George Forrest

Well, of course you can't really understand, I guess, some of the elements of the explorer's garden without understanding those extraordinary Scots whose journeys are behind it.

Scottish plant hunters like George Forrest and David Douglas and people who brought back so much of what we now consider staple garden plants in our gardens.

But when you started working at the Explorers, Gareth and Carolyn, did you know so much about Scotland's great plant hunters?

Honestly, no, very little.

I knew obviously the big names, like you've just mentioned, David Douglas, who doesn't know David Douglas? Naughty if you don't.

George Forrest, who's just a wonderful person.

The more that I read up on them, the more that I felt like I really got to know them.

So in the beginning, not a lot.

So I did a really deep dive into the history of how these nine species came to be grown in our gardens across here in Britain, from Far East coast of China, all these crazy places, you know, the Himalayas.

And the people that were involved, and they're all names that we've all heard of, George Forrest, um, Joseph Hooker, all these people are involved, and I just found it really fascinating.

So I did a good deep dive into that.

So I talk a lot about that when I do, uh, tours of the irises.