Our volunteers play a vital part in many aspects of the smooth running of the Gardens. Over the last few years they have spent many hours on the various tasks to assist our gardeners. Inside and outside they help with many horticultural tasks and maintaining our woodwork, paths and glasshouses. We also have dedicated volunteers for the GROW project who assist Jan with the running of the gardens and with the trainees.

In 2018 our dedicated volunteers ran a wild flower project “Wild 25” with funding from a Kew Gardens led, Big Lottery funded project which has resulted in several areas of Inverness providing new homes for pollinating plants and insects.

For more information about becoming a volunteer with us please get in touch [email protected]

Inverness Botanic Gardens

With each new season the outside gardens are an explosion of colour and texture, and borders are planted to demonstrate a wide variety of plants and growing conditions. The impressive glasshouses reveal the drama of plant diversity ranging from the tropical rainforests to arid, heat scorched desert. In the Tropical House which mimics the hot, humid tropical regions of the world, the plantings are a mixture of the familiar and the spectacular. Some of our most popular houseplants derive from the rainforests, and can be seen growing alongside important economic crops such as coffee. A waterfall cascades into a pond filled with friendly Koi carp, surrounded by showy tender plants such as bougainvillea, bird of paradise plants and orchids. In the adjoining cactus house, the amazing sculptural shapes of hundreds of species of cacti are planted among 75 tonnes of rock and it is a stunning reminder of the beauty of these plants which survive in the harshest of environments. The outside gardens are sheltered by a high stone wall and are richly planted with display beds, trees, shrubs, herbs and herbaceous borders. Our younger visitors enjoy discovering the wooden carvings such as teddy bears and meerkats peeping out from among the plants. Summer Hours (April through October) are 10am to 5pm Last entry to the gardens at 4.30pm Winter Hours (End October / November through March) are 10am to 4pm Last entry to the Gardens at 3.30pm Plants are available for sale on site. All outdoor plants and many houseplants are grown by us or sourced locally. Inverness Botanic Gardens are managed by High Life Highland. “High Life Highland is a company limited by guarantee registered in Scotland No. SC407011 and is a registered Scottish charity No. SC042593”

This little robin was quite fearless. Are you seeing lots of garden birds in your own gardens??

Don't forget it is the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch this weekend! If you can spare some time to fill it in, please do. The more people that complete it the better.

https://www.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/activities/birdwatch

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Inverness Botanic Gardens

When we are having nice dry days at this time of year, they are perfect for catching up with some painting jobs. Look at the before and after...the black paint looks fantastic!! The plants will really pop against it come spring/summer. In the meantime the "Stipa tennuissima" are just gorgeous.

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Inverness Botanic Gardens

This little goldcrest is busy in the tropical house this morning.