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Princess Anne and Family

The Princess Gardener: Anne visits botanic gardens

<![CDATA[It was a green fingered day all around on Wednesday 30th July as The Princess Royal paid a visit to Dawyck Botanic Garden in Peeblesshire.
On the informal visit to the garden, Princess Anne was shown around by the curator of Dawyck, Graham Stewart and was informed of the site's history, activities that happen in the present and the future ambitions for the garden. Also present upon Anne's arrival were chairman of the garden Sir Muir Russell and Simon Milne MBE, who is regius keeper of Dawyck's parent organisation, The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.
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It can be assumed that the talk Princess Anne was given, was of high interest to her as she is aware of the challenges facing the environment. The key points raised during her 50 minute tour included the recently commissioned hydro scheme and the iconic Dutch Bridge.
A spokesperson for the garden commented, “Being introduced to staff, supporters and volunteers, the Princess demonstrated her own awareness of challenges facing the environment when she spoke of the impact of non native invasive species, such as Rhododendron ponticum.”
Princess Anne even got her hands dirty on the short visit to Dawyck, by planting a coastal redwood which astoundingly was collected in the wild by staff member Robert Unwin while he conducted fieldwork in California. One can assume that Princess Anne was more than willing to lend a hand.
Mr Stewart was more than complimentary of the Royal’s visit, “To have the garden recognised by Her Royal Highness means a great deal to everyone at Dawyck.”
Simon Milne, of RBGE, also had kind words to say about the visit adding, “The Princess Royal was extremely complimentary about the work at Dawyck and the Royal Botanic Edinburgh and she praised staff for their skill and efforts.”
The Princess Royal’s visit, though swift must have meant a great deal for the garden, especially to get the Royal seal of approval. This reminds me, I have a spot of gardening that needs doing, I wonder if Princess Anne will pop round to lend her expertise?
 
photo credit: WorldSkills via photopin cc]]>