The name ‘Backhouse’ will be familiar to many gardeners. Snowdrop collectors will know Galanthus ‘Backhouse Spectacles’; those of a botanical bent perhaps grow tender shrub Correa backhouseana with its creamy bells; and lovers of daffodils will recall the work of William Backhouse (1807-1869) and later generations of the family, who hybridised daffodils to improve their strength and vigour, providing a genetic legacy for selections we enjoy today.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, this love of plants has been inherited by Caroline Thomson, a descendant of the Backhouse gardening family, who, in 2005, with her husband Andrew and son Hamish, moved to the 120-acre Backhouse Rossie estate and began to make it their home. The estate needed plenty of work. The cottages, which have now been restored, are enjoyed by wedding guests, while the elegant house, with its views out to the Lomond Hills, is nearing completion as a private family
