First Caley trip of 2018

Last Thursday (7th June) saw the first Caley daytrip of 2018.  We visited two gardens near Dollar. The first garden was the newly restored Japanese Garden at Cowden Castle.  This is a beautiful, tranquil garden which has a very soothing effect on the visitor.  Although much of it is newly planted, it is easy to see that it will become even more lovely as the plants grow and develop. We were given an introduction to the garden by Head Gardener Kate White, who is herself a Caley Council member. This garden was much enjoyed by everyone on the trip and we are very much looking forward to returning in a few years time to see how the garden has developed.  If you were unable to come on the trip, you can see something of the garden on the BBC Landward programme which was broadcast on June 8th.  You will be able to watch it on BBC iPlayer.

After lunch, we drove to the nearby garden at Arndean.  This garden had a very different feel, with a huge variety of Rhododendrons on display. The plants were just going over but still had enough colour to give an entrancing display. Unfortunately, the plants were unlabelled so I can’t tell you which varieties they were, but they were lovely to look at nonetheless. Another garden which is well worth a visit.

The next trip is on 20th June to a couple of gardens in Northumberland – Mindrum Garden and Kirky Cottage Garden.  Full details are on the events page of the website.