Highlights of Brodie Castle’s grounds in August

New this season: Dahlia planting in the castle border

Around the front of the castle’s Victorian extension, our newly planted dahlia border will be in full bloom this month, showcasing a selection of cultivars all labelled in rows. Dahlia ‘Blue Bayou’ is great for butterflies and bees – like most dahlias, they tend to need lifting over the winter and starting off undercover. They can be planted out again once signs of frost have passed.

Also added into this new display is a meadow mix and sweetpeas on natural birch stakes. The gardening team will be feeding and dead-heading these beds regularly to keep the border looking its best until autumn.

The rose garden at the stables

Head over to the stables block opposite the Laird’s Wing at Brodie Castle and experience the wonderful scent from the rose garden, which is in its second year of bloom. Here you’ll find six different, traditional cultivars and a climber rose, all beautifully edged with lavender plants. Our team will be dead-heading regularly to extend the flowering season well into autumn. The bees love this area as well!

The long border in the Playful Garden

The old walled garden at Brodie Castle is where Ian Brodie, 24th Laird of Brodie, developed his world-famous daffodil collection. This now forms a National Collection of over 100 different varieties, a magnificent springtime sight. The walled garden has recently been transformed into the Playful Garden, but it has kept many of its original features including the daffodils and an orchard of ancient apple and pear trees. Take a stroll alongside the long border at the back wall of the garden and you’ll find a beautiful herbaceous border, constantly being developed by the gardening team.

Look out for giant hyssop – Agastache – a wonderfully aromatic plant that produces dense purple flower spikes that are adored by butterflies and bees. It flowers from midsummer to early autumn. Two great varieties are Agastache ‘Blackadder’ and Agastache rugosa, and both are flowering abundantly here. These two varieties are great structural plants when they’re flowering; if desiccated stems are left, they’ll continue to provide interest throughout the winter. These are fairly hardy perennials and self-seed readily.

Brodie Castle entrance gate

Recently developed by the Brodie gardening team, this area is where visitors are greeted with their first view of the estate. In spring this is a yellow sea of daffodils! This summer, the beds have been replanted with mixed herbaceous plants from around the estate, with rudbeckias, Persicaria, lupins and asters to name a few, all ready to burst into bloom.

The grass maze in the Playful Garden

Within the Playful Garden is a newly created grass maze, which is great fun for families to walk through. The grass we’ve used is Calamagrostis ‘Karl Foerster’, a beautiful soft wavering grass which turns a ruby colour in autumn.

We look forward to welcoming you to Brodie Castle this August and sharing our beautiful grounds with you. If you see members of our gardening team at work, do pop over and say hello!