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Other Facilities:
All Catering by prior arrangement and Guided
Tours on request. Partial access for the disabled.
Glenarn Gardens is a West Coast garden with a world famous
collection of Rhododendrons, Magnolias and other ericaceous plants. Set in a steep sided glen, the garden has a Himalayan
character, but also has a pond, rock garden and vegetable patch as well as bee hives. This sheltered woodland garden overlooks
the Gareloch and is well-known for its collection of rhododendrons, many of them rare and difficult to grow in less well-protected
locations. Its trees, shrubs and beautiful magnolias, with a carpet of snowdrops, daffodils, crocus and primulas below make
for a delightful walk in Spring. Later on in May, the Magnolia wilsonii with its upside-down flowers and lily of the valley
scent and magnolia globosa are not to be missed. Other magnolias, such as hypoleuca, flower in June.The House at Glenarn was
built in the late 1830's and soon after the garden received plants from Joseph Hooker's 1849-50 expedition to Sikkim, notably
the Rhododendron falconeri at the side of the house. The garden was extended by the Gibson family over the following 50 years
after they acquired the property in 1927. The plant hunting expeditions of Kingdom Ward and Ludlow & Sherriff provided
a great many plants as did other major gardens in Scotland. The Thornley family arrived at Glenarn in 1983 to find much to
be done to restore the gardens to their former glory and then to extend their scope still further, work which is continuing. |
