It's a murky grey day in Toronto today, so aside for doing some prep work on hors d'oeuvres for tomorrow's soiree, it's a good time to pull a chair up to the hearth and go back through photos from this year. The travel highlight of the year was 3 weeks back in Scotland to visit my family in mid-summer. They were having a particularly cool, wet summer, and so the gardens were not in absolutely peak condition, but coming from the furnace-like conditions of a Toronto summer, it was a wonder to me to see such lush, green abundance everywhere. Nowhere was that more appreciated than on a trip to Pitmedden Gardens, on a particularly action packed castle-viewing day. We had a nice, relaxed stroll through the beautiful parterres, and finished off with an absolutely delicious cup of tea on the terrace. I was particularly delighted by the French chateau-like towers at the corners of the huge protecting walls, the bee-skeps in little niches in the wall to protect the occupants from the elements, and an absolute abundance of espaliers.
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| The protecting walls around the parterres are covered in espaliers - apples and pears |
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| The hedges looked beautiful, although the scars of a couple of harsh winters were evident |
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| A system of large nylon nets provides near invisible, and highly effective, staking for all the herbaceous perennials |
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| Bee skeps are housed in wall niches |
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| magnificent parterres at Pitmedden |
Donald,
ReplyDeleteBest wishes to you and your for 2012! Thank you for your wonderful blog.
Michael
Hi Donald, Loved your post on Pitmedden, such a long time since I visited. terrific pictures. Are you on blotanical? this is where I pick up all the gardening blogs which I comment on, I think you would find it worth while.
ReplyDeleteThanks Alistair. I haven't heard of blotanical - so thanks for the tip. I'll be sure to check it out.
DeleteWelcome to Blotanical. Jean's Garden brought me to your blog. I have fond memories of Pitmedden. We were travelling across Scotland, when the car died. Found an old-fashioned corner mechanic and walked to Pitmedden. Only the framework of the parterre to see. I think they were beginning garden restoration?
ReplyDeleteWhat a story! Glad my post could bring back some happy memories for you. When we were in Pitmedden last July, it was really looking beautiful. The last time I was there was nearly 20 years ago, and the espaliers were just planted....now they are quite mature and they were beautifully covering all the garden walls, and producing quite prolifically.
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