21 Dec 2022

PLANTS winter diary: October to December

Written by Dr Colin McDowall, PLANTS Project Manager

A group of people stand on a gravel path in a garden, with Crathes Castle in the background.

The PLANTS project team at Crathes Castle

Shortening days and declining temperatures have accompanied the PLANTS project team’s retreat from auditing gardens to hunkering down for the winter in offices. In some ways, this time marks the start of a new gardening year, a time for positivity and for a flurry of activity. In this third blog I wish to celebrate and reflect on the last three months of the PLANTS project.

Teamwork, training and tuition

One of the highlights of the last 13 weeks was the second PLANTS staff meeting, held at Crathes Castle in October. The project had fully started in June but, due to the nature of the audit work, the North and West inventory teams had not met in-person since. We spent two days together discussing what we had achieved so far and planning our next steps. We undertook training on operating our plant records database, IrisBG, and the North and West teams presented reflections on their audit work. We all enjoyed the catering provided in Crathes Castle’s conference facilities.

While our June meeting had been a time for the teams to get to know each other and for inductions to the project plan and itinerary, the atmosphere in October was somewhat different. It was clear that both the North and West teams were already tight units and had built strong relationships during their audits. Respect was also evident between teams, and each was eager to learn from the work of the other. We also discussed practical improvements for the audits including simple things such as carrying a laminated sign asking visitors to leave water bottles and jackets where they were! It was fantastic to be able to see these working relationships evolve, and I look forward to more of this in the new year.

One of the highlights of the meeting was a talk by one of the Trust’s Gardens and Designed Landscape Managers, Chris Wardle. Chris’s presentation was on plant hardiness and included insights on the impact of climate change.

A man sits at a desk at the front of a conference room, talking. Behind him is a large projector with slides showing old photographs.

Gardens and Designed Landscape Manager Chris Wardle gives a presentation to the team.

Crathes First Gardener Andy Morrison then treated us to a private tour of the garden, where we were able to see the concepts we had been discussing in action. Andy showed us shrubs considered to be hardy in southern parts of the UK, especially coastal areas, such as Olearia x mollis ‘Zennorensis’. One plant that caught my eye was Grevillea victoriae, which is from Australia’s New South Wales and Victoria states. In 1855 Ferdinand von Mueller first described this plant with its coral-orange blooms in spring and summer, and it was duly named after Queen Victoria. The shrub’s mountain origins mean it is tolerant of frost and snow, and Andy explained that the drainage of the garden helped it through the Aberdeen winters.

A group of people peer into a pool in a garden, whilst a man talks. Crathes Castle can be seen in the background.

Crathes First Gardener Andy Morrison gives a tour to the PLANTS team.

The importance of recording plant collections for posterity was highlighted to me when we saw the nearly completed Rose Garden within the walled garden – Phillipa Holdsworth, North Inventory Team Manager, told us that the team finished auditing the previous rose garden just minutes before landscapers began its redevelopment. Our records will show that Rosa ‘Prince Charles’ resided in the former rose garden, along with Rosa x centifolia ‘Fantin Latour’ and Rosa ‘William Lobb’ amongst others. Together with notes from the gardeners, our work will help future generations better understand the history of Crathes Castle.

Another personal highlight of the winter months was meeting more of the Trust’s fantastic gardeners. I travelled with Claire Ramsay (Project Data Manager) as she delivered database training to garden staff at Greenbank, Drum, Pitmedden, Holmwood and Culzean to name but a few. It was encouraging to see the gardeners engage in the practical learning delivered by Claire and raise questions that only a hands-on understanding of the job can bring.

A group of people sit round a table in a grand dining room. A laptop and projector are set up at the far end of the table.

A group of people sit round a desk in a training room in a museum.

Reconciliation, rectification and reconnaissance

When hearing about my job recently, a friend asked what I meant by ‘reconciling records’. Not a simple question to answer, and one which brought to mind H E Bates’s wise saying: ‘Gardening, like love, is a funny thing and doesn’t always yield to analysis.’ Creating detailed and consistent records is a challenge common to most archives. In past cataloguing roles, I have relied on an army of volunteers with varying degrees of cataloguing experience. No matter how diligent the team, human error and individual idiosyncrasies always appeared. This winter, the PLANTS team face the challenge of processing the large volume of data (over 20,000 records) produced in the summer.

Broadly, this will be a three-stage process:

First, we will check the Trust’s existing data for inconsistencies, omissions or errors in the way that it has been entered, and rectify these issues as best we can.
Next, we will enhance existing records in a number of ways. Additional information previously held only in paper form will be added to electronic records, such as dates of a plant’s arrival, movement or death. Important details, such as its status as a champion tree or its historical significance, will also be added.
And thirdly, new records will be created for plants that had previously not been logged in the database. Just over 300 new records were created for Broughton House alone, one of the first gardens whose records have been completed.

Finding an efficient method to process the large volume of data has been a challenge, but so far it is one that we are winning.

The winter season has also brought the first of my visits to the gardens that are to be audited in 2023. I began with a weekend trip to see Harmony and Priorwood gardens in Melrose with my family. I found myself mirroring my 1-year-old daughter’s ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ of delight as we looked at the walled gardens and orchards. We were both particularly excited to find the apple (Malus domestica) ‘James Grieve’, which was bred in Edinburgh around 1893 by my daughter’s 5th great-grandfather (on my wife’s side, I should add!).

A man carrying a young child in a front-facing baby carrier stands in a garden in front of a grand Georgian house.

A close-up of a metal tag nailed into a tree. It says James Grieve.

In a cold and foggy November, I was enchanted by the hillside Inveresk Lodge Garden just outside Musselburgh. I was impressed both by the garden itself (most of the plants included were selected specifically because they hold the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit) and by the hard work of the single gardener and handful of volunteers who maintain it. The loss over the weekend of a pear tree (Pyrus communis) here highlighted the importance of recording for the future the plants we have around us.

A view across Inveresk Lodge Garden on an icy yet sunny day. The pond in the foreground is frozen with reeds sticking through. Bare branches frame the shot.

A pear tree has fallen in a garden and is covered in a layer of frost. Its trunk is torn where it has snapped.

In December, Philippa and I visited Leith Hall, House of Dun and Castle Fraser – all scheduled to be audited by the North team in 2023. We discussed the project’s requirements and looked over plans and records. Crucially, we also started building relationships with the gardeners on the ground and learned from them what challenges we could face. We discussed how to audit the small valley (or dell) garden at House of Dun, debated whether or not it’s acceptable to stand on the rocks in Leith Hall’s Rockery, and we sought the expertise of a retired Head Gardener at Castle Fraser to identify certain plants. There were many highlights from these visits, but I will never forget the stunning collections of ferns at Leith Hall including the Aleutian maidenhair (Adiantum aleuticum ‘Subpumilum’), nor the handsome silk tassel (Garrya elliptica ‘James Roof’) at House of Dun.

Two women sit round a table covered in plans and charts in a wood-panelled room.

A close-up of a fern poking out between some mossy rocks. A black label is behind the fern, with white writing on it.

A leafy shrub covers the wall beside an old stone house.

I look forward to many more adventures with the PLANTS project in 2023. With a new year comes anticipation for the interesting challenges the data will present, the relationships we will build as a team and with gardeners, and most especially for the beautiful and fascinating plants we will meet. From me and the PLANTS team to you and yours, I wish you a happy and, above all, peaceful Christmas and New Year.

Plant Listing at the National Trust for Scotland (PLANTS) is the biggest horticultural audit project undertaken by the Trust and aims to celebrate, protect and better understand the flora and vegetation across our gardens and designed landscapes.