Continuing with the holiday theme (can you tell we have a visitor staying?) – yesterday’s visit was to Achnacloich Gardens near Connel. A real find. We have passed it going back and forth to Oban and always wondered where the sign led to. It is a real West Coast gem of a garden with rhododenrons, camelias, azaleas, hostas, gunera and magnificent woodland. After that it was sheer desperation to find a tea shop – everything homemade, including a meringue for the wheat intolerant coeliac. And we still found energy to visit the new garden centre which has opened on the outskirts of Taynuilt. It is the retail offshoot of a well-established commercial grower a few miles away. Three pieris plants found their way into the boot (via the cash point) along with a bag of farmyard manure and some compost.
Now we just have to wait for spring to come back
Our climates must be similar, because we have big old rhodies and azaleas in our yard just about to pop out in all their glory. Our 20-foot white camelia bloomed last month, the most profuse in the ten years we’ve owned the house. Then a bizarre cold snap came, including snow, hail, freezing nights – and the poor camelias turned from lovely white to stained yellow. I’d love to see the woodlands there. In our back lot we have three giant Sequoias that are 87 years old. I love these sentinels more than I can say; it’s such an honor sharing this space of earth with them.
We’ll be watching the Kentucky Derby on tv tomorrow. Always exciting!
Lovely to hear about your trees, Lydia, sorry to hear about the camelias.