Back to Baddinsgill Garden

What a difference a day makes. Where yesterday it was cold enough to have both our central heating and the multi-fuel stove on the go, today we were able to walk around outside without coats and with sunglasses. It's meant to warm up even more as the week goes on! We made the most of this glorious sunshine to visit Baddinsgill Gardens again . It's a glorious large one, originally started back in 1912 and still in the hands of the same family that began to plant the trees on this site. It's only about 10 minutes from where we stay and was open today to raise money for The Margaret Kerr Unit appeal at the Borders General Hospital.

The trees in Baddinsgill are most impressive, specially with the sun shining through them. The above picture as well as the one below were close contenders for my blip today but in the end I loved the photograph at the very top best. Probably because that blue sky has been such a rare sight so far this year!  

Because the spring has been so cold the rhododendrons are very late this year. One of mine is in flower but that' s only because it has been kept in the greenhouse. Most of the ones in Baddinsgill (which is more than 1000 ft up, so even more than our 900!) were not out yet but this beautiful red one more than made up for that.

We found some remnants of last years flower stalks that had been cut back and partly burned. The texture was amazing. And the above close-up looks quite other worldly to me. Like this was part of a coral reef or something equally exotic.

And finally we left the garden to go for a circular walk over the nearby  Baddinsgill reservoir (built in 1928) and along the country lanes back to our car and this is a view of some eggs we found in the middle of the path on top of the nearby reservoir.  John thinks they belong to an oyster catcher, but there was no sign of a mother bird around. I could not resist taking a quick picture but we left as soon as possible so that the bird could return.

It was so wonderful to wander around in the sunshine enjoying the views of water, sky and garden, alongside the babbling Lyne river. Hopefully there will be many more garden visits from now on in summer weather!