Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh plants the offspring of Scotland's oldest palm in its restored glasshouse

Scotland's oldest palm tree has a successor. The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh has planted one of the offspring of its legendary Sabal palm in the recently restored glasshouse at Inverleith, where it is hoped it will grow to an impressive height over the next 200 years.

The original 55ft palm was shipped to the Port of Leith via Germany in the 1790s and was the oldest plant in the garden's living collection of more than 13,500 species. It grew at the Botanics' former site on Leith Walk before the whole collection moved to Inverleith in 1820, and it was officially recorded in 1822. It had to be dismantled in 2021, having outgrown the palm house and reached the roof as a multimillion-pound restoration of the A-listed Victorian glasshouses got under way.

Horticulturists made sure its story would continue. Seeds collected in 2016 have been growing in pots in a research glasshouse for the past decade, and one of those young plants now has pride of place. A time capsule commemorating the restoration has been buried nearby, to be opened in 2070 to coincide with the garden's 400th anniversary.

Sadie Barber, deputy curator of glasshouses, said the palm had been part of the Botanics since the late 1700s and was intrinsically linked to the garden. The team were sorry to see it go, she said, and delighted to keep its story going.

The garden has also been inviting visitors behind the scenes. A new partnership with the Edinburgh Food and Drink Academy brought Gardener and Chef days from July to September, combining time in the kitchen garden with cookery demonstrations on themes from fermenting and pickling to winter warmers.

The kitchen garden, near the historic Botanic Cottage, uses organic practices and produces up to 1.5 tonnes of fresh produce a year, which shapes seasonal menus in the garden's cafes.

For anyone who has wandered the glasshouses over the years, the young palm is a lovely link between past and future.

Opening times, glasshouse information and events are on the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh website.