Winter is no easy feat for sweet-smelling canines

After their bi-annual clip and strip the MacNaughties are feeling the cold. The same can also be said for some of Scotland’s foliage

Well ‘tis done and ‘tis hopefully dusted. Christmas is gone – so bring on the next round of entertainment. Hogmanay, here we come… In anticipation of a new start in a brand new year, the MacNaughties have had their bi-annual clip and strip.

Barra the Cocker is nicely shorn. His black coat no longer ragged, especially around the legs. His ears once again silky smooth. Meanwhile, Rummie the Norfolk is stripped of excess brown hair. Now the tiny terrier is a shadow of his former self. Indeed, he looks like a puppy. We are much admiring of our groomed, nicely-neat pets. But they do not like it one bit. If you are a dog it must be a pain to be so sweet-smelling.

Being shorn of an extra layer, it may be that they are also feeling the cold.

For this is probably the wrong time of year to take a dog to a parlour. March and September might be kinder months to undertake this task.

Winter is also not an easy time for plants. Especially if you happen to be in Scotland’s most exotic garden.

This week we film at Logan Botanic. Situated on the far south-western tip of the country. On the coast in deepest Galloway. This is where the Gulf Stream passes, bringing the comfort of warm air – and providing a uniquely mild climate for the local area.

Over the last 10 years they claim to have seen snow just once in this part of the world. Temperatures here are guaranteed to be several degrees higher than those of their near neighbours.

This part of Scotland is a haven of relative heat in an otherwise frosted landscape. But it is still colder than the southern hemisphere countries most of its plants come from.

We arrive with our camera to find out how tropical ferns and palms from places like Australia and Chile survive in these northern clines.

And one of the answers is straw and bubble-wrap. Lashings of both. Wrapped round the base of the more delicate trees and shrubs.

Then there is last year’s vegetation. Cut back and piled high across flower beds to keep precious heat in.

Makeshift wooden canopies are erected over smaller plants. The aim is to keep the air flowing, but the frost and the water out.

Great banana trees are trimmed and brought inside a vast greenhouse. Have

We are much admiring of our groomed, nicely-neat pets. But they do not like it one bit. If you are a dog it must be a pain...

they ever managed to grow bananas, I ask?

Not yet is the reply. Then Scotland has always been famous for its firsts…

The Eucalyptus seem to take the cold in their stride. And there are 50 varieties of those at Logan. But the climate – and the sheer variety of florae – make this garden a plantsman’s paradise for most of the year.

It is a fascinating and unexpected horticultural treasure. Put it on your todo list next year. Make it a serious new year’s resolution.