Five-year-old Edinburgh twins Olivia and Matthew Ducreux who are supporters of Poppyscotland meet a one-and-a-half tonne turf panda in the Turffit Garden for Gardening Leave at Gardening Scotland 2013.
Both charities are taking part in the national gardening and outdoor living show, which opens today (Friday) at the Royal Highland Centre Edinburgh.
The national gardening and outdoor living show is the highlight of the year for Scotland’s gardeners and this is the14th year since its launch in 2000.
Around 40,000 visitors are expected to attend over the three days of this year’s event and more than 400 exhibitors will take part, selling everything for the garden.
Top attractions for 2013 include The New Hopetoun Gardens Floral Hall where top nurseries from across the UK will be staging the biggest plant fair in Scotland; The Barratt Homes Show Gardens Avenue where garden designers and landscapers have created fantasy gardens; the Cookery & Demonstration Theatre which this year will be hosting top Scottish chefs creating delicious food with home-grown veg and the RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) Gardening Theatre where experts will be dispensing gardening advice.
Paul Wheelhouse, Minister for Environment and Climate Change will tour the show on Friday morning and amongst the exhibits he will see will be the ’Animals in their Habitat’ contest arranged by Edinburgh City, The Royal Horticultural Society and Edinburgh Zoo in which pupils from Edinburgh’s Eco-Schools have used wooden fruit boxes to recreate habitats for some of the world’s most exotic creatures.
The Minister will also visit The Living Garden with its line-up of environmental organisations including Scottish Natural Heritage and Plantlife Scotland and where a central show garden will have the theme of ‘Year of Natural Scotland 2013’.
Later in the day celebrity gardener Alys Fowler (‘The Thrifty Gardener’ BBC 2) will be on stage in the Cookery Theatre talking about her new book ‘Abundance’ in which she extolls the pleasures of bottling, pickling and preserving food from your own plot.
The Scottish Rock Garden Club, in association with Brightwater Holidays, will be staging an ambitious floral exhibit to mark the 80th anniversary of the club and entertainment will be provided by Forth Valley Chorus, Scotland’s award-winning female barber’s shop choir.
Also on Friday the winner’s of this year’s top awards will be announced with medals for the Best Show Garden sponsored by GreenThumb; the Best Floral Exhibit and the Best New Plant sponsored by the Caledonian Horticultural Society.
Gardening Scotland will run until 5pm on Sunday, 2 June with appearances on Saturday by The Red Hot Chilli Pipers and on Sunday by ‘Queen of Spades’ Katie Rushworth.
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