Gardening Scotland

Fresh back from a Gold Medal at Chelsea, Stella and David Rankin of Kevock Plants won the Best in Show award at Gardening Scotland less than a week later.

I was invited by the RHS to speak about the Award of Garden Merit at Gardening Scotland on Saturday, so I travelled up to Edinburgh on Friday night and enjoyed a weekend in that beautiful city in perfect weather and in the company of friends. Gardening Scotland is the country's major horticultural event, taking place at the Royal Highland Showground, just by the airport, and evidently very popular. The main horticultural displays are in one of the large halls, which gives plenty of space but is rather dark. There were fewer stands than one might hope to see, but there were some excellent exhibits among them, with a different flavour to those seen in England. Meconopsis, not surprisingly, featured prominently.

Nursery displays inside the hall at Gardening Scotland

Peonies from Binny Plants...

...and their magnificent display of perennials. Note how well the coloured heucheras are blended into the predominantly green display.

The Scottish Rock Garden Club is celebrating its 80th anniversary this year: this display won it a gold medal.

A massive display of 667 potato cultivars by JBA Scottish Seed Potatoes.

Busy commerce on the outdoor nursery stalls.