Celebrate the season with Scotland’s first ever Spring Flower Festival

April 1st 2021

Scotland’s first ever Spring Flower Festival gets underway this Easter and from now until 31 May, gardens across the country will be welcoming in visitors to enjoy the spectacle as the season unfolds.

From carpets of bluebells, through bright tulips and scented azaleas to glorious rhododendrons and trees laden with blossom, every day is set to bring fresh delights as temperatures rise and daylight hours lengthen.

A mix of live and virtual tours and workshops will allow visitors to immerse themselves in the sights and smells of some of Scotland’s best gardens as nature puts on its finest show.

At Cluny House in Perthshire there’s the chance to walk though woodland gardens filled with blue Himalayan poppies and brightly-coloured Candelabra primulas; sheets of bluebells and vivid rhododendrons await at Ardkinglas in Argyll and at Teasses in Fife, head gardener Craig Cameron will be leading foraging walks to reveal the wild larder that’s popping up amongst the fresh, spring growth.

From tours of glorious Glenwhan in the company of Tessa Knott who has created one of Scotland’s most spectacular gardens on a hillside overlooking the Solway Firth, to Facebook talks with the experts at New Hopetoun Gardens, there’s a wealth of beauty and advice on offer.

Cambo near St Andrews will be taking visitors on virtual walks around its glasshouses, gardens and cut-flower borders as well as running flower-pressing workshops showing how to preserve.

spring’s fleeting beauty.

From guided tours and children’s flower trails at Armadale Castle on Skye; walks with the ranger at Abbotsford near Melrose; a celebration of bulbs and blossom within the restored walled garden at Gordon Castle in Fochabers and tulips, trilliums and fritillaries at Kirklands in Fife, the Festival offers dozens of opportunities to enjoy spring at its best.

Catherine Erskine, chair, Discover Scottish Gardens, who are launching the Festival, says: “Spring is always uplifting, but it has taken on special significance this year and we want to encourage as many people as possible to enjoy the sense of life beginning again that this season of awakening is set to bring.”

All garden openings will be socially-distanced and will take place within Covid guidelines.

Full list of all openings, walks and workshops can be found at http://discoverscottishgardens.org/spring-fest