Scotland Open Garden Scheme

Sunday was cloudy but the sun tried to break through and when it succeeded, coats were taken off as it felt lovely and warm.  After church we decided to take a trip out with our friends to visit an open garden.
We headed north up the A9 towards John O Groats .  This is such a scenic route hugging the coastline.  Approx 40 miles from the top of the country, we came to the entrance of the hunting estate.  I didn't know quite what to expect as we drove up a one track road through woods towards the parking area.  It was £4 each entrance fee but it goes to charity and I noticed they had chosen the RNLI.  

The white house on the hill in this pic was where we were.  We didn't see this main house whilst there as the gardens were next to another house on the estate.

Hidden behind these huge walls was a lovely garden

My cats would love all this cat mint!


Our friends and their dog.  Just look at the lovely honeysuckle.



I have no idea what this plant is but it has such beautiful leaves.


This is one of the nicest gardens I've seen since I've lived in the Highlands and I enjoyed taking photos of all the flowers.
I have just included a few here.

A mound of flowering thyme


The trees are covered in lichen because the air is so clean.

OH strolling along




I checked out the veg patch.  The lettuce, leeks and onions seemed to be 
Doing well but the chard, carrots Etc. seemed to be struggling.  I looked in the poly tunnels as well and even the runner beans were only just flowering.  It seems to be a tough year for growing vegetables as a few gardeners have mentioned it even when they have a poly tunnel.  We need more sun!

There were koi carp in the pond too.
After checking out the plants for sale we headed off to the community centre for tea and cake!

The hall was in a lovely position overlooking the sea.  Afterwards we headed home but it was a lovely afternoon out.

Terri X

















Comments

  1. Amy at love made my homeJuly 28, 2015 at 8:59 AM

    It is always so lovely to go and look round a beautiful garden isn't it! xx

    ReplyDelete

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