Local man David Doward's work has been seen by literally millions of people from all around the globe, and yet you will struggle to find a single example of it in any of the capital’s art galleries.
That’s because, for the past 40 years, David has been the mastermind behind Edinburgh’s iconic Floral Clock in West Princes Street Gardens.
The City of Edinburgh Council's long-serving Botanical Services Manager officially hung up his fork and trowel for the final time on Wednesday and was presented a commemorative quaich by Lord Provost Robert Aldridge.
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Throughout his career with the council David has worked with colleagues to design and plant 40 of the city’s iconic clocks with designs ranging from jubilees and war commemorations to the anniversary of the clock itself.
In 2003, in recognition of their efforts in creating a special centenary edition of the Floral Clock, David and his team were even awarded a gold medal at the Chelsea Flower Show.
Speaking to Edinburgh Live, David, who joined the parks team as an apprentice in 1978, said it has been a privilege to work on the famous clock for so many years. However, the green-fingered retiree admits he never thought for a second when he first started that it would turn out to be job for life.
David said: “I started on the clock in 1982 with a chap called Jimmy Ford who had been doing it for 20 years before that. When he retired, the clock then became my responsibility.
“As a boy I remember going to the Gardens with my sister and seeing the Floral Clock and the cuckoo coming. Never did I think that I’d be tending to it as a job one day.”
Every year the Floral Clock features a brand new design made up from tens of thousands of different plants, with the whole process taking months to plan. David says one of the hardest elements is making sure all the plants are ready on time, no matter the weather that year.
“A lot of thought goes behind it,” David said. “Initially designs are submitted to the council from different organisations with anniversaries coming up.
“The parks team will have a look through the options and choose what is most appropriate for that year. The technical team then discusses what is possible and gets in touch with the nursery managers.
“We have all kinds of varieties of plants - around 35,000 of them - and we’ll usually have a window of five-to-six weeks to get it done, as long as the weather is with us.
“We’ve always managed it, even if sometimes you can be short of one or two varieties that didn’t make it through the winter, but you always find some way of getting round it. That’s part of the experience I have - knowing how to work around things.”
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David has worked on dozens of Floral Clock designs over the decades, but says one design in particular sticks out above the rest.
"There have been so many. The Hans Christian Andersen design we did one year was a good one, as was the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society one - that was quite intricate, and I did the city of Edinburgh's crest one year, which was a challenge.
"The one that sticks out for me, though, is the one we did for the clock centenary year in 2003. We went down to Chelsea and did a replica that won a gold medal.
"I've been to Chelsea three times with the city, and also Munich and Kyoto in Japan, where I learned Japanese gardening techniques."
While the Floral Clock is loved by locals and visitors alike, there have sadly been occasions when less respectful members of the public have sought to spoil the celebrated annual feature.
"Unfortunately over the years there has been some vandalism," said David. "When I started people would climb over and try and move the hands round. Now it's an improved mechanism so that the workings don't get damaged so easily.
"The real damage though is from people walking all over the plants. We always have to have a number in reserve in case that happens. This year it's been okay, thankfully."
Vandalism aside, David says it's been his pleasure to have spent so many years creating something that millions of people admire from all over the world.
He added: "It's a satisfying job. You have a blank canvas and bare bit of ground at the start of the year, then after four or five weeks, you've created something. You can't not take a great sense of pride in what you're doing.
"I've been really lucky to have been able to do the clock, it's been a real highlight for me. I will miss it, of course, but now life moves onto a new chapter."
For 2022, the Floral Clock celebrates Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. David and team of four gardeners took just four weeks to plant over 35,000 flowers and plants used to create the clock, which will be in bloom until October.
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