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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