Branklyn Garden, National Trust for Scotland
116, Dundee Road, Perth, PH2 7BB
Branklyn Garden was created by John and Dorothy Renton in the 1920s in the grounds of their home. Forty years later, in a labour of love, they had created what one expert described as “the finest two acres of private garden in the country”. Over 3500 species from all over the world now flourish here, nearly half of them are direct descendants of the Renton’s own plants.
Today, Branklyn is owned and maintained by the National Trust for Scotland, having been passed on in 1968, but still retains the feel of an intimate, personal garden. The responsibility of the current team of gardeners, led by Jim Jermyn, is to maintain the legacy of the Rentons, whilst ensuring the garden and its extensive collection of rare plants remains current in the 21st century.
Visitors to the garden can be treated to a feast of varied plant species from February through to October. The garden officially opens to the public in April, however there are over 150 snowdrop cultivars which visitors can enjoy during snowdrop weekends in February. Spring launches into a display of erythroniums and then a mass of early flowering rhododendrons and trilliums, whilst the giant lily, Cardiocrinum giganteum, entrances visitors during the summer.
The seasons draw in with stunning autumn colour from the Japanese maples and the sweetly scented foliage of Cercidiphyllum japonicum, the Katsura or ‘toffee apple tree’. A recently planted double bed of autumn flowering Gentians provide a lovely display of blue.
Dorothy Renton built up a great relationship with the Himalayan plant collectors, including Ludlow and Sherriff, Euan Cox, Kingdon-Ward and Joseph Rock, and as a result, the garden contains many of their seed introductions, from trees and shrubs, to the famous Meconopsis. Some of the original introductions share the same bed as modern cultivars and Branklyn currently holds a Plant Heritage, National Collection of these plants.
The rock garden and alpine plants are important features in the garden and work is currently being carried out to restore each of the three rock gardens, as well as the splendid Westmorland limestone rock garden.
A delight for any visitor, Branklyn is a member of Scotland’s not-for-profit garden tourism group, Discover Scottish Gardens and a partner of the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS).
Website: www.nts.org.uk/BranklynGarden
Telephone: 01738 625535
Opening times: Daily 10am - 5pm (April to October 31st). Tea Room open 11am to 4pm
Admission costs: NTS members free of charge, Adults £6.50, Concessions £5.00, Family ticket £16.50
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