What a wonderful autumn we have been enjoying up and down the country this year! Unfortunately and predictably the tranquil peace of your Gardens has been degraded yet again by the arrival of Glasglow. It is a show that would be more appropriate to being held in a show ground rather than in one of UK’s outstanding historical botanical gardens.

It is impossible to engage with the public in the main area of the gardens while the disruption caused by setting up Glasglow is ongoing. As a result we have to stop the very successful tour programme.

This autumn during the month of October we have organised a series of weekly tours of the arboretum. These have been expertly led by our Vice Chair and Secretary Ishbel and Caroline. Local visitors, overseas visitors and members of Friends have all enjoyed the splendours of the arboretum as a result of their hard studies. As the deciduous leaved trees are no longer in leaf we feel the tours have reached their end for the year! However….

We do intend resuming public tours of the Kibble Palace in January 2026 or perhaps in December 2025. These tours were very successful last year. Please check our website for the most up to date details. We will also use our notice boards for publicity.

Continuing on a positive note we are delighted to inform members that a consignment of trees has been delivered from Barcoose Nurseries. Those members present at our AGM will recall that Friends have agreed to fund the purchase and replanting of trees lost in the storms of last winter. Our volunteer gardeners will be assisting staff in the planting of the specimens. We will keep members informed with progress and an inventory of species in due course.
I have intended reporting on our first joint winter meeting with GNHS and GTLS when we heard from Richard Baines of Logan Botanic Gardens.

Unfortunately I was unable to attend at short notice due to family illness. I have heard that the meeting was a great success and we will carry a report of the talk in our next newsletter.