Yesterday while we were walking along the
Water of Leith from the Visitor Centre on Slateford Road to Roseburn, we took a detour round the lovely gardens at
Saughton Park. We particularly loved this bed of flowers, a lively mix of native and garden species and obviously popular with the local bees and hoverflies! Updated to add: This flower bed was planted by a group of adults who
have learning or physical disabilities from the Craighall Day Centre.
They have been working at Saughton for a few years and also plant up the
200m wild flower border on the side side of garden as well as grow a
range of vegetables in the secret courtyard.
We were also intrigued by the teddy bears in the greenhouses. Updated to add: The bears were part of the Great Saughton Bear Hunt event which took
place in July and which saw 350 people go mad looking for the 30 bears
which had taken up residence in the Garden. They are all named after
Parks and Greenspace staff, DJ being the Parks and Greenspace Manager!
As
it was such fun we are having another Great Saughton Bear Hunt on 16th
October - 10.00 til 4.00. It's free and all are welcome!
There are lots of pretty flowers in the greenhouses
though sadly a lot of them are infested by aphids and what look like scale bugs (though I could be wrong with the id on these)
Good news for the park is that the
Heritage Lottery Fund has awarded the City of Edinburgh Council funds to develop detailed plans to restore and improve Saughton Park (which will hopefully include funds for environmentally friendly pest control in the green houses). They are looking for people who visit
Saughton Park to take part in a survey to help them develop these plans.
Updated to add: There is a Friends of Saughton Park meeting on Thursday 4th September -
7.00pm in the Winter Garden and any interested in the Park is most
welcome to come along.
Thanks to Pete McDougall, Saughton Park Development Officer for the updates to this post.
As ever, red text contains hyperlinks that take you to other erbpages where you can find out more.
Is that a hibiscus (the red flower)?
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to some more pix along the Waters of Leith ... By the way - I am not sure if you have ever explained, but where are the headwaters of Leith? Springs? A lake? Glacier/snows? Does the flow vary a lot during a typical year?
ReplyDeleteGabrielle - yes, that's what it is, a hibiscus, i coudn't think of the name, thanks
ReplyDeleteRabbits Guy - the Water of Leith starts up in the Pentland Hills, I think there are three small streasms that join together. the flow varies a lot in the year, and there are reservoirs in the hills which are controlled to try to prevent flooding in the river. There's a map here http://www.waterofleith.org.uk/river/
Hi there,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the Saughton Park mention!
The flower bed that you feature was planted by a group of adults who have learning or physical disabilities from the Craighall Day Centre. They have been working at Saughton for a few years and also plant up the 200m wild flower border on the side side of garden as well as grow a range of vegetables in the secret courtyard.
The bears were part of the Great Saughton Bear Hunt event which took place in July and which saw 350 people go mad looking for the 30 bears which had taken up residence in the Garden. They are all named after Parks and Greenspace staff, DJ being the Parks and Greenspace Manager!
As it was such fun we are having another Great Saughton Bear Hunt on 16th October - 10.00 til 4.00. It's free and all are welcome!
There is a Friends of Saughton Park meeting on Thursday 4th September - 7.00pm in the Winter Garden and any interested in the Park is most welcome to come along.
cheers,
Pete
Pete McDougall
Saughton Park Development Officer
Hi Rabbits Goy, took some photos just for you, see the latest blogpost http://craftygreenpoet.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/water-of-leith_2.html
ReplyDeleteHi Pete from Saughton Park, I'll add your info into the post, thanks for that, we really were intrigued by the bears!
ReplyDelete