Scotlands wide-ranging botanic gardens

The National Botanic Gardens of Scotland collectively make up the second richest collection of plant specimens in the world.

Made up of four separate sites in locations around the country, the facilities each house a wide variety of species, tourism board Visit Scotland explains.

The Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh is home to more than six per cent of all known plants and its glasshouses feature the tallest palm house in Britain.

Logan Botanic Garden, located in Galloway, benefits from a subtropical climate thanks to the influence of the Gulf Stream and houses "unworldly" Gunnera and groves of eucalypts.

The Eachaig Valley provides a woodland setting for the Benmore garden, which is home to more than 250 species of rhododendrons.

Finally, Dawyck in the Scottish Borders allows horticultural enthusiasts to learn about the exploits of 19th-century plant hunter David Douglas.