Scotland’s Best Gardens
Kellie Castle’s garden offers a riot of flowers along with a wealth of organic produce
This month it’s time to enjoy the glories of the garden at Kellie Castle, Fife
The National Trust for Scotland supports 70 gardens which cover more than 2.8 square km (700 acres), and which display a variety of around 13,500 flowers and plants. Over the past few months, we have focused on some of the best across Scotland. This month we continue with the garden at Kellie Castle, Fife.
WHEN I spoke to Kellie Castle head gardener Mark Armour, he was talking rhubarb – all 30 different varieties of it. “We’ve got a bit of a glut of rhubarb at the moment,” he admits.
While a fair percentage of the garden at Kellie Castle, near Pittenweem, is devoted to home produce, it’s the flower garden which occupies most of Mark’s time. And at this time of year, he’s firmly focused on roses.
“I’ve got two favourites,” he says. “One is the Rose of Alba Maxima, which is known as the Jacobite rose. They frame the central walkway which was one of the first things added when the property was taken over in the late 19th century. It’s a double white rose with a green eye in the centre. It’s highly fragrant.
“Another is the Rosarie d’ihay, which has a wonderful smell of Turkish Delight. That’s what I look forward to in the summer, the smell of roses.”
But there’s far more to Kellie in summertime than just the roses.
“Our double herbaceous borders are full of lush plants like the red-leaved Lysimachia ‘Firecracker’ which has small yellow flowers,” continues Mark, “and there’s a mix of Euphorbia ‘Fireglow’ with Cephalaria gigantea.
“We have a wildflower meadow at the back of the castle which is really bursting with summer colour.”
The garden is an alphabetical delight from alliums to sweet peas, with delphiniums, cyclamen, fuschias, lavender, lilies, magnolias in between. Not to mention over 70 varieties of apple tree which, when flowering, add a cascade of colour. These include Stobo Castle, Cats Head and Bloody Ploughman.
The garden was designed by Robert Lorimer in 1880, and his policy was to divide it up into sections. Today, Mark and his team adopt the same principle.
“The garden is broken up into rooms, such as the Secret Garden surrounded by yew, which has a magnificent carved stone bowl,” says Mark. “Robin’s Corner is surrounded by green and white trellis with climbing roses and clematis, and there’s a summer house in the corner where we sell produce from the garden.
“One of the selling points of Kellie, compared with other gardens, is the fact that it is organically managed and has been for over 30 years. Also, being so close to the shore, our soil is silty and sandy and therefore very free-draining.”
With alpacas in the castle grounds, a small meadow walk at the back of the house with a pond and picnic benches and an adventure playground for kids, it makes for an ideal family day out. If there’s time, a visit to the castle itself is strongly recommended.
Kellie Castle’s garden has been described as a traditional walled garden, with fruit, flowers and vegetables all grown together. The walls are more than 400 years old and are still attached to the castle itself.
It’s an amalgam of 14th century architecture and 19th century garden design, and one of the East Neuk of Fife’s many delights.