Gardens of Dumfries and Galloway

Today after breakfast we visit Glenwhan Gardens, spread out over a windy hilltop with marvellous views of Luce Bay and the Mull of Galloway. Since 1979 a very large, interesting and individual garden has been created that is filled with good plants. At its heart is an extensive pool, divided by a grassy causeway and fed by a tumbling stream. The slopes above are lavishly planted with trees and shrubs – almost any gardener will find something unfamiliar here.

This afternoon we continue on to our next destination: the world-famous Logan Botanic Gardens at Port Logan. Port Logan lies in the Mull of Galloway, which juts out into the sea in the extreme south-west of Scotland. The garden was started by the McDougall family who lived here for 800 years, and since 1969 it has been in the care of the Royal Botanic Garden at Edinburgh. Logan Botanic Garden is beautifully laid out, particularly in the walled garden with its fine terraces and well-planned borders under an avenue of cabbage palms. The climate here is exceptionally mild and several different habitats provide conditions for a huge range of plants.

Next door are the gardens of Logan House, which were originally part of Logan Botanic Garden. This Victorian woodland garden features champion trees, sweeping lawns and ancient shrubberies, meandering pathways and a majestic monkey puzzle avenue. It also features seven United Kingdom and fourteen Scottish champion trees. Opened to the public in 2002 Logan House has benefited from a programme of replanting and renovation and the results have been very successful.

NB: as the gardens at Logan House are at their best in the early summer, on our August and September departures we will instead visit Cally Gardens at Gatehouse of Fleet after Logan Botanic Gardens. With over 4,000 perennials, the borders at Cally are not only stock beds and trial grounds for the nursery, but a magnificent display for visitors. There is plenty of interest throughout the year, with Geranium in midsummer and Agapanthus, Kniphofia and Crocosmia in late summer and autumn. The nursery has established plantings of several thousand varieties, and you can choose from a selection of several hundred in the sales area.

We return to our hotel where dinner is served in the evening.

This morning after breakfast we visit Broughton House, a fascinating 18th Century house and garden which was home to E A Hornel from 1901 until his death in 1933. During his lifetime he had twice lived in Japan and his experience there influenced many of his paintings. The garden which runs down to the estuary of the Dee also shows the influence of his time in Japan and is always full of colour.

After our visit to Broughton, we spend some more time in Kirkcudbright, a haven for artists, as paid testament to by its abundance of art galleries. We visit one such gallery and browse the work of local artists before stopping for a well-deserved lunch (not included).

Following this we visit the wonderful plantsman’s nursery of Ellenbank. This wonderful nursery is full of cottage garden perennials such as violas, clematis and penstemons.

Our last visit of the day will be to the gardens of the Threave Estate. The gardens have been largely created by students at the School of Horticulture which started here in 1960. Mature woodland of beech, conifers and oaks form the background to a large collection of shrub roses, sweeping mixed borders, dwarf heathers, peat and rock gardens, a walled kitchen garden and superbly maintained glasshouses.

Finally, we return to our hotel in time for dinner.

This morning we check out of our hotel and visit the gardens at Drumlanrig Castle. Surrounded by the 120,000 acre Queensberry Estate, Country Park and grand Victorian gardens, Drumlanrig Castle was completed in 1691 by William Douglas, 1st Duke of Queensberry and is one of the first and most important Renaissance buildings in the grand manner in Scotland. Drumlanrig hit the headlines in 2003 following the audacious theft of the Leonardo da Vinci painting ‘Madonna with the Yarnwinder’ and it was as a consequence of this that formal guided tours of the castle were introduced.

Our final visit is to the Crawick Multiverse, a hidden gem nested in a bowl of rolling hills in the heart of Dumfries and Galloway. This major new land restoration project on the Duke of Buccleuch’s Queensberry Estate has transformed a former open cast coal mine into a spectacular artland and public amenity and was designed by Charles Jencks, the celebrated landscape architect and author. The ecology of the site, and the materials found within it, inspired its design which is based around space, astronomy and cosmology. Following our visit we return to our original departure points.