Garden Show Visit

Visited the Gardening Scotland Show at Ingleston yesterday. There were many excellent show gardens and displays. Two in particular caught my eye. The first was a garden dedicated to the War Dogs that had served from the Western Front in the first World War to Helmand province in Afghanistan.

The second in the Floral Hall from Alnwick Gardens was a display of poisonous plants complete with a spooky coffin. The caged plant above is Cannabis Sativa, although for the show it was actually artificial as it requires a licence to grow it, and their licence only allows them to grow it at the Alnwick Garden. Last year I had to dig up and destroy a cannabis plant in my garden which was growing under the bird feeder, presumably dropped from the bird seed mixture.

A second cage (on the right in the photo) contained khat (Catha edulis), although again the plant was probably artificial. Khat is a flowering plant native to the Horn of Africa  and the Arabian Peninsula. Among communities from these areas, khat chewing has a history as a social custom dating back thousands of years.
Khat contains a stimulant  cathionine  which is similar to amphetamine. Chewing it can make people feel more alert but it can also cause insomnia, heart problems and feelings of anxiety and aggression. In June 2014 khat became a controlled class C drug in the UK.

A Ghoulish Tree Trunk

Dead trees like this one in the Kemback Parkland can look very sculptural. Not sure what species of tree it was. There appeared to be another tree growing right round the trunk, whether off-shoots from the original tree or a different one altogether, not sure.

It was the shapes on the trunk that were amazing. They looked like distortions of noses, eyes and mouths.

Kemback Parkland Ponds

As well as the house and walled garden, there was a chance to walk round the extensive parkland at Kemback on the open day, yesterday. There was a woodland walk with some wonderful trees, but I particularly liked the interconnecting ponds. The largest of the lower ponds was very photogenic.

 Water lilies flowering on the lower ponds.

The upper ponds. There were flashes of bright blue damselflies as they hovered over the ponds but unfortunately they were too active for me to get a photo.

 Yellow irises flowering at the edge of the ponds.

The little stream that runs down through the woodland to feed the ponds.



Scotland's Gardens - Kemback House and Gardens

Spectacular borders in the walled garden.

The gardens and parkland at Kemback house were open today for the first time under Scotland's Garden scheme. It was a beautiful warm and sunny day, probably the best of the summer so far.

The head of the fountain that feeds the rill that runs through the walled garden. The rill is planted with shade and moisture loving ferns and white flowers.

 Statue at the edge of the woodland.

Kemback House. The tour of the house, which included some amazing period and contemporary paintings, sculpture and ceramics, was very well worthwhile and a chance to see round a house not usually open. The house and gardens at Kemback date back to the 15th century when they were owned by the Archbishop of St Andrews and the University.

Fife Diamond Garden Festival - Day 3

Flower meadow at Barham, a garden at Bow of Fife, 4 miles West of Cupar. Couldn't resist buying a few plans at the plant sale.

 Ferns in the woodland garden at Barham

A corner of the garden which was open in South Street, St Andrews. It is an example of a Lang Rigg, a historic madieval strip of land.

Finished by going for tea in the grounds of St LeonardsSchool. There was a pipe band playing, and below a tree was planted to mark the Diamond Jubilee.

Fife Diamond Garden Festival - Day 2

Blue poppies (Meconopsis Sp.) at Strathmore Cottage, Drumeldrie.

Last weekend there were 12 gardens open for the Fife Diamond Garden Festival. They were all open to raise money for charity. Only managed to visit half of them. Saturday morning walked along the disused railway line and then up the track between the fields to Strathmore Cottage at Drumeldrie, which is just east of Upper Largo. A lovely cottage garden covering a wide area, with lots of interconnecting parts.

Mixed coloured Meconopsis.

A quirky wooden sculpture.

Tesses House and Garden.

In the afternoon drove to Teasses which is on the road to Ceres from Largo. The weather had improved and things were drying out, however, still managed to get stuck entering the carpark and had to be towed up the hill.

  

 

 

Bluebell wood at Teasses.

 The pond at Teasses.

The ravine garden.

A Rainy Day at Cambo

Would normally wait for a sunny day to visit Cambo but Friday was the first day of the Fife Diamond Garden Festival and had tickets to collect from Cambo for the other two days.

Whatever the weather, there is always something to see - the woodland provided shelter from the drizzle and was dominated by wild garlic on both sides of the path.

Missed the tulip festival this year and most of the tulips had gone over, but this border still looked good.

On previous visits the Cambo Burn had been flowing gently to the sea, however, on this occasion, after three days onf heavy rain, it was rushing downstream.

Crarae Garden

Crarae Garden is set close to the banks of Loch Fyne 10 miles south of Inveraray. Planted with trees and shrubs from all over the temperate world including a fine collection of rhododendrons, it is centred on the Crarae Burn. The planting around the cascading burn was designed to give the feel of a Himilayan Valley. It has been managed by the National Trust for Scotland since 2001. There are fine views over Loch Fyne from some of the high viewpoints in the garden. Unfortunately, there was a lot of damage to the less sheltered parts of the garden in the winter storms, so most of the footpaths to the best viewpoints were closed at this visit, although due to be opening again soon.

The Crarae Burn tumbles through a rocky gorge in a series of cascades.

Bamboo arch at Crarae.

Daffodil display.

In the grounds there are the remains of a Neolithic tomb. The Crarae Chambered Cairn is of a type known as Clyde cairns, which are found mostly in the areas surrounding the Firth of Clyde. Such cairns have rectangular burial chambers, which are usually set at the wider end of an elongated cairn and are often approached through the centre of a ‘forecourt’ area defined by a stone facade.

Glasgow Museums state that they have  a collection of over 3,200 objects from Crarae Chambered Cairn,  which date from between 4230 and 3370 BC, in the Neolithic period.

The collection comprises 2,902 pieces or bags of marine shells and land snails, 267 pieces or bags of human bones and teeth, two flint arrowheads, 69 pieces or bags of stone and charcoal, eight potsherds and one stone disc. It also contains two medieval rotary quernstone fragments, five pieces of flint, nine quartz pieces and flakes, two fragments of metal, three pieces of vitrified fuel ash and 12 bags of soil samples. Analysis of the human teeth in the collection has revealed evidence of the burial of at least two people – one was aged 14–20 years, and the other 25–35 years old. Additional bone evidence indicates that a further adult, of at least 20 years old, was possibly buried in the chamber.