Growing gardeners around the Top Shop
- Jun 1
- 3 min read
Our Dunoon Goes POP mini Drinks Garden at the Top Shop in Dunoon will host a plant giveaway in June so that Valrose residents can grow more plants in their gardens.
Green-fingered Valrose community connector Morgan is working with us to help her neighbours to grow more plants. After reaching out to her community, Morgan is passing on a selection of Dunoon-grown plants that can be used to make drinks, including rhubarb, pot marigolds, mint, chamomile and nasturtiums.
Growing guides
Here are the growing guides created for the plant giveaways, download the pdfs below.
Rhubarb: use the red stalks for making puddings, soft drinks syrups, jams, chutneys and ketchup, the options are endless. Or eat them raw, dip in a little sugar or syrup to take off the tart edge.
Pot marigolds: use the flower heads/petals for making teas, sprinkling on salads, garnishing a mocktail, colouring your rice, making skin nourishing decoctions.
Moroccan mint: use the leaves for making teas, soft drinks syrups, muddling in mocktails and cocktails, flavouring your cooking, making healthy home remedies.
German chamomile: use the flowers for making a calming herbal tea, to make syrups, sprinkle on salads and for other home remedies.
Nasturtium: adde the peppery flowers, leaves and green seeds raw to salads or in your cooking, or to garnish your drinks. The green seeds can be pickled and taste like peppery capers.
Coming soon: look out for ‘how to’ blog articles and social media posts on @DunoonGoesPOP Instagram, TikTok and Facebook about the plants we’ve given away this month.
What’s growing at the Top Shop?
Drinks-making plants:
rhubarb
blackcurrant
cornflowers
cola plant
oregano
lemon balm
pot marigolds
borage
blackcurrant sage
sage and growing ...
For the colour and for the bees, birds, butterflies and moths:
annual flowers like cosmos
bellflowers, potentillas
primroses and polyanthus
astrantia
rudbeckia.
Colour on the corner
At the Top Shop, on the corner of McArthur Street and Alexander Street, our mini drinks-makers garden began in 2024. Packed with plants that can be used to make teas, soft drinks syrups and other drinks, we also grow flowers to add colour to the corner and provide food for our pollinator friends.
“I’ve lived here for 60 years and never seen it looking good like this,” said one happy resident as they passed by the garden.
“I love all the colourful flowers,” said another.
The feedback from nearby residents has been hugely positive, and they’ve stopped to ask gardening questions or share their own stories or recipes while we’re tending to the flavour-giving plants. There's a gardening community around Valrose and we're keen to encourage more people to grow plants for making drinks with, like our soft drinks or teas, and encourage pollinators.
“And now we’re now spreading the plant love to gardens around Valrose,” says Hannah Clinch, co-founder of Dunoon Goes POP, the community-focussed soft-drinks enterprise, who also works with Dunoon Community Development Trust.
“We’re delighted to be working with a Valrose resident to directly reach out and giveaway some of our Dunoon-grown edible plants so that the community can grow their gardening ambitions.”
A partnership approach
Our community engagement work around the Valrose area is a partnership with Dunoon Community Development Trust and together we’re running several activities, including this plant giveaway. We’re also pleased that this project is supported by Development Trusts Association Scotland and Argyll Community Housing Association.
A summer of events at Valrose
Saturday, 11 July
A dedicated day of walking and cycling hosted by Dunoon on the Move.
Saturday, 8 August
Join us for a day of learning about composting, growing and caring for the local environment.
Look out for more updates coming soon at:
