Book your tickets online now - Gardening Scotland

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May 1, 2017 - innovation, design and plant quality. Gardening Scotland ... Gardening Scotland's Floral Pavilion is alway
Scotland’s hugely anticipated garden festival – Gardening Scotland – will once again open its doors to the public at the Royal Highland Centre, Edinburgh, from 2nd-4th June 2017. Welcoming more than 35,000 people, the three-day event is a celebration of all things related to the great outdoors, attracting novice and expert gardeners, foodies, nature lovers and families looking for a fun and action-packed day out. Every year, gardeners of all ages flock to Gardening Scotland to meet some of the UK’s top specialist nurseries and growers and to visit the country’s largest plant village. The event’s show gardens and college gardens are guaranteed to inspire gardeners and non-gardeners alike, exemplifying the latest and highest quality in innovation, design and plant quality. Gardening Scotland is not just for adults and garden lovers. Children are sure to be kept well-entertained in the Big Back Garden, which provides a host of

wonderful activities including treasure hunts, games, music, birds of prey, bouncy castles and much more. There is fun for all ages, whether that’s in the form of sunflower planting, pallet garden competitions or garden play. The show also makes for the perfect day out with friends – with more than 400 exhibitors selling a huge range of plants, garden equipment, furniture, landscaping products, food, outdoor clothes and homeware. Bargain hunters are sure to attend the ‘Great Sunday Sell-Off’, when everything from the smallest plants to entire show gardens are often sold at cut price. Over the past few years, Scotland’s Outdoor Living Show has also had a real focus on the gastronomic. The Cookery Theatre showcases chefs from across the country who offer culinary tips and know-how to guests, and the Food Fayre offers some of the best food and drink Scotland has to offer. Aspiring growers can also pick up some tips on how to cultivate the very best fruit and vegetables at home.

For those who haven’t visited before, or for those looking for a little reminder of all the reasons why Gardening Scotland makes the perfect day out, read on!

Book your tickets now and save money at www.gardeningscotland.com & get 20% off at Bakker.com!

The ‘You Too Can Have This Garden’ This year, Edinburgh-based garden designer Lynn Hill will be creating ‘The Tangible Garden’. Also known as the ‘You Too Can Have This’ garden, the show space will represent a modern garden for dining and entertaining. With more and more people increasingly using their

gardens as an extension of the home and a space for living in, rather than for gardening, this innovative show garden will reflect a beautiful garden that is achievable and functional in the real world, as well as affordable. This theme will be reflected in the planting which will include a mix of shrubs and perennials, with low maintenance being the aim of the game. Evergreens will provide permanent soft structure with flowering perennials such as Circium giving zings of colour and grasses such as Carex testacea and Anemanthele softening the look. This garden is definitely a must see!

Gardener of the Year Award For the first time ever in 2017, Gardening Scotland has launched a nation-wide competition to find Scotland’s best gardener, and we need your help to find them! The Gardener of the Year Award is open to anyone with a passion for creating inspiring outdoor spaces, from novices to experts, young to old and amateurs to professionals. Everyone can apply, and people can also nominate friends, colleagues or relatives. The new award has been launched to celebrate the skills and enthusiasm of gardeners up and down the country, from vegetable growers to chrysanthemum exhibitors to budding garden designers and primary school allotmenteers. The winner of the award will be selected by an expert panel of judges who are looking for a gardener with infectious enthusiasm, a drive to learn and a passion for gardening. The lucky winner will receive, amongst other prizes, £250 of Caulders Garden Centre vouchers to spend on transforming their own outdoor space. To enter, all you need to do is send a written submission of no more than 250 words explaining why you or the person you are nominating should be considered for Gardening Scotland’s Gardener of the Year Award. Please also send relevant photographs and drawings. Entries should be emailed to [email protected] before the deadline of 1 May 2017.

Fabulous Flowers Gardening Scotland’s Floral Pavilion is always one of the most popular features of the show, and this year it promises to be bigger and better than ever with a dazzling new 125 metre Floral Walkway. The Walkway will showcase some of the UK’s top specialist nurseries, and visitors will get the opportunity to meet with and speak to the growers directly, discovering the best tips and know how to take home to their own outdoor spaces. This year’s event will welcome local businesses such as Clan Horticulture with its range of hardy herbaceous plants which thrive in the Scottish climate, and Perthshire-based Glendoick Gardens & Garden Centres who will bring a selection of newly bred Azaleas to be named by members of the public. Lasswade-based Kevock Garden Plants will showcase a number of unusual alpine, woodland and bog plants to inspire gardeners with damper gardens, as well as those with ponds and water features. There will also be nursery men and women from further afield. Cornwall growers, East of Eden will bring a range of hardy exotic, tender exotic, tropical, Mediterranean and world plants – perfect for growing indoors and in greenhouses. Roualeyn Fuchsias will bring their famed hardy purple and pink fuchsias all the way from Wales. The National Vegetable Society will once again encourage visitors to grow their own with a beautiful vegetable display, and will advise on how to extend the growing season through the use of protective planting environments. It’s not only avid outdoor gardeners who will be interested in the Floral Pavilion. The Scottish Bonsai Collection Trust is guaranteed to enchant everyone with a wide range of fabulous miniature trees which are ideal for keeping both indoors and outdoors.

Expert Advice

Be Inspired

Green fingered enthusiasts will have the opportunity to learn about everything from growing indoor plants to edible hanging baskets at a range of participative workshops and Q&A sessions in the RHS Theatre, situated at the far end of the Floral Walkway.

Gardening Scotland’s fabulous show gardens are always one of the most talked about features of the show. They are there to inspire, engage and raise awareness of topical issues and concerns in the horticultural world.

Small Plots Remember to visit our miniature garden plots at the Pallet Gardens. Use them as inspiration for a small outdoor area that you would like to fill – whether that’s a window box or an allotment bed. These miniature gardens are always a favourite with young and old!

Scottish Rural Colleges Murder Garden

A group of eight international Garden Design students at SRUC are digging up a dark moment in Scottish history to inspire their “Hortus Homicida” show garden at this year’s Gardening Scotland. The students, who come from seven different countries, will use the story of a famous garden murderer to mark the 450th anniversary of the unsolved murder of Mary Queen of Scots’ second husband - Lord Darnley and his servant. The two were killed on 10 February 1567. Their bodies were found strangled in Kirk o’ Fields orchard - now the site of the University of Edinburgh’s quadrangle surrounded by an overturned chair, a dagger and a cloak. The idea behind the garden came from mature

student Heath Urquhart (40) who left his farm in New Zealand in 2015 to pursue his dream of working in horticulture by studying at SRUC. After arriving in Edinburgh, he learnt about the murder at the National Museum of Scotland and it captured his imagination. Heath said: “We want to create a garden that evokes the romantic air of a monastic orchard during the time of Scotland’s’ greatest Queen. A slice of time that has charm mixed with intrigue, suspicion and mystery.” The students will prepare the garden with help from Binny Plants in West Lothian. The garden will first be constructed and finished at SRUC’s Edinburgh campus before being dismantled for reassembly and planting up at the Showground in June.

Bag Yourself A Bargain Flock to the ‘Great Sunday Sell-Off’, when everything from the smallest plants to entire show gardens are sold at cut price.

Prizes And Awards No big gardening event would be complete without them! This year you can see who wins the Caley’s Best New Plant Award, and the Sunday Posts People’s Choice Award for the most popular display within the Floral Pavilion. While outside you can vote for your favourite Show Garden with the Bakker.com I Dig It Award. All awards will be presented at 16.00 Friday 2nd June, voting closes at 15.00.

Fun For all the Family Gardening Scotland is the perfect family day out, with an abundance of activities to keep the children entertained. The best bit about it is that all children under 16 get into the event for free!

Gorgeous Gastronomy This year, Scotland’s Outdoor Living Show has a real focus on food and cookery as well as gardening delights. Whether you prefer to take a seat in the Cookery Theatre and pick up culinary tips from well-known chefs or simply buy some of the best locally grown and sourced food and drink Scotland has to offer in the Food Fayre, Gardening Scotland is the place to come. Aspiring growers can pick up some tips on how to cultivate the very best fruit and vegetables at home. The Cookery Theatre will play host to a range of well-known chefs demonstrating some delicious and inspiring recipes using the very best Scottish produce. Other parts of the show, including The Living Garden exhibition and some of the Show Gardens will demonstrate how you can grow your own delicious produce, from herbs to fruit and vegetables, for your own kitchen.

NSPCC Scotland has been selected as the garden festival’s charity partner after a very successful inaugural year in 2016. To showcase the partnership at the event itself, NSPCC Scotland will be organising lots of fun activities for children and their parents, such as a flower-themed treasure hunt, face-painting, games and prizes, as well as photograph opportunities and a social media competition.  Gardens have always been a place for children to play and explore the world of nature and at Gardening Scotland they get the chance to do both. Children will be encouraged to get their hands dirty with the Caley and get real gardening experience potting plants, sowing seeds, making their own grass heads as well as and labelling and caring for plants. Children with a love of food or cookery can also have a go in the children’s cookery theatre on Sunday 4th June to see how they get on with the help of a professional chef.

Don’t miss out - order your tickets now! Advance Ticket Prices: Friday, Saturday and Sunday - £14 Gate Ticket Prices: Friday – £16 Saturday/Sunday – £15 Children under 16 go FREE!

Book your tickets online now - www.gardeningscotland.com The first 1,500 people with pre-booked tickets arriving at Gardening Scotland each day from 2-4 June will receive a fantastic 20% discount voucher to spend on Bakker.com. Bring your ticket along and collect the voucher from The Sunday Post stand located beside the North Gate.

Make Your Visit To Gardening Scotland Sparkle! While kids will have a ball at Gardening Scotland, there’s plenty of activities to keep adults entertained too. Why not make your visit to Scotland’s national gardening event truly sparkle with an afternoon tea in our Floral Tea Room? Priced at £36 per person, the deluxe package includes entry to the Show, afternoon tea in our Floral Tea Room, an event catalogue and free car parking. The afternoon tea menu includes a selection of delicious handcrafted sandwiches, scones, cakes and tarts. All this is served with tea and coffee, or upgrade to a glass of Prosecco which you can buy on the day. To book tickets, visit www.gardeningscotland.com/tickets.

Getting There The Royal Highland Centre (EH28 8NB) is situated just off the A8 to the west of Edinburgh. Follow signs to Edinburgh Airport then the AA signposting to the Show. There is ample car parking available. The Royal Highland Centre applies a parking charge. There is forward parking available for disabled badge holders situated at the North Gate entrance; the approach will be signposted. Wheelchairs and scooters can be booked through Shopmobility from the beginning of May by calling 0131 557 4123. Lothian Buses will provide a dedicated shuttle service from Edinburgh City Centre, meaning that anyone coming into Edinburgh by train (from Glasgow, the North and beyond) will have easy access to the Show. A timetable will be available on the Gardening Scotland website closer to the show. The Stagecoach Jet747 bus service from Fife stops close to the Showground. Call 0131 333 0965 or visit the website for further travel information.

Plant and Product Crèche At Gardening Scotland you don’t need to worry about being weighed down by your purchases. The Friends of the Botanic Gardens Edinburgh will operate a plant and product crèche where, for a small donation, your itemswill be safely stored while you carry on enjoying the festival.

A Bite to Eat Gardening Scotland welcomes picnics, however we have an abundance of places for you to grab a bite or sit and relax at the Show. Inside the Floral Hall we have The Garden Café located in the Upper Foyer and The Lower Foyer Café Bar, located on the ground floor. Outside you can enjoy the vibrant atmosphere with a variety of hot and cold food as well as award-winning Food from Argyll where visitors will be able to enjoy some of the finest food the country has to offer.