Ex-high-flyers couldn’t be happier as life goes to pot

There’s nothing as calming as horticulture, as Fiona finds when she meets former top professionals who love to get their hands mucky

B y the time you read this the storm will have passed. Or at least we hope it has. Because bad weather is on the way. Storm Ciara is barrelling towards us as I write. Oh dear, I hope it is not as nasty as they are predicting.

Yet we cannot complain. Thus far it has been a reasonably mild winter.

The snowdrops were up ultra-early. And with the daffodils well on their way to budding, there has been an almost spring-like feel to the day.

A fact I can reflect on as we head to a local gardening school to make a film.

For you can forget about tweets and blogs and all that screen stuff.

You can disregard fashion and fast food.

Because things wholesome are now back in vogue.

Pursuits like baking and sewing or putting your hands in the soil.

Yes, gardening is all the rage – and they’re queuing up to learn more about it.

Some of the horticultural students I meet are just out of school. Others are changing career mid-life. One man used to work in computers. Another had a high-powered theatre job.

Both are now turning their attention to potting plants and trimming trees.

They are hoping for jobs in parks, or on country estates. But wherever they end up, life should be infinitely less stressful.

Until those poor plants start dying, that is…

This week a box is delivered and left in the front porch.

We are not expecting anything. But it does say “fragile” on the side, so what does the mystery parcel contain?

The Macnaughties sniff round but find little of interest. So there is obviously nothing edible inside.

The chief gets out his pocket-knife and cuts the thing open. And inside are a dozen pots of heather.

Six winter flowering ones and six for the summer.

Then it comes back to me. And I remember ordering the blooms some months ago from a catalogue.

I had forgotten about them. But here they are. Twelve small plants. All ready to go in the ground – and with a storm and a blanket of snow on the way.

Heathers are very Scottish, of course.

And they are meant to bring good luck. Ladies often include a stem in their wedding bouquets.

Men, too, have taken hope from a

Yes, gardening is all the rage – and they’re queuing up to learn more about it.

heather. Members of the Macdonald clan wore a sprig of white in their bonnets before going into battle.

Yet luck ran out for this hardy shrub in the latter part of the last century. Seen as boring, it fell out of gardening favour.

But what goes around comes around – and happily, the humble heather is now a must in beds and borders.

In my case, I plan to resurrect an overgrown rockery. Our soil is nicely acidic, which should suit.

But with bad weather on the way, do I put them out now – or do I wait?

It seems I may have to go back to those students to ask for advice.

Purple reign... what could be more Scottish than heather?