Garden Visits

Each year we visit a garden of special interest. The visit is often accompanied by afternoon tea in beautiful surroundings.

Orbliston Garden Visit

By kind permission of Mrs Margaret Shepherd

  • Date: Wednesday, 15th June
  • Time: from 2.00 pm
  • Tea: kindly supplied by Mrs Shepherd
  • Parking: round the house and steading
  • Entry: £5, including teas. Mrs Shepherd has asked that profits be donated to the Macmillan Cancer Fund

Orbliston Garden is very well worth a visit and those of you who have been there before will find that Mrs Shepherd, who works tirelessly in all weathers, has new ideas and planting on the go all the time.

The garden is on two levels, and although the fairly steep path to the lower level has a handrail it might be better for those with mobility problems to enter by the gate leading off the drive, a short distance from the house.

Directions

Leave the A96 at Mosstodloch and turn on to the B9015 (Rothes Road). Orbliston is signposted on the second tarmac round on the right – approximately 2 miles from Mosstodloch.

From Margaret Shepherd…

After a few years at Orbliston I decided that it was time to make a number of alterations. Sixteen old and dead tree roots and two hedges were removed. The stream sides were cultivated and azaleas, hostas, candelabra primulas etc. were planted.

The vegetable garden was much too large and so one area was put down to grass and an herbaceous border created. The New Zealand raspberries dating from 1920, were lifted and replanted and continue to fruit every year.

The wet ground at the bottom of the garden was dug out for a pond and large stones were used to edge an island. A spillway was also constructed in order to regulate water flow.

The tennis court fence was removed being replanted with rose and shrub borders.

Stones from an old building were brought in to create a large rock garden a feature being the 39 steps following a curving line to the lower level. The field beyond was then brought into the garden and here native trees were planted next to their more sophisticated cousins.

Plants growing in gravel around the house replaced the borders there – stone troughs adding interest. An extensive planting of geraniums, clematis, roses etc. was created on the top level near to the house.

Much of the garden has been created in very wet land and restricts me greatly in what I can grow. If winters are to become wetter perhaps I should consider a very large bog garden!




Previous Garden Visits

Brodie Castle

A large group of our members enjoyed a visit to Brodie Castle on 20th April, where we had a walk/talk about the daffodil collection and a guided tour of some of the castle’s paintings and porcelain. We are grateful to Handley Barratt for the selection of photographs of the gardens.

David Wheeler, a former keeper of this national collection of daffodils, provided a fascinating talk in the shrubbery garden and the private walled garden, where the rarer varieties still bloom. The daffodil collection was created by Major Ian Brodie, the 24th Brodie of Brodie, between 1899 and 1943. He bred over 2500 species, with 440 varieties strong enough to be named and developed. He was extremely methodical as can be seen in his stud books which are held in the castle’s archives. Ian Brodie seldom left the gardens in the breeding season, his wife Violet being the public face of the project at RHS meetings and exhibitions. Over the years many varieties have been lost, with fewer than 100 identifiable in the gardens today. The good news is that the National Trust for Scotland is about to embark on a project to conserve this collection and to recover more of the rare varieties scattered across the gardens of Scotland and further afield.

Eileen Fitzpatrick, a volunteer guide at the castle, provided an interesting tour of a range of paintings and porcelain in the collections. From the late eighteenth century until the mid twentieth century the Brodies were keen collectors. In particular Violet, wife of Ian Brodie, bought a large number of watercolours, paying not more than £25 per painting at that time. The large collection of 17th century Dutch paintings, bought by William the 22nd Brodie, was a focus of the visit to the Red Drawing room. The final painting viewed was The Philosopher and Pupils (1626) by Willem van der Vliet, influenced very much by Carravagio, with typical use of light and shade.

The porcelain collection is extensive, including pieces by Meissen, Staffordshire, Bow, and the well preserved Chinese armorial dinner service in the dining room, probably ordered in the mid eighteenth century via the Great East India Company by Alexander the 20th Brodie.

If you missed the visit, you are welcome to visit the castle from Sunday to Wednesday in May, June and September and every day in April, July and August.


Carestown Steading

In June 2009 we visited Carestown Steading, Deskford, near Cullen, the home of Ms Rora Paglieri. It was a perfect summer’s day and members enjoyed wandering round the garden and talking to Ms Paglieri who was on hand to answer the many questions asked by the members.

A donation of £5 per head was given to Ms Paglieri to donate to the charity of her choice, Scotland’s Gardens Scheme. An excellent afternoon tea was provided on the lawn by members of the Portsoy branch of Cancer Research, which was much appreciated by all.

Carestown Steading was discovered and rescued by Italian architect Rora Paglieri only 20 years ago. She was visiting friends nearby and came across the then ruinous farm building surrounded by land full of stones and overgrown with weeds, and had a vision of transforming it into her own home and garden. To quote Ms Paglieri, ‘I think I am now in one of the most beautiful places in the world’.

The garden covers five acres and is looked after by Ms Paglieri and one full time gardener. Often ten hours a day are spent in the garden on what is more than a hobby – it is a passion.

The garden is organic with Ms Paglieri using no chemical fertilisers, only manure from neighbouring farms and what compost she makes herself.

In a nod to her Italian roots she has built a conservatory which houses a large fruit bearing lemon tree; there is a woodland area, a Japanese garden, a maze in the shape of a carnyx – the ancient Celtic symbol found nearby – ponds, beds, topiary and much, much more.

Although Carestown is rarely open to the public, its story has spread by word of mouth and it has had numerous accolades, both in the press and on the Beechgrove Garden programme. There are several references to it on the internet, which can be found by googling Carestown Steading

We were very lucky to be able to visit this special place, and meet its amazing creator. Our many thanks to Ms Paglieri for such a warm welcome and for allowing us to enjoy her wonderful garden.




Previous Garden Visits

Below are some photos from previous garden visits, click to see them full-size.