Important Info
31st May - 01st June 2024 | 10:00am-5:00pm
Scone Palace Garden Fair returns to the Palace on Friday 31st May & Saturday 1st June 2024
After a hugely successful year in 2023 the team are delighted to welcome you back for our third year!
Join us as we celebrate the best of Scottish gardening where our country's top plant nurseries, garden centres and societies, will join us on the main lawns under the backdrop of the historic Scone Palace - the Crowning Place of the Scottish Kings.
Alongside all the fabulous florals, will be some marvellous Makers featuring garden related crafts, and outdoor furniture specialists.
If you would like to learn more about a career in horticulture, there will be a chance to speak with representatives from the horticultural colleges, whilst the garden presenters from BBC gardening programme 'Beechgrove' will be around on both days to answer your gardening questions.
Access to the vast gardens and grounds surrounding Scone Palace is also included in the price so do take the chance to go for a woodland walk and visit the giant conifers in the Victorian Pinetum, tour the Kitchen Garden, enjoy the recently opened Walled Garden or get lost in our Murray Star Maze.
Ticket Prices
Adults - £14.50 each
Children - £10.00 each
Family Ticket - (2+2) - £37.00
Concessions and Group Tickets (12+ people) are also available.
Tickets can be pre-booked (recommended for speedy entry to fair) or purchased on the day.
Walled Garden Demonstrations
Learn from the experts with 'How-to' demonstrations taking place in our historic Walled Garden.
The horticultural students of Oatridge College will be based in the Walled Garden throughout the weekend sharing their gardening knowledge and pro-tips, as well the following demonstrations taking place on both days:
Friday the 31st of May and Saturday 1st of June:
- 1.30pm Espalier training of fruit trees with Scone Palace Head Gardener Brian Cunningham
- 2pm How to Grow Dahlias with the Scottish National Chrysanthemum and Dahlia Society
- 2.30pm How to Grow Vegetables with the National Vegetable Society
Potting Shed Talks
Want to pick up some extra gardening tips from the experts? Make sure to come along to our Potting Shed Talks to hear some excellent tips and advice on all things horticulture.
See the full list of speakers for each day below.
10.30am | - | Growing plants in Challenging Environmental Conditions with Graham Gunn |
11.15am | - | Q&A with the Beechgrove Garden team |
12.15pm | - | Environmental Horticulture Strategic Review with David Lydiatt |
1.30pm | - | Scottish Association of Flower Arrangement Societies with Linda Soutar |
2.15pm | - | Scotland's Garden Scheme with Liz Stewart |
3.00pm | - | Q&A with the Beechgrove Garden team |
10.30am | - | Caring for your lawn with Calum Clunie |
11.15am | - | The Importance of Gardening with Children with Helen Cross |
12.15pm | - | Q&A with the Beechgrove Garden team |
2.15pm | - | Gardening in Scotland: What makes it different? with Ken Cox |
3.00pm | - | Herbaceous Plant Workshop with Kirsty Wilson |
RHS Family Zone
Want to get children excited about gardening and reconnect them with nature?
We are delighted to welcome the RHS to the Scone Garden Fair this year. The RHS community out reach team will be hosting a new family zone in the gardens, which promises to get everyone gardening whether they are 5 or 85. As well as seed sowing activities there will also be flower crown making and flower pressing as well as much more.
See the full list of activities and times below.
- Throughout the day there will drop in be make and take sessions including sowing your own mini Eden
- 3pm make your own Soothing Wellbeing Branches
- Throughout the day there will be drop in make and take sessions including sowing your own mini Eden
- 12pm - Tataki Zome - make your own prints using flower pounding and leaf bashing techniques
- 2pm - Make your own Floral Crowns
Scottish Garden Design Competition
The Scottish Garden Design Competition will be a highlight of the weekend with budding amateurs, hobbyists and students producing stunning creations in a bid to claim the prize of best garden design.
The theme of this year's competition is 'Healing'. This theme is open to the interpretation of each gardener and we are excited to see what our 10 finalists have come up with.
Once again the competition will be judges by Lesley Watson and Dougal Philip who have been garden judges for the RHS for over 25 years, and have built over a dozen show gardens over the years to promote their garden centre, New Hopetoun Gardens.
The ten final gardens will be on display at the Garden Fair on the 31st of May and 1st of June and will be judged based on five key criteria, theme, wow factor, layout and structure, artefacts and hard landscaping, and of course the plant choice.
There will also be a People's Choice Award voted for by our visitors so make sure to check them out and cast your vote!
On Friday the 31st of May at 1pm the winner of the Scottish garden Design Competition 2024 will be announced, with the People's Choice Award being announced on Saturday the 1st of June at 3.45pm.
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All Age Entertainment
Scone Palace Garden Fair is a fantastic day out for the whole family with entertainers keeping the energy high throughout the weekend.
- Tempo de Groove Jazz band
- Red Queen & the Mad Hatter mini croquet
- Verity Power the Flower Fairy
- The Tartan Juggler
Exhibitors
Explore an array of wonderful stalls from a wide variety of exhibitors from hand crafted garden furniture, beautiful plant pots, innovative gardening tools and independent plant sellers.
See the exhibitors and makers below, with more to be announced soon!
Food Stands
Need a boost to get you through the day? Make sure to check out the delicious range of food trucks with tasty treats.
Our Coffee Shop will also be open with a delicious menu of lunches and light bites available inside the Palace.
Coates & Seely
Established in 2009, their vineyards, planted on chalk slopes around Coates’ Hampshire home, produce sparkling wines that have achieved international critical acclaim, having won best-in-show trophies and gold and platinum medals in many of the world’s leading competitions.
Gammies Groundcare
Gammies have over 30 years of knowledge and experience supplying products and services to their customers. Located in Forfar, Scotland, they specialise in supplying Horticultural and Agricultural Machinery, Spare Parts, Accessories and Service to fulfil their customer’s requirements.
Scotland Grows
Scotland Grows magazine is a PPA award-nominated title dedicated to celebrating real gardening in Scotland, and connecting the Scottish gardening community through its magazine, website, and podcast, helping to spread the message that we in Scotland know a thing or two about gardening!
Horticultural Trades Association
The HTA was founded in 1899; an organisation formed by its members, for members. Their main aim, to represent horticultural tradesmen to deal with the issues they faced as an industry, still drives them today.
Westland Horticulture Ltd
Westland Horticulture, and dedicated to empowering everyone with the skills, knowledge, and tools for gardening success. Their brands include Peckish, Kent & Stowe, Big Tom, and Unwins, to name just a few, and with a legacy that spans over 30 years, you know you can trust them season after season.
Charity Partner
This year we have partnered with Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance who will be offering a shuttle service from the main car park up to the Garden Fair at the Palace.
Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance (SCAA) saves and improves lives across Scotland every day as an integral part of Scotland’s frontline emergency response network, responding to trauma incidents and medical emergencies across the country. Over our 10 years of operation, we have responded to over 5,500 time-critical call outs all over Scotland. Operating from our two bases in Scone and Aberdeen, SCAA makes a difference - a patient’s chance of survival and full recovery are greatly increased if they receive the right medical care within the first hour of injury or illness. The fast response of SCAA and its ability to reach Scotland’s most remote and rural areas saves vital minutes when every second really does count. As Scotland’s only charity air ambulance, SCAA is funded by the people of Scotland, primarily through donations, fundraising, events and our life-saving lottery.
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