"Scottish Snippets"

"Colour Supplement"

31 May 2008

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. This separate "colour supplement" displays some more pictures, in a larger format. Here is this week's crop of Scottish views!


The "Scotland's Garden Scheme" is a charity that raises funds for other worthy charities by facilitating the opening of large and small gardens of horticultural interest throughout Scotland to the public. The gardens include Scotland's finest, are mostly privately owned and are normally inaccessible to the public at other times. Ross Priory, pictured here, is at the southern end of Loch Lomond and it had its open day earlier this month. Ross Priory is an 1812 Gothic addition to a house created in 1693. Now owned by Strathclyde University, it is now commonly used for meetings and entertainment by staff and graduates - as well as being a popular wedding venue.


This is the view of Loch Lomond (and Ben Lomond) from the grounds of Ross Priory. As you can see, the weather on the open day was cloudy, but it was dry and bright - what more can you ask for in Scotland in the spring?


There were lots (and lots) of rhododendrons and azaleas at Ross Priory, in every colour imaginable. But these have figured frequently in this Colour Supplement on other occasions, so here is an unusual variety of Magnolia - Magnolia Wilsonii.


Viburnum comes in a huge diversity of foliage, fruit and flowers and this one produces its blooms on long stems that march along its branches like soldiers on parade!




The small, pea-like flowers of Broom (Cytisus is its botanical name) are most often seen in yellow. But they also come in cream, orange or red, or a mixture of red and yellow. The graceful branches are covered in these bright flowers and the tiny leaves don't get in the way at all.


Ross Priory is a popular venue for weddings and/or wedding receptions and clearly there had been such an event on the day before the gardens open day. The garland of flowers round one of the pillars to the entrance to Ross Priory, with Loch Lomond in the background, must have made life easy for the wedding photographer!


The bare branches of the large deciduous Halesia become covered in the spring by clusters of white, bell-shaped flowers, about an inch across. Understandably, Halesia's popular name is the "Snowdrop Tree".


Some varieties of Cornus (Dogwood) are often grown for their brilliant winter stem colour, but others such as this one produce delightful white flowers. Later in the year, the fruits appear - looking like a genetically modified strawberry, which went badly wrong!

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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