Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => Blogs and Diaries => Topic started by: ichristie on September 01, 2013, 06:02:13 PM
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www.forfarbotanists.org (http://www.forfarbotanists.org) Hi all, I posted a little n about this project some time ago we are a small group of volunteers who have come together to create a garden at the Myre car park in Forfar to commemorate George Don ( one of he first supervisor at the RHGE when it was in Leith) it will be 200 years since his birth in 2014 and 250 years since he we will also celebrate his sons George Don Jnr, David Don. the Drummond Thomas and James who took over the Don nursery at Doo Hillock in Forfar. Please look at the we site for full details. We have taken on a considerable project with so many problems fro Councils and Legal nightmares however we are progressing and we aim to start planting next week, we have had considerable help and advice from RBGE especially Alan Elliott here is the official words,
The Forfar Botanists Garden is receiving support from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) and threatened Scottish native plants. These plants have been collected under licences granted by Scottish Natural Heritage and cultivated at RBGE as part of the UK wide Plantnetwork Target8 project to bring threatened plants in to ex-situ conservation programs. The plants will allow the Forfar Botanist Garden to raise awareness about the threatened flora in Scotland, specifically growing some plants found along the coast to the east and in the mountains north of Forfar.
Many of the Scottish montane plants face an uncertain future from factors such as climate change and intensive grazing in the upland environment. These plants are also linked with the Forfar Botanists as they were discovered for the first time in the UK, growing in the Angus glens by these men. Just two examples include Oxytropis campestris (Yellow Oxytropis) found by George Don sr. in Corrie Fee in 1812 and Salix lanata (Wooly Willow) first discovered by Thomas Drummond in 1824. I will send more up-dates when possible and add new pictures will probably use up several pages but here goes with the first lot, cheers Ian the Christie kind.
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Hi, the few pictures show the site before we started and several stages afterwards here are a few more, cheers Ian
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Here is what we are trying to create but even better than, the plan. Ian
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H all, we have been very buy at the garden this week doing 1/2 hour days as we have an open day on the 18th all are invited. We are laying sets for the path and have put an edging of natural stone from Glen Clova have planted quite a few Thyme, Alchemilla alpine along the edges but the first plant was Dryas octopetala for George Don and SRGC. I will post a few pictures for will be back later, cheers Ian the Christie kind
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Next lot
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A few more
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Hello all, have had another hard day loaded up the local moss covered rocks from my garden to form the edge to retain soil went to the site built I then cemented them down then built a rock ledge for some of the special plants which I hope will be planted tomorrow. more news later, cheers Ian the Christie kind
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Some lovely stonework throughout the garden Ian. I particularly like the walling and the wall with a "window" was a real gem.
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Hi again we have had a very busy few days working on the garden, first the man looking through the wee round window is David Wilson from Perth he has build the walls everything else I am doing. I have had Alan Elliot with his mum Aileen and Liz Meikle another committee member today planting a really great help such a nice day as well. I am posting quite a few pictures from today, please do come if you can manage on the 18th fro 12 o clock, cheers Ian the Christie kind
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Next, Ian
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Glad I could be of some help yesterday Ian.
Every one invoved has put in a massive amount of effort especially in the last little while to get the Forfar Botanist garden to where it is at the moment. I'll post some images later when I get home.
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I got to the Forfar garden late Saturday afternoon to fine the indomitable Ian Christie and Alice Bremner hard at work.
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Then on Sunday I helped out for a couple of hours planting, watering and mulching.
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My mum who is on the committee was working to plant up Ian's wee alpine area
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Ian and Liz planting
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Everyone hard at work
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Hi again all first thanks to Alan and all our other helpers we got on very well, today was another planting day with some time spent to tidy up Aileen ( Alan's mum is great just gets on with things and as Alice arrived just after lunch the heavens opened so we got soaked and my pictures are not so good anyway got the Forfar Botanists Garden sign delivered and it is now in place, a few pictures from today, cheers Ian the Christie kind
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What a wonderfully inspirational project - I wish Scotland was not so far away from Kent! Good teamwork seems to make things happen!
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A very exciting project - and I love the spore and seed sculptures.
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Hi Tim well if you fancy a working weekens next spring lewt me know and sure all the help works wonders, we have been laying more sets recently but a frw showers delayed us a bit we were donated a citation stone to lay and have placed a time capsole in a hollow pipe under the slab cope. A few pictures cheers Ian the Christie kind
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Hello all, we have spent the last couple of days laying the sets and planting up the edges was so tired I went to be early however we finished yesterday after another 11 hour shift. My brother Dave was the expert set layer I helped get him all the bite he needed and I put in the plants. David Wilson finished the wall with the window WOW stunning and he also finished the other wall. I am to on onsite today finishing the planting and do more of a tidy up. Our open day on Wed is to be very special as we have a direct descendant of the Drummonds James Meikle who will come and plant a Salix lanata (first written up by Thomas Drummond) and Anemone drummondii, Dryas drummondii) I will post a few pictures later, some for now, cheers Ian the Christie kind
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Ian what a lovely project and somewhere that I can visit easily. Isn't the stonework beautiful. Will look forward to see it develop.
Hard work but worth it. Lovely to see the pictures of people working in Scotland with blue skies above them, saying this we did have a lovely summer to enjoy our hobby this year, hope we have the same for next year.
Angie :)
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Hi again, Angie when you visit bring your gardening gear as we need some helpers to maintain the garden and yes we have had some really good days to work in but yesterday just finished watering and the heavens opened got soaked. I am posting some pictures taken this morning and I do like the whole garden now I felt that the stonework was just too much on ite own but now with some plants it is superb, cheers Ian the Christie kind.
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We plan to have a huge tidy up on Monday I need the weekend to recover but will be looking after the Wallis's from Wales the speakers at the SRGC bulb day we are in for a treat so please come. More pics from the garden
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Hello all, we had a weekend away from the garden when we looked after the Wallise's from Wales the SRGC speakers for the Bulb day a set of very good lectures about bulbs and their habitat , we had a tour to Margaret and Henry's garden on Sunday the over to Cyril's for lunch, a great day indeed. have spent the other time at the Forfar garden just to tidy up everything for the opening today really enjoyed meeting Thomas Meikle a direct descendant f Thomas Drummond we had hoped for Nigel Don a local M.P. he did not show up ???. I will post some pictures of what has happened over the last few days, cheers Ian the Christie kind
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Next Ian
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Well Done Ian! Glad the day went off without a hitch.
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Hi Tim
Was in Forfar yesterday at the official opening of the Garden. It looks even better in real life than in the photos. What a good job Ian C and his merry band of volunteers have done - lots of interesting plants and beautiful rocks and drystane walling. If you ever come up to Scotland you'll need to make sure you go and see it - and come and visit me as well.
Hope lots of you plants from the Czech trip have survived - I'm getting ready to plant mine out tomorrow in my new (partially finished) crevice garden.
Greetings also to any of my friends who might be reading this.
Cheers, Liz
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Congratulations folks ! Great project , hope to visit it some time .....
Love such efforts , it is a pleasure to see that such things are stil possible in this world .
Greetings to Liz , Ian and al friends ....
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Hi all, thanks for visiting these pages, I have had a weekend away doing other things but will be back to the garden on Wed to do some more work, cheers Ian the Christie kind
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Hello all, I have been visiting the garden every week since my last post keeping things tidy unfortunately we have had quite a few plants stolen also people walking over the garden standing on the plants. We have also removed many bags of leaves which have been blown into the garden. We have planted quite a few bulbs Narc. Douglas Bank Willie Buchanans dwarf) Iris Katherine Hodgekins and loads of Snowdrops as for the missing plants luckily I had spare ones here and for the last month have had no problems. We contacted the Angus Environmental Trust for funding to install CCTV a big NO to start with but once we met them at the site they have now agreed. The council want us to get planning permission which costs £180 they then wanted a professional drawing instead of the details from the company who are to install the camera. We have also had some problems with our seats some parentless persons managed to remove them from the metal frame luckily our son in law Steven was on holiday so he helped me put in bigger and better screws they will have a problem to remove the seats now we hope. I have also been to Brechin Castle last week picked up a big old Oak tree root which is now part of the landscape it was very wet had snow that day however the idea is we will plant in between the roots when spring arrives. I post some pictures for now, more later, cheers Ian the Christie kind.
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Tree root, Ian
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Ian - sorry to hear of the damage to the garden. Forfar obviously needs more botanists like some of the famous Scots of the past.
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Good work Ian
I had a look round when I was back in Forfar for the festivities. The stump is an amazing feature.
Al
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Alan Elliott gave a talk on the Forfar Botanists last evening at the Forfar Historical Society about The Angus Botanists: Local Heroes of the 19th Century.
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A good turn out
Today Alan has been planting Scottish native plants cultivated by @RBGE at George Don's memorial in Forfar
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Hello, I was at Alan's talk on Friday very interesting indeed then I picked up Alan on the Sat morning at The Brechin Rd Botanic Gardens (his mum's house) Aland had so many plants from RBGE it was really good all special native plans we had some left over so planted them around the tree root at the Myre Garden. The weather was very difficult hailstones showers of snow bitter winds but we managed all the planting thanks Alan, cheers Ian the Christie kind
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Quick look round Forfar Botanists Garden. Hard work from Ian et al paying off
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Right off to the Glens for a week channelling my inner 19th C botanists
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The Forfar Botanists are not unknown in Canada - so it is not surprising that the bulletin of the Alpine Garden Club of British Columbia, edited by Grahame Ware, has got a feature on the garden, plus photos of the stone work from David Wilson the master stone-worker who was so involved in the Forfar Botanists project. See his descriptions of the work here (http://dfwilson.co.uk/forfar-botanists-garden/)
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Hello Alan great pictures sorry to have missed you, I was at the garden today planting a few more things weeding adding more mulch and sprayed the weeds next door to prevent seedlings heavy rain came on so had to head home went to the Kirk to look at the garden there everything o/k A few pictures from today, cheers Ian the Christie kind
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A few more Ian
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What a really cracking garden and many congratulations to all involved
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Thanks David, just in case you are wondering what a Celmisia is doing in the garden well all the people who helped me planting weeding clearing stones were invited to plant one plant that they liked so my brother planted the Celmisia others have an Abutilon my odd plant is Pierus Willie Buchanan after that famous gardener from Glasgow, cheers Ian
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I have made weekly visits to the garden so here are the latest pictures still plenty flowers, cheers Ian the Christie kind
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Couple of pix from Forfar Garden from Alan Elliott this weekend :
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Attended an excellent talk last night by Ian Christie at the Stirling Group in Dunblane about the Forfar Botanists Garden. One of the best talks that I have heard. His enthusiasm for the project was very infectious.
As a newbie, the Forfar botanists were not really known to me although I was brought up in Forfarshire (Angus) and Ian and his team have done a great job in bringing them to wider attention. The amount of work involved and the problems to be surmounted in the creation of the garden were considerable. Interesting to follow how the garden develops as the planting matures.
Bob
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Ian the Christie kind has been involved in another project (yes, I know - how does he do it!!) this time in Ayr, at the Belleisle Park where an old rockery is being restored as part of a major re-vamp of the Park.
More on this soon. :)
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The FBG looks really good now doesn't it, wish we had something like it down here?
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Hello, I visited the Forfar garden last Thursday and removed 12 bags of blown leaves will post a few pictures from Oct and November, sorry to say will have little time before we go to Australia and New Zealand to post many pictures fro the new Rock garden project at Belleisle park in Ayr will try later, cheers Ian the Christie kind
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A few more, Ian
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http://nickcourtens.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/ian-christies-nursery-exploring-glen.html (http://nickcourtens.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/ian-christies-nursery-exploring-glen.html) Photos and comments on the FBG from Nick Courtens, an American visiting the UK -he is a recipient of an SRGC /Diana Aitchison Grant
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I continue to visit the garden once a week to weed and make sure all plants are o/k had some time today am posting a few pictures we are very happy how it has overwintered, cheers Ian the Christie kind
Anemone trullifolia and Corydalis
Meconopsis paniculata
Aquilegia grahamii
Corydalis 'Balang Mist'
Dryas octopetala
Meconopsis paniculata
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Next few, Ian
Meconopsis quintuplinervia head
Meconopsis 'Strathspey' heads blue
Salix lanata
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Past president Liz brought a small select group to the Garden on Sunday they then went on the Brechin Castle garden which had great reports, cheers Ian the Christie kind.
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Well done Friends of the Forfar Botanists (http://www.forfarbotanists.org/ (http://www.forfarbotanists.org/) ) who are joint recipients of a prestigious award ! These include our own Ian, the Christie kind, and Aileen Elliottt, Mother of Alan Elliott, who is familiar to all reading these pages!
From the Kirriemuir Herald - where there is a photo....
http://www.kirriemuirherald.co.uk/news/local-headlines/joint-recipients-of-prestigious-award-1-3796938 (http://www.kirriemuirherald.co.uk/news/local-headlines/joint-recipients-of-prestigious-award-1-3796938)
The Friends of The Forfar Botanists and Forfar In Flower are joint winners of the prestigious Andrew Smyth Memorial Award
Both groups were praised for the work they had done to improve areas of the town - the former creating a stunning garden on a piece of derelict land at the Myre which pays tribute to the pioneering work of George Don, George Don junior, David Don, Thomas Drummond and James Drummond - and the latter for providing the town with magnificent hanging baskets, tubs and landscaped areas in various locations.
The inscribed rose-bowls were presented by Neil Smyth, great nephew of former Provost Andrew Smyth, during a reception in the Canmore Room on Monday evening.
Accepting the award on behalf of the Friends of the Forfar Botanists, Eleanor Gledhill said: “The reason we are here tonight is that, two-and-a-half years ago, I was approached by Angus Councillor Glennis Middleton when I was president of the Forfar Garden Club.
“I was invited to a meeting where I met others who shared a love of plants and it was decided we should do something to honour the Forfar botanists.”
The piece of land at the Myre was identified, a toilet and telegraph pole were removed and work began to create the magnificent garden which pays tribute to the pioneering work of the botanists who all achieved lasting fame for their contributions to botany.
Their dedication took them to the far corners of the world and the heady heights of academia.
Eleanor continued: “We were very honoured to have Ian Christie, who is so knowledgeable, in charge of the planting, and to Glennis and Lynne Devine for getting us all together. At the time we did not know each other but this has brought friendship between the whole community.”
Accepting the award for the Forfar in Flower Group councillor Lynne Devine said: “We started up when Angus Council cut back on its hanging baskets. With the help of Eleanor and about 25 people, now normally eight or 10, we have provided the town with hanging baskets, planters and gardens all over the place, to make the town much nicer.”
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Hello thank you Maggi sorry this has taken so long but I have ben trying to get the Rosebowl for some time it is now here will post two pictures. One thing Andrew Smyth was a local politician in Angus 1960s he was always very much his own man stood no nonsense from anyone he was one of the longest standing members of the council he wore a long black coat and black hat spoke to everyone and doffed his hat to the ladies he was known around as Andra and I remember him well, cheers Ian the Christie kind.
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Hello again forgot to post the pictures taken yesterday when I had the Rosebowl 3 really tall Meconopsis all were supposed to be yellow Meconopsis paniculata as David Don wrote this plant up for the first time as Papavar paniculata what the have decided to call what I post now is your guess, cheers Ian the Christie kind ( will save all the seed for SRGC)
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Some photos of the Forfar Botanists garden this week.... from Ian Christie and Lisa Christie Gunn.
(Lisa is Ian and Ann's elder daughter, visiting from Australia where she has lived for some years. )
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a few more ....
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The Garden is looking great now that the plants have filled out. I must get up to Forfar again next year to see it. Many many thanks for all your hard work, Ian, and to all the people in the Forfar Botanists Group for a superb addition to a great town.
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Latest photos from Ian Christie of the Forfar Botanists' Garden
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It really looks good.
Am I mistaken, I hope I am, that Ian has posted these elsewhere (like Facetwit)? If so he can buy me aMalt at the DWE whilst he tells me how trendy and uptodate he is ;D
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I have lifted Ian's posts from the Facebook page of the Forfar Botanists' Garden to share here.
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I recently had the pleasure to be the guest of Ann and Ian Christie. Whilst there Ian took me to see the Forfar Botanists' Garden. Even this late in the season it looked wonderful and there was plenty of interest. What a great piece of work and resource for the town. Here are just a few snaps with general impressions etc.
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A beautiful mat of Celmisia longifolia
A few brave flowers still out on the Gentiana
Leaves still hanging on some of the trees despite the cool weather, here frosting the Thymus
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Great, i would like to have the same wall in my garden :D
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Thanks, Matt,
nice pics - I'm intrigued by the niches with the stone "football" sculptures and the names beneath them - are these memorials of some sort? Are they the names of sponsors or botanists?
cheers
fermi
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Botanists I think Fermi. I recognise D.Don (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Don).
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The stones commemorate botanists from the Forfar area, some of Caledonia's hardy sons.
One of the names featured -James Drummond settled in Western Australia.
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From Ian Christie - Another quick tidy up today VERY special plant sale at the Garden on Sat. 27th please support our efforts to raise some money for the garden cheers.
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Sale 2pm
http://www.forfarbotanists.org/ (http://www.forfarbotanists.org/)
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Looking good.
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It is looking very good, we were most impressed when Ian took us to see it two weeks ago. The pictures don't really do it justice - go and have a look if you can :)