A new flower market could see Angus gardens blooming with the very best of local produce.
Forfar Garden Club is hosting a plant market in the town to bring together local plant growers and show the public the huge variety of flowers, veg and trees that are available in the area.
Gardener Eleanor Gledhill is urging any grower, from beginner to green-fingered expert, to get in touch, with a view to taking a sales table at the Myre in Forfar on Saturday, May 28.
Eleanor whose two-acre garden on the outskirts of Forfar opened to the public in 2010 wants to bring growers together from throughout Angus to sell their wares to fellow enthusiasts.
Buying plants that are grown locally is good for the environment and good for your garden.
As well as plants from the garden club members there will be stalls from specialist growers, community groups and individuals who just love growing plants.
There will be lots of unusual plants that are not available elsewhere. For instance, one of the stallholders is bringing along banana-shaped tomatoes.
Eleanor, who is president of the Forfar Garden Club, is a keen believer in buying locally grown plants.
“So many new gardeners buy plants and are disappointed that they don’t flourish, or they just die off,” she said.
“They jump to the conclusion that they have done something wrong. Often it is not the gardener’s fault, it’s just that the plants they have bought are imported and are not acclimatised to the wonderful weather we have here.
“A plant brought in from greenhouses in Holland will never have felt a breath of wind and will never have met Jack Frost. No wonder they just curl up when we plant them here.
“We are lucky that we can grow a huge range of beautiful plants here in Angus. Blue Himalayan poppies, wonderful strawberries and delicious apples are all at home in Forfar.
“If they grow well in my garden and are still thriving after the coldest of winters then they will do well in your garden too.”
Anyone interested in selling plants at the market, individuals, businesses or groups, should call Eleanor on 01307 469090.