"Scottish Snippets"

"Colour Supplement"

Each week the Rampant Scotland Newsletter includes a number of photographs which illustrate the weather, flora and fauna of the current week around Scotland. There are so many such graphics worth including that a separate "colour supplement" is created so as not to totally overload the Newsletter. Here is this week's crop!


Hollyhocks come in a range of different colours, growing in some cases to a height of ten feet and with individual flowers more than four inches across. This pale yellow example was photographed growing in the Italian Garden at Glamis Castle.


Many Scottish castles have long drive-ways leading to them - designed in the days of horse and carriage to impress visitors. In the days of the motor car, we may travel along them more quickly - but the route still produces a strong impression. This photo was taken well down the main access to Glamis Castle in Angus, showing the hills rising behind.


Looking like a Walt Disney icing-sugar encrusted fairy-tale, Glamis Castle was originally a 14th century keep which has been extended extensively over the years. In the 15th century, the lands were held by Sir John Lyon, Chancellor of Scotland who married the daughter of King Robert II. The castle is still held by the Lyon family, now elevated to the Earls of Strathmore and Kinghorne. The 9th Earl became a Bowes-Lyon when he married a Yorkshire heiress. The late Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother comes from this family. The statue in the foreground of this picture is of King Charles I.





Regular readers of this Colour Supplement will know about my constant battle to ensure that it is the birds and not the local grey squirrels that benefit from the nuts and seeds put out each day. But I knew that there was no way of defending the coconut filled with peanut fat and seeds and accepted that "Sammy" would get his share - while showing off his acrobatic prowess!


The Italian Garden at Glamis Castle has an air of serenity with lots of pastel colours and formal fan-shaped parterres, surrounded by yew hedges. The entrance gates commemorate the 80th birthday of the late Queen Mother - when they were put up, nobody knew that she live to be over 100.


The small, closely-packed flower heads of this Achillea in the garden at Glamis Castle is attractive to bees and wasps - such as the one in this photo, which merges very well with the colours of the Achillea.

If you want to look back at earlier editions of this Colour Supplement, there is an Index Page





Where else would you like to go in Scotland?








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