Gordon Castle walled garden to feature in online summer festival
GORDON Castle will mark a milestone in its walled garden restoration when it appears in full bloom during an online festival this summer.
The first ever Scottish Summer Garden Festival will go ahead as a virtual event following a decision by organisers, Discover Scottish Gardens (DSG), that restricted travel should not mean garden lovers miss out on the glory of the season.
The colourful festival will run from Saturday, June 13, until Saturday, August 15, featuring dozens of gardens across the country and offering workshops, practical advice and video tours.
Gordon Castle owner Zara Gordon-Lennox will mark the seventh birthday of the restored eight-acre walled garden on Saturday, July 4.
And on August 15 and 16 Mrs Gordon-Lennox will broadcast from the cutting beds where the flowers sold in the estate shop are grown.
The 200-year-old Fochabers garden has been brought back to its full glory after a reimagining by renowned landscape designer Arne Maynard in 2013.
More than 400 gardens, nurseries and garden centres make up the Discover Scottish Gardens network.
The organisation already runs the successful Scottish Snowdrop, Rhododendron & Bluebell and Tree Festivals across the gardening year.
Catherine Erskine, DSG chairwoman, said: "This was to be our first Summer Garden Festival, celebrating the exuberance of Scotland’s gardens in full bloom.
"We want people to enjoy the wonders of Scottish gardens from the comfort of their own homes.
"The festival is about anything and everything that happens in gardens, not just the practical or aesthetic elements, and this way all that is fully accessible."
A full list of events is available from discoverscottishgardens.org/summer garden festival.