About Tinnisburn Plants
A lifelong passion for plants
Helen Knowles, founder and owner of Tinnisburn Plants, has been gardening at Upper Millsteads for over 30 years. She's gained an extensive knowledge of truly hardy perennials that thrive in many different conditions.
An RHS Gold Medal winning nursery, Tinnisburn Plants was a regular exhibitor at major UK flower shows until 2019. Helen is now concentrating on developing the garden at Tinnisburn Plants having retired from the shows circuit and is enjoying having more time at the nursery to propagate plants.
Tinnisburn is home to the National Plant Collection of Scilla (Chionodoxa).
Helen is President of The Meconopsis Group.
Helen often shares tips and plant ideas on the Tinnisburn Plants Facebook Page.
The Garden & Nursery
Garden
Our garden covers about 1.5 acres and includes a bit of everything; rockery, woodland garden, herbaceous border, shrubberies, pond and bog garden.
There is still a lot of work to do but much progress has been made over the last few years and there is something of interest about all year round. The season starts with snowdrops, over 50 varieties of daffodils, a profusion of Hellebores and then an eclectic mix of perennials and shrubs; some common and some very rare.
It's a plant-lovers paradise and it gets better every year.
Tinnisburn Plants in the news
Here are just some of the mentions we've had in the media over the last few years:
Gardening is good for you - Eskdale & Liddesdale Advertiser April 2020
Report on RHS Tatton and meeting the BBC's Joe Swift - Daily Record
Featured on VisitScotland
Plants and cakes make a good day out - Eskdale & Liddesdale Advertiser May 2019
Platinum Plant Prize - DnG24 2017
From green fingers to gold fingers - Daily Record August 2016
Visiting us
Our nursery, set on a Scottish hillside, is open to the public Fri to Sun during the summer, as detailed on the Visiting page.
Visitors to the nursery are always welcome. You can also enjoy a refreshing cup of tea and homemade cake in The Old Byre Tearoom.
Visitors are welcome to have a look around the garden and wildflower walk and we will do group tours by prior arrangement. Admission to the garden and wildflower walk is £5 (under 16's free), Season Ticket £10, nursery and tearoom only visitors are not required to pay. A percentage of the proceeds from the admission fee will go to charities supported by Scotland's Garden Scheme.
