Poyntzfield Herb Nursery
Poyntzfield Herb Nursery, Black Isle, Scotland, IV7 8LX
They sell organically and biodynamically grown herb plants and seeds, both online and in person, all grown by their small expert team in the herb nursery.
Within the sheltering warmth of the walled garden at Poyntzfield House on the Black Isle, about 40 minutes north of Inverness, you can visit this treasure trove of a herbal nursery.
Surrounded by woodland, the herb nursery is located inland in the west of the beautiful Black Isle peninsula, a fertile farming area with roads lined by lush hedgerows and pretty coastal fishing villages not too far away.
Within the walls of the Poyntzfield House’s former kitchen garden, Duncan Ross first established Poyntzfield Herbs in 1976. A family business, the herb nursery was passed from father to son, Finlay, in 2022. Following organic and biodynamic principles, the plants are free from synthetic fertilisers. You buy your plastic pots and can return your them for 5p. If you order your plants online, they come wrapped in paper.
Plant sales at Poyntzfield in July 2026
Browse and buy
A huge milk thistle is the jagged centrepiece among aromatic herbs. Surrounded by lavender, thyme, fennel, dyer’s chamomile, borage, yarrow, angelica and more classic and unusual herb garden choices, the nursery beds are a feast for the senses. Fruit trees and a lean-to greenhouse make the most of the heat from the walls. You’ll find the till and a display of seed packets for sale in the building at the entrance as you arrive.
Inside the walled garden, you can browse how the plants grow, smell, thrive, and attract insects before you make your choice. The main problem will be narrowing down what you want to take home.
If you can’t make it in person, use their website to see which plants are in stock and order delivery. But check their website for the most up-to-date instructions.
There are a number of accessible cycle routes should you be travelling under your own steam.
Milk thistle surrounded by aromatic and colourful herbs in the nursery beds.
Milk thistle
Botanical name: Silybum marianum
Gaelic name: Fothannan beannaichte
Poppies, artichoke, rosemary, agastache at Poyntzfield Herb Nursery
Herbal homeground
Visiting Poyntzfield Herb Nursery was like a homecoming of sorts for me. It’s the first specialist herb nursery I used in my personal and professional life to plant several herb gardens.
Firstly, in my garden in Glasgow. Paper-wrapped plants with wooden plant labels arrived in a box padded with newspaper one spring. At that time, there was a short window for mail orders and, from memory, I’d missed the autumn window and waited impatiently for spring.
Other herb garden projects where Poyntzfield Herb Nursery plants were used:
A medicinal courtyard garden created at The Hidden Gardens in Glasgow
Little Sparta, on the edge of the Pentland Hills, where a range of herbs were added to the the kitchen garden (called the Kailyard) and the allotment space.
My new garden, Kailyard Herbs homebase, in Dunoon.
A drinks-makers’ garden created for social enterprise POP shop with their Dunoon Goes POP garden.
What I loved about the Poyntzfield Herbs website when I first started researching what to buy, the plants listed included the Gaelic names too. Sometimes, several Gaelic names. As a student of language, gardens, food growing and culture, their website was a portal into the world of plants and their interconnections, one that I’m continuing to travel down today.
Take a trip and see what new plants, ideas or knowledge you will come home with.
Spring 2024 delivery from Poyntzfield Herbs at Dunoon Goes POP.
Support Scotland’s Herb Growers
I’m gathering a list of Scotland’s herb nurseries and farms or market gardens to feature on the blog, to make it easier for you, herb gardeners and herbalists, to find who is growing what near you.
Support our herb-growing community by visiting in person or buying online from these growers. Let me know if you are a professional herb grower and I can add you to the list. Email lynne@kailyardherbs.co.uk
Other growers:
Plants with Purpose, Stanley, by Perth.
I’ve also purchased organic farm herbs at Pillars of Hercules in Fife.
We grow herbs on a very small, local scale and have some on sale for time to time.
More to be added soon!