Logan Botanic Garden is a

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...

near

Port Logan Port Logan, formerly Port Nessock, is a small village in the parish of Kirkmaiden in the Rhins of Galloway in Wigtownshire. The Gaelic name is Port Neasaig. Port Nessock Bay is now all that remains of the western end of a strait that in post ...

on the

Rhins of Galloway The Rhins (or Rhinns) of Galloway is a double-headed peninsula in southwestern Scotland. It takes the form of a hammerhead projecting into the Irish Sea, terminating in the north at Corsewall and Milleur Points and in the south at the Mull of ...

, at the south-western tip of

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. It is operated as part of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh's Living Collection. It has been described as "Scotland's most exotic garden." The Garden adjoins the Logan Estate and Category A-listed House, which remain in private ownership.

History

The Botanic Garden was established in 1869 and was gifted to

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is a scientific centre for the study of plants, their diversity and conservation, as well as a popular tourist attraction. Founded in 1670 as a physic garden to grow medicinal plants, today it occupies ...

in 1969. The gardens were built around the ruins of Balzieland Castle. A new glasshouse was built at Logan in 2014. The building was designed as a

Victorian architecture Victorian architecture is a series of Revivalism (architecture), architectural revival styles in the mid-to-late 19th century. ''Victorian'' refers to the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901), called the Victorian era, during which period the st ...

conservatory. It is the first public glasshouse in the UK that is entirely heated by energy sources that are renewable/green. These include

solar panel A solar panel is a device that converts sunlight into electricity by using photovoltaic (PV) cells. PV cells are made of materials that produce excited electrons when exposed to light. These electrons flow through a circuit and produce direct ...

s and air-source heat pumps that maintain a temperature of 18 °C for the plant collection inside the glasshouse. In July 2019, the Garden celebrated 50 years since becoming part of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. In February 2021, the garden was badly affected by severe

flooding A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant concern in agriculture, civi ...

Location

The area has a mild climate, with mild winters, due to the influence of the

North Atlantic Current The North Atlantic Current (NAC), also known as North Atlantic Drift and North Atlantic Sea Movement, is a powerful warm western boundary current within the Atlantic Ocean that extends the Gulf Stream northeastward. Characteristics The NAC ...

and the

Gulf Stream The Gulf Stream is a warm and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and flows through the Straits of Florida and up the eastern coastline of the United States, then veers east near 36°N latitude (North Carolin ...

. The combination of this, acidic soils and the sheltered aspect of the gardens enables plants to be cultivated which would not normally survive outdoors in Scotland, with species from as far away as

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

all thriving in Logan's borders. Features of Logan include a sizeable Walled Garden complete with formal fish pond, an eco-Conservatory housing a variety of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

n plants, Tasmanian Creek area, and Discovery Centre which houses various exhibitions throughout the seasons.

Collections

Logan Botanic Garden has some 2,500 species in total and 120 species that are threatened with extinction. The road approach to the garden is notable for its mature collection of

Trachycarpus fortunei ''Trachycarpus fortunei'', also known as the Chusan palm,Bean, W. J. (1980). ''Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles'', 8th ed., vol. 4. John Murray. . Chinese windmill palm, or simply the Windmill palm, is a species of hardy evergreen pal ...

(Chusan Palms) that line the road as an avenue. The garden is also home to Plant Heritage's National Plant Collections of

Gunnera ''Gunnera'' is the sole genus of herbaceous flowering plants in the family Gunneraceae, which contains 63 species. Some species in this genus, namely those in the subgenus ''Panke'', have extremely large leaves. Species in the genus are various ...

, Griselinia and

Leptospermum ''Leptospermum'' is a genus of shrubs and small trees in the myrtle family Myrtaceae commonly known as tea trees, although this name is sometimes also used for some species of ''Melaleuca''. Most species are endemic to Australia, with the greate ...

. It also has a significant collection of palm trees and tree ferns, most of which are typically found in sub-tropical gardens. These include

Dicksonia antarctica ''Dicksonia antarctica'', the soft tree fern, Tasmanian Tree Fern or man fern, is a species of evergreen tree fern native to eastern Australia, ranging from south-east Queensland, coastal New South Wales and Victoria to Tasmania. Anatomy and ...

and

Cordyline australis ''Cordyline australis'', commonly known as the cabbage tree, or by its Māori language, Māori name of ''tī'' or ''tī kōuka'', is a widely branched monocotyledon, monocot tree endemism, endemic to New Zealand. It grows up to tall with a s ...

dating to the 1870s. The Garden has a collection of

Wollemia ''Wollemia'' is a genus of coniferous trees in the family Araucariaceae, endemic to Australia. It represents one of only three living genera in the family, alongside ''Araucaria'' and ''Agathis'' (being more closely related to the latter). The ge ...

, unusual in Europe, being conserved and grown from

Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan The Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan is a botanical garden located in a hilly area of the South-western Sydney, southwestern Sydney suburb of , between Campbelltown, New South Wales, Campbelltown and Camden, New South Wales, Camden, New S ...

. The Garden is home to several

Rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; : ''rhododendra'') is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the Ericaceae, heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are native to eastern Asia and the Himalayan ...

species including the Rhododendron kanehirai which is extinct in the wild. The garden also has a collection of Rhododendrons of the subsection Maddenia which are able to grow outdoors in Scotland at Logan due to the relatively mild climate of the area. The Garden has a Puya alpestris plant donated by the

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,10 ...

in 2013. In July 2024, the flowers, which take up to ten years to form, bloomed over two weeks. The Garden has a collection of plants from

and has also been actively involved in botanical missions to the country, collecting research data and seeds.

References

External links

Logan Botanic Garden
at the website of the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh {{Authority control Botanical gardens in Scotland Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes Gardens in Dumfries and Galloway 1869 establishments in Scotland Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Rhins of Galloway

History

Location

Collections

See also

References

External links