Recently, I moved to sunny Perth in Scotland. Known as the 'Fair City' because of the connection to Sir Walter Scott's 'Fair Maid of Perth' 1828, but equally as appropriate when discussing the beauty of this small city. A lovely place to live and full of Horticultural delights, which saw it crowned Champion of Champions in the 2019 edition of Britain in Bloom (click to see an article in Garden's Illustrated on this).
Since settling in to our new home, I have been working away at re-engaging with the Scottish Horticultural scene. This is something I have been away from since 1997 and a lot has happened since then, so delighted to have been so warmly welcomed into the mix.
Last week, I was accepted as one of the new Council Members and Trustees of The Caley by newly elected President Colin Ainsworth. The Caley is an affectionate name used by members for the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society. What an honour this is and I am really looking forward to being involved in the work of this wonderful charitable organisation in the years to come.
Many people outside of Scotland may not have heard of The Caley, but it is Scotland's National Horticultural and Gardening Charity and has been such since 1809. Indeed, it was formed just a few years after the well-known Royal Horticultural Society was established in 1804 and by many of the same people. The Caley has always walked its own path however and has recognised the differing styles to gardening, use of plants and greater appreciation of food crops in plantings that is experienced 'North of the Border'; catering for this audience with an ever diversifying approach.
I would urge Scottish readers interested in Horticulture, Gardening, Landscape, Plants, etc (I could go on for a while here), to join The Caley and get involved. There is a lot of information on the website on the objectives and initiatives of the Society and for an inexpensive membership, you could get a great deal from joining. Those of you readers not based in Scotland, I would still urge you to view the website and recorded videos of talks from 2020 and 2021. There will be a great deal more interesting content to come, so worth looking out for.
Until then, enjoy and I hope that until we can all meet safely again, that you can enjoy your gardens and stay healthy.
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