On the last day of our mini break, with the sun still shining, making our way back to Inverness Airport in the north eastern part of Scotland, we stopped for a while at Cawdor Castle to see their gardens. We had no idea what the garden would be like so were very pleasantly surprised when we stepped through the gate in the wall to find such a stunning garden.
Cawdor Castle
Cawdor Castle dates from the 14th century and is steeped in history, unfortunately we didn’t have time to visit the house as well as the garden as we had to be at the airport for 12 noon. The castle was also made famous by William Shakespeare when he wrote his play “Macbeth”
View through the gate into the flower Garden.
As soon as I stepped through the gate, I knew I was in for a treat.
Formal Area.
At the side there was a little formal area with box hedging, I liked the bedding which matched the paint on the seats. I can admire this sort of gardening, but wouldn’t necessarily want it myself. The flower garden here was started in 1700.
Herbaceous borders.
However the herbaceous borders were a delight and full of inspiration for me for our side border by the field. The owner and family usually stay here from August till October for the shooting and fishing season so the garden is made from plants that flower in this period.
Herbaceous borders.
The Castle is open for other events during the year so the head gardener is now extending the seasons in the garden with spring bulbs followed by early summer flowers.
Herbaceous borders.
While making my notes for plants to buy or grow from seed, I kept coming across flowers that were well and truly over in our garden back home. The season is about a month behind us at the opposite end of the country.
Honeysuckle and Clematis.
My nose led me to a Honeysuckle such a beautiful perfume and entwined in it was such a beautiful, dainty, yellow flowered clematis.
Clematis.
Does anyone know which one it is? The petals were so thin, unlike any other late yellow clematis and the flowers were very small.
Early summer garden.
Another area hidden by hedging is the early summer garden, all the plants were just finishing flowering, but the water feature was beautiful!
Another area was full of annuals.
By the castle walls.
The red of the poppy was set off by the silver foliage around it.
Scottish thistle.
While we were away I had been looking for some thistles, Scotland’s national flower. I was too late for the wild ones, they were all going to seed, but I found a cultivated one in the garden, it was a beauty!
Walled garden.
The walled garden was created in 1600 and until fairly recently was where they grew all their vegetables. Part of this area is now a maze made from holly hedges.
Formal garden.
Next to the maze was another formal area, backed by more herbaceous borders.
Lythrum.
This photo is to remind me to dig up my lythrum where it is in the shade and to split it into 3 or 4 and plant them in the border by the field, in the sun.
Romneya coulteri.
Such a beautiful flower, I wish its roots would stay put though!
Campanula.
This was tall, at least 5ft, but a campanula flowering at this time of year? It was very pretty.
Cawdor Castle.
I thought this part of the castle was lovely, it could almost be in a fairy story with a portcullis and drawbridge where the iron work is today and a princess waiting to be rescued in one of the towers!
We couldn’t explore further, had to go, we had a plane to catch.! The undergardener kept this garden a secret from me until I noticed that all of a sudden, we weren’t following signs to the airport any more, it was a lovely surprise and a wonderful way to end our few days in sunny Scotland!
I do like the idea of different areas of a garden or different borders having one main season of interest, I don’t think it matters (except in a very small garden) that some areas are almost dormant. Scotland is a long way north and their season will have started a long time after yours so some of the plants you noted down may well flower earlier in the season for you. How clever of the Under Gardener to keep the visit a secret.
My own garden is planted so that each area peaks at a different time Christina, I just have the late border by the field to sort out. I think the undergardener thought I deserved a garden after 3 days of trains!
Lovely borders! And that water feauture really makes an impact. The clematis is C. tangutica. I love them as they are very hardy and like climbing through trees and shrubs. And the seedheads are gorgeous too.
Thanks for naming this – one for my wish list. If it can grow near Inverness then Aberdeen should be no problem.
I thought the clematis might be C.tangutica as the sepals were so thin, not the thick orange peel type of other yellows, so thanks for confirming this Cathy. The water feature is stunning, it didn’t matter that plants round it had finished.
Lovely post, Pauline. Another place I must try to visit next time we are up that way. The flowers seem to have kept going longer this year up here, because of all the rain and the lack of sunshine. We are getting the benefit just now and have a good weekend forecast to enjoy it. Those poppies look great against a silver background. I haven’t had much success with them over the last two years, but maybe I will try again with some nice silver foliage for them to grow through.
I can recommend it Annette, I was so impressed with the garden and came home with lots of ideas for the late flowering border by the field. I was very taken with the poppies and thought I would sprinkle some at the foot of my cardoon.
The gardens look amazing. As I dig my own soil (knowing that I am the first person to ever push a spade into the ground in most parts of the yard) it always blows me away to see gardens that have been tended continuously for 400+ years. The herbaceous borders are so delightful: it is so lovely to see late summer colour the gentle light of such Northerly latitudes
It was amazing Matt, so much colour everywhere! Our garden has been ploughed for hundreds of years, it was part of the field at the side of the garden, but my spade was the first to dig most of the soil here, like you have had to do with yours. I came away with plenty of inspiration for the border by the field.
It’s a beautiful garden. And a fairy tale castle to go with it! Interesting to read that it is still lived in too.
It is beautiful Jessica and was wonderfully inspiring for my border by the field.The turrets definitely made it look as though it was in a fairy story, was it Rapuntzel who let down her hair? It amused me when I read that the family just use it for hunting,shooting and fishing!
Impressive! I was completely charmed by the early summer garden, and, yes, I can imagine fairies there!
It was quite a magical place Deb, and the castle made a wonderful backdrop to the garden. I just wish we ‘d had time to look round the castle too, I’m sure it would have been very interesting.
What a wonderful place to visit. I enjoyed the herbaceous border and that water feature is really lovely!xxx
We did enjoy it Dina, it was a lovely surprise for me! The borders were so colourful, just how I want mine by the field to look at this time of year!
What a beautiful garden and also a wonderful surprise. Those borders are great and it’s exactly what I would do if I had a summer hunting castle which I only enjoyed for a few weeks each year. I’d also make sure those hedges and beds were as immaculate as they are… goodness I can’t even imagine the maintainence!
I just finished your mini-vacation posts and the pictures are fantastic. What a wonderful trip and so full of highlights, I can’t believe how much you fit in!
I think my favorite scene is the one castle on the island in the loch, it really takes you back in time and I can’t imagine living back in that day. Thanks so much for sharing.
We had a wonderful few days Frank and yes we did pack in such a lot! The garden was amazing with all the wonderful flowers, the team of gardeners certainly had lots of work with all the hedges to clip! The scenery has never looked so beautiful, the weather was fantastic, we took clothes for cold and wet but didn’t need them! The ancient castle on the loch was built for defence as the clans were always fighting each other, way back then. Instead of the bridge giving access to the castle, there would have been a causeway but with a drawbridge to keep unwelcome visitors out, life was very hard back then!