"Scottish Snippets"

"Colour Supplement"

10 February 2007

Each week the Rampant Scotland Newsletter includes a number of photographs which illustrate the weather and the seasons, plus the flora and fauna of the current week around Scotland. There are often so many such graphics of Scottish subjects worth including that this separate "colour supplement" is created where some of the best pictures can be displayed in a larger format. Here is this week's crop of Scottish views!

The first snowdrops came into flower towards the end of last month in central Scotland (there was a snowdrop picture in the Scottish Snippets on 27 January) but it has taken a few weeks into February for the carpets of snowdrops to appear. This is the first year of VisitScotland's Scottish Snowdrop Festival has taken place (between 1st February and 11 March). Over 60 locations - mainly gardens and woodlands - have been lined up to participate.





These snowdrop pictures were taken in Colzium Lennox Estate in North Lanarkshire. The walled garden there is well worth a visit at any time of the year, but they have a particularly good display of a wide variety of different types of spring snowdrops.

Hamamelis (also known as "witch hazel") is one of the valuable shrubs that flowers in winter time, producing its strange, spidery petals in bare branches even in very cold weather. These flowers usually have a good, sweet scent.





The delicate flowers of Iris Reticulata seem quite large on the screen, but are in reality quite small, only about an inch across.

Whenever you see a shrub with pink or white flowers in winter time in central Scotland, the chances are that it will be one of the many varieties of Viburnum. The flowers of this one at Colzium Lennox Estate stand out against the blue sky that has been such a feature of the weather this week. The picture was taken last Saturday.


We've all heard of the "last rose of summer" but this is probably the "last rose of winter". Despite there being lots of mild weather this winter, it is still surprising to find a rose still in bloom and without any signs of frost damage. Being in a sheltered spot in the gardens of Finlaystone Country Estate probably helped.

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?








Separator line