Good Year for the Roses

Drum Castle, photo by Vikingchild

Roses at Drum Castle, photo by Vikingchild

The north-east of Scotland is home to many ancient castles, and yesterday we visited one of them: Drum Castle, about 8 miles west of Aberdeen, just off the road between Peterculter and Banchory. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, blue skies and pretty warm for here (well, it is summer) so we went for a stroll around the gardens. Apparently the Rose Garden peaked on 15th July, lucky for us... One example above.

Now don't get me wrong - I'm not a huge flower buff, and I guess we were lucky to hit it on such a wonderful day when the roses were stunning - but castle gardens are something special. Immaculately maintained and presented, and in this case divided into quarters representing the past 4 centuries. We felt like we were far removed from the business of the city, which I suppose we were; set in open countryside, the castle grounds are very peaceful and picturesque.

The history of the Castle is perhaps for another day - when the weather is not quite so good?