
Weekend in aid of Scotland’s
Gardens. Around 80 people took
part in tours of the collection and
£330 was raised from the tours
and sales of plants. The NTS is a
beneficiary of the Scotland’s
Gardens scheme so the garden
will ultimately benefit from the
money raised.
Last year the Brodie Daffodil
Collection was moved to a new
home in the lawn in front of the
Shrubbery. The daffodils were
laid out to form three stars to
reflect the stars on the Brodie
coat of arms. We were delighted
that almost all the daffodils
flowered and the display was
widely admired.
The daffodils in the Walled
Garden, where the bulk of the
collection grows, also gave
extremely impressive displays as
can be seen in the panoramic
photo on the next page. Work will
continue this year to move
daffodils into new beds and we
hope to recommence selling
bulbs next year.
Looking for a gift for a
gardener?
The shop at Brodie is currently
selling copies of Daffodil: the
Remarkable Story of the World’s
Most Popular Spring Flower by
Noel Kingsbury. This is a very
accessible and lavishly illustrated
introduction to the world of
daffodils and contains a short
chapter about Brodie. Hurry
whilst stocks last! Copies of the
booklet Ian Brodie: A Chieftain in
the World of Daffodils are also still
available from the shop
BRODIE GARDEN NEWSLETTER | Summer 2014 2
Shrubbery The Castle Border, which was
replanted last year, is now
established and giving an
impressive display. It should
going on providing colour and
interest well into autumn. A list of
the plants in the border can be
found at the Front Desk or in the
Tea Room.
Over the winter work continued
to remove large areas of
Rhododendron ponticum from the
Shrubbery which has helped to
open up views to the giant
sequoia and other trees.
The other main development in
the Shrubbery has been the
creation of a bamboo house. Staff
and visitors with long memories
may recall that there used to be a
bamboo house at the back of the
Shrubbery created from a
hollowed out clump of bamboo.
The house was removed several
years ago after the bamboo
flowered but there has long been
a desire to reinstate it as it was
always popular with visitors.
At the start of the year some old
compost bays in the Shrubbery
were removed and more recently
a circular trench was dug out,
lined with special root barrier
material and a number of purple-
stemmed bamboos planted. It
will obviously take a while for the
house to establish but it should
be a striking feature once it does.
Walled Garden
The Walled Garden has been a
hive of activity this year. The
major project has been the
replanting of a 44 x 6m border
with a mixture of herbaceous
plants, shrubs and grasses. Nearly
600 plants have been used in total
and path has been laid up the
middle of the border so that
visitors can really get close to the
plants. A list of plants is located
next to the gate into the garden
A series of new borders have
been created around the
labyrinth and these have been
sown with a Pictorial Meadow Mix
would should begin to flower
shortly. The mix contains
cultivated varieties of poppy,
cornflower, toadflax, candytuft,
blue flax and love-in-a-mist and
will hopefully prove as popular
with visitors as it will be bees and
other pollinators.
The vegetable bed in the Walled
Garden continues to be
productive and provides
vegetables for the tea room. This
year we are using our new
polytunnel for the first time to
grow tomatoes, cucumbers,
courgettes, gourds, melons,
peppers, aubergines, sweetcorn
and various herbs. It is also home
to Gninian the garden gnome.
Please feel free to visit if you’re in
the garden.
We continue to grow a range of
flowers for display in the castle
and tea-room. These are
predominantly grown around the
greenhouse and include a wide
variety of dahlia cultivars which
should provide a riot of colour
later in the summer.
Eagle-eyed visitors may have
noticed that an additional
polytunnel has been erected at
the top of the Walled Garden.
This is a special tunnel to protect
our most valuable stocks of
daffodils from pests such as
narcissus fly. It will be covered in
mesh rather than polythene for
this purpose.
Panoramic View of Walled Garden
BRODIE GARDEN NEWSLETTER | Summer 2014 3
Castle Border Newly planted herbaceous border in Walled Garden
Bamboo House Polytunnel
Vegetable Bed Pictorial Meadow Mix
BRODIE GARDEN NEWSLETTER | Summer 2014
EVENTS
GARDEN WALK SUNDAY
20TH JULY – POISONS
AND POTIONS Come on a tour of the Castle gardens and learn about the deadly secrets and life-giving properties of some of our best loved garden plants.
GARDEN WALK SUNDAY
17TH AUGUST – PLANTS
FOR BUGS, BIRDS AND
BEASTIES Learn all about how planting can benefit wildlife in the garden on this tour of the Castle gardens
BEFORE YOU GO…
DON’T FORGET TO VISIT THE PLANT SALES TABLE IN THE COURTYARD AT THE BACK OF
THE CASTLE
Summer 2014
Plants to look out for in the
Garden
Onopordum acanthium – Cotton
Thistle
You can’t fail to spot this giant
thistle which grows against the
wall in the Walled Garden. It self
seeds everywhere so we never
actually have to plant it.
Allium schubertii
This spectacular member of the
onion family has flower heads
more than 30cm across
resembling a frozen firework. It is
great for cutting and drying.
Linaria purpurea ‘Canon Went’
These attractive pink spires in the
new herbaceous border are long
flowering and a magnet for bees
and other pollinators. They are
also good for cutting and like to
self-seed.
Cephalaria gigantea
Imposing but airy member of the
scabious family. It’s pale lemon
flowers look wonderful at the
back of a border and bees and
other pollinators love it too.
Digitalis purpurea ‘Pam’s Choice’
- Foxglove
There are a number of different
foxglove cultivars planted in the
Castle Border but this is one of
the most striking featuring
creamy white flowers with purple
throats. Again perfect for
pollinators.
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