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| One of the exotics growing in Inverewe Gardens |
When you think of plant life in Scotland’s Western
Highlands, you might visualize thistle blossoms, heather covered hillsides, or
Caledonian pine forests. Unless you’ve spent
time in that part of the world, you likely won’t expect to see palm trees, but palms
do grow there in locales such as Plockton and Ullapool.
You’ll also find palms trees at Inverewe Gardens, near
Poolewe, along with a variety of tropical and other exotic plants Osgood
Mackenzie imported from locations around the world for inclusion in the garden
he created 150 years ago. In spite of Inverewe’s latitude of 57.8 (for
reference, Moscow’s is 55.75), the relatively warm air borne by the North
Atlantic Drift makes the survival of such plant life possible. And to help
shelter his plant specimens from the wind, Mackenzie established a grove of pines and had a
wall erected.
After Mackenzie’s death, his daughter Mairi Sawyer continued
work on the garden. In 1952 she gifted Inverewe Estate, which includes the
gardens, to the National Trust for Scotland (NTS).
Two years ago I had the opportunity to spend a week living
in Inverewe House while serving as a NTS Thistle Camp volunteer. I wrote about that
experience in a July guest blog for the National Trust for Scotland Foundation
USA. (Scroll down for link.)
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| Inverewe House |
During my stay at Inverewe House, I came upon two huge
volumes of a limited edition book dated, as I recall, 1917. The volumes were filled
with art plates illustrating numerous varieties of rhododendron. While turning
the pages, I wondered what Osgood Mackenzie would think of the runaway
rhododendrons and our efforts to try to control them. Would he approve of our
work? Would he regret his decision to include this plant species in his garden?
In my own garden, I am prone to plant non-natives, as well
as natives such as beautyberry. Just today I purchased a Persian Shield (Strobilanthes dyerianus), native to
Myanmar, from a local garden center, not stopping to think at the time about
whether this plant has the potential to become invasive here in the South
Carolina Lowcountry. Already my garden includes nandina heavenly bamboo, which
I planted more than twenty years ago soon after I bought this house. According
to the University of Florida’s website, the State of Florida has placed nandina
on their invasive species list. My garden also includes nandina volunteers, but
only three or four. Although I don’t find nandina on my own state’s list, I am
reminded that we gardeners need to balance our love for plants with foreign
origins with the well-being of our native species.
Not all our time at Inverewe Gardens was spent battling
invasive species. In the middle of the week we had a day off from volunteer
activities and I spent the morning of that day wandering around the property,
photographing flowers and other plants. Eventually the last of my camera
batteries fizzled out. Not to be deterred, I switched to my iPhone and
continued to take pictures. I’m sorry to report that I did not note the names
of the various plants I observed, but I can tell you that among my favorites
were the tall spiky red cannas and a gorgeous lace-cap hydrangea.
One can’t help but envy the residents of Poolewe. How fortunate they are to live near Inverewe Gardens. With its more than fifty acres and its numerous plant species, both the familiar and the exotic, this is a place a gardening enthusiast could stroll through every day of the year and never be bored.
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| Loch view from the dining room |
For more information about Inverewe Gardens visit the National Trust for Scotland website:
To learn more about Thistle Camp at Inverewe Gardens read my blog post on the National Trust for Scotland Foundation USA website:
http://www.ntsusa.org/blog/guest-post-inverewe-thistle-camp/
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| Loch Ewe, a natural beauty |
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