Inverewe Garden
The Inverewe Garden (also Inverewe Gardens , Gaelic Garradh Inbhir Iu ) in Poolewe is one of the northernmost botanical gardens in the world. Due to its preferred location on the north-west coast of Scotland, directly on the warm Gulf Stream, it can come up with a diverse planting that is completely atypical for this latitude. Especially in the summer months the visitor is fascinated by the multitude of flowering plants.
Inverewe is 57.8 degrees north latitude, about the same height as Hudson Bay in Canada or southern Norway. Nevertheless, it has a fairly constant, high temperature over the year. The lowest temperature ever measured was −14 degrees Celsius, while the highest was 29 degrees Celsius.
The collections of the different rhododendrons (subgroup Barbata ), Brachyglottis, Olearia and Ourisisia are particularly interesting and extensive . The various eucalyptus trees that are spread over the garden are also striking .
The plants come mainly from Australia , Tasmania and New Zealand (lots of eucalyptus), China , Japan and the Himalayas (lots of rhododendrons) as well as temperate South America and North America .
history
The founder of the Gardens of Inverewe was the Scot Osgood Mackenzie. When he inherited the approximately 20 hectare property, it was a rocky hill with only a single tree on it. The original Gaelic name was Am Ploc Ard , in German "High Brocken". Since the property is right by the sea, on Loch Ewe , it was also exposed to the elements without protection.
Osgood Mackenzie began planting native Scottish and Scandinavian pine trees on the property to protect it from the elements. In addition, vast amounts of earth were brought in, allegedly from Ireland , with which the soil was made fertile.
Little by little, a wide variety of plants from both the northern and southern hemispheres were collected . He paid particular attention to the Walled Garden , a walled piece of the former beach on which useful plants were planted.
When Osgood Mackenzie died in 1922, the garden was taken over by his daughter Mairi Sawyer. She and her second husband also built what is now Inverewe House in 1935 after the original was destroyed by fire. Shortly before her death in 1953, Mairi Sawyer arranged for the garden to be taken over by the National Trust for Scotland , which looks after it to this day.
The originally very remote place has become an increasingly popular destination as Scotland has developed and is now visited by more than 200,000 visitors annually.
Web links
- http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/poolewe/inverewe/ - Tourist guide to Inverewe Gardens
- http://www.nts.org.uk/Property/Inverewe-Garden-and-Estate/ - National Trust of Scotland
Coordinates: 57 ° 47 ′ N , 5 ° 36 ′ W