Glasgow Botanic Gardens, Great Western Road, Glasgow
There are plenty of places where you can enjoy plants without having to endure the sting of hailstones on your cheeks, whether it’s the shelter provided by a walled garden or a grand Victorian glasshouse.
One of the most famous and best loved of the latter is the Kibble Palace in Glasgow’s Botanic Garden.
The wrought-iron framed glasshouse was initially used for public events, and was the venue used for the installation of Benjamin Disraeli and William Gladstone as rectors of Glasgow University.
As well as orchids and some carnivorous plants, the main group of plants here are Australasian tree ferns, some of which have lived in the palace for 120 years and which now form the national tree fern collection.
Plants from tropical rainforests grow in the adjacent palm house, and the Tearooms, the newest addition to the Gardens, can be found in the former curator’s house.
Logan Botanic Garden, Port Logan, Dumfries and Galloway
Located 14 miles south of Stranraer in the Rhins of Galloway is Logan Botanic Gardens, the most exotic of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh’s regional outposts.
Due to the area’s mild climate and the sheltered aspect of the gardens, species thrive here which are rarely seen elsewhere in the UK, with botanical treasures from South America, South Africa and Australasia.
Though at its most stunningly vibrant from June to September, Logan’s walled garden blooms with colour throughout the year while yet more exotic plants from Tasmania and Africa can be seen in the newly-built eco-conservatory.
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Arboretum Place, Edinburgh
Glasshouses at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) date back as far as 1713 when one was built at the Trinity Physic Garden – now Waverley train station.
Now the RBGE has a number of glasshouses, the oldest being the Tropical Palm House, designed by an unknown architect in 1834.
It’s home to a palm that is even older; the Sabal bermudana, which was moved from a previous site in Leith Walk in 1822.
Almost 40 years later, the Temperate Palm House became home to a selection of ferns, palms and frost-tender species. Other glasshouses at RBGE include one which is home to a variety of tropical plants such as the Amorphophallus titanium or “corpse flower”, the world’s smelliest plant.
The Dunmore Pineapple, Dunmore Park, Stirlingshire
Commissioned by the Earl of Dunmore in the late 18th century is the huge, eight-metre high roof in the shape of a pineapple which adorns the garden pavilion in the grounds on Dunmore Park near Airth.
The property has been converted into holiday accommodation and the surrounding grounds, in the care of the National Trust for Scotland, contain two walled gardens offering enough shelter and warmth for fruits, vegetable and ornamental plants to thrive.
Inverness Botanic Gardens, Bught Lane, Inverness
Opened in 1993, Inverness Botanic Gardens features a tropical glasshouse and cactus house featuring hundreds of species planted among 75 tonnes of rock.
A charity which depends on donations and plant sales, the Gardens also offer a reasonably-priced sales area, cafe, secret outdoor garden and a wild flower meadow.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here