Our Saturday afternoon walk took us through the Balbirnie Estate woodland in Fife, which in these pandemic times is much busier than it used to be. There are lots of snowdrops looking their best at the moment and I thought they would be visible in the photos but obviously I need to do a close up of them as even I can hardly see them, and I know where they are!
The path leads to a wooden bridge which is perfect for playing Poohsticks, if you’re that way inclined.
A bit further on there’s a good view of the surrounding park and farmland which was once part of the estate which was owned by the Balfour family. A train dashed across the middle of the scene but I didn’t manage to get it in my photo, it’s behind the trees to the left.
You can see lots more photos of the parkland here. The landscaping of the estate began in 1779, you can read a bit about it here.
Back home in my garden the most colourful spot at the moment is the pot of dwarf Iris reticulata (Joyce). There are some planted directly into the ground but they haven’t appeared yet.
I love blue flowers and those are so cheerful. A lot of our snow has melted but I am sure it’s not over and I hope no flowers start to appear, only to get frozen. I barely planted any bulbs last fall so I am not sure what will actually bloom.
Constance,
We fairly often get snow at Easter but it doesn’t hang around for long. I hope we avoid that this year. My tulips are coming up, with all the rain we had in 2020 I’m quite surprised that the bulbs haven’t rotted.
What a lovely place to walk. The blue of your irises is gorgeous!
Stefanie,
That blue is so vibrant, a similar shade to gentians which I tried to grow but failed, they just don’t like my soil.
You know that ‘Joyce’ is my favorite. They’re beautiful. I hope mine come up.
Joan,
I love them too. I think this is the third of fourth year I’ve had these same bulbs and I’m sure they’re losing their dwarfism, some seem much leggier than they were previously.
That is a very good Poohsticks bridge. I sincerely hope you played.
Jennifer,
I have played plenty of Poohsticks in my day but not recently, I’ll wait until Isobel is big enough.