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According to the Scottish Environmental Horticulture Growth Strategy there are over one million people in Scotland who are regular gardeners.
From communal tenement gardens to expansive private grounds, we love our borders, rockeries, lawns and patios.
It’s hugely satisfying to see a plant you’ve cared for bloom into beautiful flowers, but you need to be careful what you choose and where you place it.
Many of us have gardens that have poor-quality sandy soil, a particular issue in coastal areas.
Luckily there are many plants with colourful flowers that can positively thrive in these conditions - and will also cope with the notoriously unpredictable Scottish climate.
Here are 11 of our favourites.
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5. Rock Rose
Another prodigious bloomer, the Rock Rose comes in a range of colours, with pink and yellow perhaps the most popular with horticulturists. It will produce flowers in sandy beds from late spring all the way through to the end of summer. It's great for dry borders with poor soil where other plants may struggle to survive. | Canva/Getty Images
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6. Cotton Lavender
To bring a little of the Mediterranean to your sandy Scottish garden, consider planting some Cotton Lavender. It provides aromatic, silver-grey foliage all year, with intersting yellow button-like flowers appearing in the summer. This is a plant that will even thrive in exposed gardens as it will put up with windy conditions. | Canva/Getty Images
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7. Sea Thrift
Also sometimes known as Sea Pinks, the Sea Thrift is native to Scotland where it can be found on the coast - so is perfect to add to sandy gardens where it will make itself very much at home. It's a compact wee plant with tufts of grassy leaves and pink or white pom-pom flowers appearing in spring. It's also a perfect choice to pop in pots. | Canva/Getty Images
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8. Oriental Poppy
Bloom don't come much more dramatic than produced by the stunning Oriental Poppy. Their showy flowers appear in early summer and as long as they get plenty of sun they'll grow beautifully in sandy soil. A word of warning though, their foliage dies back after they flower, so you'll want other plants to grow alongside them to provide coverage year-round. | Canva/Getty Images