Marguerite Ogilvie, perhaps best known for the gardens at Pitmuies, by Forfar, has died aged 84.
Born Margaret Elizabeth Annesley at Castlewellan in Co Down, where the gardens are now the National Arboretum for Northern Ireland, it was here that she developed her love and flair for gardening.
Without formal schooling, she took herself to the National College of Art in Dublin and then to the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London.
In the mid-1950s she worked as an advertising manager and book designer/typographer and, after moving to Scotland, met and married Farquhar Ogilvie, at that time the factor at Dupplin Estate near Perth.
Following the death of her father-in-law, Major D. D. Ogilvie, the couple moved to the family home and farm at Pitmuies in 1966 where Mrs Ogilvie developed and enriched the gardens.
They became one of the best known in Scotland and have been open to the public for more than 40 years.
Mr Ogilvie, who as well as a farmer was the land use convener and European representative for the Scottish Landowners’ Federation, died in 1983.
Following her husband’s death, Mrs Ogilvie continued to enhance the gardens as well as renovating an architecturally important group of buildings at Pitmuies.
In 2001, she was presented with the Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother Medal in Horticulture by the Caledonian Horticultural Society in recognition of her outstanding contribution to Scottish horticulture.
Until latterly, when ill health curtailed her activities, Mrs Ogilvie worked with the National Trust for Scotland, where she served on the council, the executive council and the gardens committee.
She is survived by her son, two daughters and four grandchildren.