Cluny House Gardens

Cluny House Gardens

Carved from a steep hillside above the River Tay by Bobby and Betty Masterton from 1950 onwards, Cluny House is a woodland garden celebrated for its exceptional collection of Himalayan plants that thrive in the damp, acidic Perthshire air. Here, blue poppies (Meconopsis), candelabra primulas, cobra lilies, and the giant Himalayan lily — which can reach an extraordinary three metres — flourish freely, many grown from seed gathered by Scottish plant hunters in the mountains of Tibet, Nepal, and western China. Two magnificent Wellingtonias (Sequoiadendron giganteum) tower over the garden, one with a girth of over eleven metres making it the widest conifer in Britain, likely raised from seed brought from California in 1853. The garden is also a haven for red squirrels, which are fed daily and are a constant, lively presence among the trees, creating a place where exotic plants and native wildlife coexist beautifully.