A BOOK of photographs featuring the late Dr Jim Taggart of the Linn Gardens at Cove has just been published.
Photographer Robbie Lawrence collaborated with renowned poet John Burnside in preparing 'A Voice Above The Linn', a 134 page book published by Stanley/Barker at £38.
The publishers state: "In 2016 Robbie Lawrence first travelled to a remote stretch of coastline in the west coast of Scotland, to Linn Gardens, which lies at the head of Cove Bay on the west side of Rosneath peninsula. The gardens had been run for fifty years by Jim Taggart, an avid botanist and gardener.
"Jim discovered that the region’s subtropical climate allowed him to grow plants and flowers from all over the world. His endeavours led to the estate being covered in an intricately plotted web of ferns, bamboos, magnolias and rhododendrons.
"As Jim got older, his son Jamie took over the more physical elements of maintaining the garden, including traveling abroad to research and gather new plants. On one such journey, to the northern mountainous region of Vietnam, Jamie disappeared. His body was found years later — he had evidently fallen in one of the mountain’s higher passes."
Robbie said: “When I first met Jim, who by this point was well into his 80s, he told me that he decided to keep the garden going as a memorial to his son. Over the past few years I went back to the visit Jim and document the garden as it passed through the seasons.
"Despite his age, Jim would bound around the garden, occasionally stopping the provide a lengthy anecdote about a particular fern or tree. Last summer, Jim passed away at the age of 84.”
- Photo by Robbie Lawrence.
