I have walked and driven past this spot countless times, but only
recently noticed this little oasis. This garden contains specimens
of plants to commemorate the work of Scottish Botanists who are
responsible for the existence of most of our familiar garden
plants. Their exploits around the world are remarkable.
Francis Masson (1741 – 1805)
Francis Masson was a Scottish botanist and gardener, and Kew
Gardens’ first plant hunter. He was born in Aberdeen and in the
1760s went to work at Kew Gardens as an under-gardener. He sailed
with James Cook on HMS Resolution to South Africa in 1772, sending
back over 500 plant species. In 1776 he went to Madeira, Canary
Islands, the Azores and the Antilles. In 1783 he collected plants
in Portugal and in 1786 he returned to South Africa. In 1797 he
sailed to North America and travelled widely collecting plants and
seeds. He died in Montreal in 1805. Masson discovered in excess of
1700 new species.
David Douglas (1799 – 1834)
David Douglas was born in Scone, where he worked as an apprentice
gardener in the estate of the 3rd Earl of Mansfield at Scone
Palace. He then attended college in Perth to learn more of the
scientific and mathematical aspects of plant culture. He moved to
the Botanical Gardens of Glasgow, and the Professor of Botany at
Glasgow University took him on an expedition to the Highlands
before recommending him to the Royal Horticultural Society of
London. Douglas undertook a plant-hunting expedition in the Pacific
Northwest in 1824 that ranks among the great botanical
explorations. The Douglas fir, which he introduced into cultivation
in 1827, is named after him. Other introductions include Sitka
Spruce, Sugar Pine, Western White Pine, Ponderosa Pine, Lodgepole
Pine, Monterey Pine, Grand Fir, Noble Fir that transformed the
British landscape and timber industry. Altogether he introduced
about 240 species of plants to Britain. In 1826, David Douglas
climbed a peak near Athabasca Pass and became the first mountaineer
in North America. He died under mysterious circumstances in Hawaii
at age 35 when he fell into a pit trap.
Robert Fortune (1812 - 1880)
Fortune was born in Kelloe, Berwickshire. He was employed in the
botanical garden in Edinburgh, and later in the Royal Horticultural
Society's garden at Chiswick, and in 1842 was sent out by the
Society to collect plants in China. He introduced many flowers to
Europe but a journey in 1848 on behalf of the British East India
Company resulted in the introduction of 20,000 tea plants to
Darjeeling in India. His endeavours created the tea industries of
India and Ceylon and ended China's natural monopoly of tea. He died
in London.
George Forrest (1873 - 1932)
George Forrest was born in Falkirk and educated at Kilmarnock
Academy. He was apprenticed to a local chemist, where he learned
about the medicinal properties and uses of many different plants.
He made seven expeditions and introduced hundreds of species to the
west. He went to Australia at the height of the gold rush of 1891,
remaining for over ten years, panning for gold. He returned to
Britain in 1902, and was employed as a clerk in the herbarium of
the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh. He made an expedition to
China's Yunnan province in 1904, where he and his team collected
numerous plants, herbarium specimens and seeds. However, he barely
escaped with his life during serious political turmoil. He made
several other trips into remote areas of China and returned to
Britain in 1906 with hundreds of pounds of seeds, thousands of
roots, tubers and plants, along with herbarium specimens. He
discovered over 1200 plants species, as well as many birds and
mammals.
George Sherriff (1898 - 1967)
George Sherriff was born at Larbert and educated in Yorkshire and
at the Royal Military Academy in Woolwich. He was posted to India
at the end of the First World War and was appointed Vice-Consul at
Kashgar. He made expeditions to Tibet and the Himalayas in the
1930s, collecting more than 7000 specimens. There were further
expeditionas after the Second World War in the late 1940s. Sherriff
was one of the first botanists to be able to send plants back to
Britain by air and was thus able to introduce delicate species
which would not have survived otherwise. He created a Himalayan
garden planted with every known species of primula at Ascreavie
House near Kirriemuir.
In order to minimise disturbance to the plants, the clue is very
specific.