Inverewe Gardens were started by Osgood Mackenzie, in reality in 1862 when he was 20 years old upon the purchase of a barren and rocky promontory in Loch Ewe, and by 1870 he was well on the way to completing his Scottish Baronial Style mansion and its accompanying garden.

To give you some idea just what a foolhardy scheme this appeared to be at the time, Inverewe is on the tip of Scotland very far north indeed(latitude 57.8 degrees), which is about the same latitude as Hudson's Bay in Canada and more northerly than Moscow. However, in its favour because of warm Atlantic currents from the Caribean it is far warmer in winter (coldest winter temperature measured was 14 degrees F (-12C) in 1986). In addition summer temperatures are relatively mild and this allows good plants to develop.

In 1952, the estate was handed over ( together with a generous endowment) to the National Trust for Scotland, who now manage and run the gardens and estate.To all intentsand purposes that is the "history lesson". The most important question in this review is why should you go and is it worth it?

The reason you should go is quite simple. You will never see another garden like this in your lifetime. The garden is filled with (dependent on season of course) thousands of flowers such as hydrangea and dahlia which considering the Atlantic salt spray is something of a miracle.These plants are not alone and your senses will be "rocked" by a riot of color by plants such as azaleas, camellias, daffodils, magnolias and much more. You will also see more unusual or at least less common plants such as bell heather, bog myrtle, broom, buttercup, campion, clover, common toadflax, crocus & daffodil (popular in Scotland in spring), forget me-not, foxglove, fuchsia, honeysuckle, lupin, meadow sweet, moss campion, mountain avens, mountain sorrel, mountain speedwell, poppy, primrose, purple heather and rosemary, the list could go on and on.

From Spring and Summer you will move into the Autumn colours more associated with the shrubs and fruits and again you will see a "freak" of nature. Not to be outdone by the more popular flowers, the gardens also play host to some rare breeds of plants and these change.

To answer the question -is it worth it. The answer is undoubtedly yes and despite the journey you will be glad you went.