"Atholl Palace is a wonderful place to visit. The staff are very helpful and polite, nothing is a problem! The food is amazing and the rooms are made up daily. This is great for either a weekend break or stay for a week. Great for couples or families. The spa is also brilliant and relaxing. Book now and stay, you won't be disappointed!"
June 2011
Warm sun is good for the soul, and pretty necessary for plants too, so both the gardeners and the young vegetable plants have been suffering a bit over the last month due to the lack of warmth and sunshine. A visitor from abroad once said to me “the Scottish winter isn’t so bad, you expect it, it’s the summer that can be difficult when the sun doesn’t shine”!
Even mentioning the above might, hopefully, trigger a spectacular heat wave and all will be forgotten but it would be welcome as the annual and perennial plants (and the hanging baskets) need a boost. Young vegetables are particularly susceptible to a check as “bolting” can often be the result. Bolting being when they rush to produce seed rather than put their energies into producing something nice for us to eat. Grass doesn’t mind the lack of sun, as long as there is moisture and modest heat then the grass will grow and this it has done over the last few weeks. The putting green, like many greens on many courses, suffered badly throughout the long winter but it has recovered remarkably well and is in good condition now. Cut and feed, cut and feed.....makes for a successful lawn or green. This year I am cutting it a bit higher than last, 6mm rather than 4mm, so it should be a little slower which will help when you miss the cup on a downhill hole!
Plants for shade and bog don’t need so much sunshine, of course, so in the Japanese Garden the Candelabra primulas are putting on a lovely show. We started off a few years ago with several species primula, of differing colour, but they hybridise well as they spread so the shades of primula on show grow each year. Deep red is still my favourite.
In the herb garden the herbaceous border has filled out well, alliums and iris are in full flower and the gracious delphiniums are about to bloom. It’s a lovely place to sit and enjoy the smells and sounds of a quiet garden. We only cut it once a week so the chances of being disturbed by a noisy mower are limited. Come along and enjoy it.
And finally the mallard drakes are at peace. After a spring chasing and harrassing the ducks the "boys" can be found lying quietly on the lawns or at the water's edge. They are moulting, something many birds do once the mating and breeding season is over,but the ducks haven't produced many young, the crows have seen to that. Innes
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