Dorothy Renton

Dorothy Graham Renton (7 April 1898 – 28 January 1966) was a Scottish gardener noted for creating Branklyn Garden in Perth with her husband John. She took the Veitch Memorial Medal for her work in 1954 from the Royal Horticultural Society. Branklyn was described as "the finest two acres of private garden in the country". It is owned by the National Trust for Scotland. where she grew up. The new arts and crafts house was called Branklyn and in the former orchard they laid out their gardens. The gardens were remarkable because they used unusual Asian seeds which were native to Tibet, Bhutan and China. Her husband took the lead on the design and layout, but it was Dorothy who was the skilled botanist and horticulturist.

In 1925 they first created their three rock gardens. Rock was quarried from nearby and transported to their garden by traction engine before being moved to the new rock gardens by crowbars.

Death and legacy

Renton died on 28 January 1966, aged 67, and her husband died in 1967, after which the house went into national ownership. Besides the gardens the couple left their detailed notebooks which they had made during their management of Branklyn. The gardens are made available to visitors by the National Trust for Scotland, but the house is still private. The garden is known for its dog's tooth violets, magnolias, Japanese maples and a katsura tree. There are estimated to be 3,500 different types of plant, which includes the national collections of Himalayan blue poppies, at Branklyn.