Plan A Visit
Group Visits
Visiting Dumfries and Galloway
The Castle
The Buccleuch Collection
The Douglas Family
Attractions
Castle Tours
The Adventure Playground
The Castle Gardens
Walking and Hiking
Mountain Biking
Cycling
Wildlife & Biodiversity
Fishing
Buccleuch Gundogs
Game Shooting
Simulated Game
Stay
Self Catering Apartments
Self Catering Cottages
The Formal Garden
The shawl, the show piece of the formal gardens, is full of colour in August, accentuating the ‘Douglas’ family heart design. An interesting fact – the shawl gets its name because in the 19th century the heather was so intricately planted and finely trimmed it took a team of 30 gardeners to look after it! In comparison, today there are 4 gardeners!
Plant Highlights
There are so many highlights in the garden at this time of year that it is hard to pick just one or two. From the easily identifiable Ladybird Poppy to the Hemerocallis ‘day lily’, there are some beautiful plants to discover.
"Agapanthus"
"Hemerocallis" 'day lily'
Ladybird Poppy
Dahlia's
However, one of the flowers we look forward to most in the Gardens in August are the Dahlia’s! And one of the best spots to see them is in the Flower Garden, right next to the plant centre and Larchwood Cabin, handy if you also fancy a cuppa and some home baking!
Look out for several different varieties within the gardens including:
"Wizard of Oz"
As intriguing as the name suggests! Each flower head is made up of layers of silky, inwardly curved petals creating a perfectly formed sphere, similar to that of a pom pom
"Friqolet"
With its beautiful red flowers with contrasting white tips
"Franz Kafka"
Another pompom dahlia, this time named after the German author who once poignantly said “Youth is happy because it has the ability to see beauty. Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.”
"Karma Sangria"
With its hot pink blossoms with gold highlights
Plan A Visit
The Gardens and Adventure Playground are open daily in August, from 11am until 4pm. And don’t miss the Larchwood Cabin with delicious snacks and home baking.