ITS exotic collections and rare specimens make for an outdoor paradise.
Now a stunning Scottish botanic garden has been voted the best in the UK in a consumer survey by Which? magazine.
And all four of the country's national botanic garden sites made the top ten.
Logan Botanic Garden near Stranraer, one of the four sites of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE), took the top spot with a 93% visitor satisfaction score and five star ratings from readers of the consumer magazine.
The sub-tropical space, near Stranraer, is home to some of the world’s most rarest plants, housing part of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh’s Living Collection of endangered flora.
This includes plants grown from seeds collected during expeditions to Vietnam – one of which, Rhododendron tephropeploides, has recently been identified as new to science.
Meanwhile, Dawyck in the Borders, Benmore near Dunoon in Argyll and the main Edinburgh site were also ranked within the UK’s top ten gardens.
Richard Baines, curator of Logan Botanic Garden, commented: “Logan is an incredibly special garden and we are delighted to be recognised as such by visitors and voted best in the UK.
“The warm climate makes it paradise for plant lovers and our visitors are always surprised to see some of the more exotic palm trees, Gunnera manicata – the giant ‘rhubarb’ – tree ferns and eucalyptus thriving so resplendently outdoors in Scotland!
“Of course, our most tender plants wouldn’t survive a Scottish winter, so we safeguard species such as our pelargonium collection from South Africa in our Victorian-style conservatory.
“It’s also the first public conservatory in the UK to be powered by green energy.”
He went on: “At Logan, we never stand still – we are always developing the Garden, ensuring that there is something of interest to everyone. As part of our core activity, we have a mission to engage the wider world with the work of RBGE and our fragile planet. We look forward to welcoming new and return visitors to our beautiful garden.”
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