One flower in a Great Garden.

I never cease to be amazed by the way that flowers develop before unfurling themselves from the tight confines of their bud. I was so amazed by the wonder of it all that while taking this photograph I quite forgot to look at the plant label and so have no idea what species this is! (Now, thanks to Sunflower and Megatonlove, I know that it is an Allium).

Anyway, whatever it is, it is growing in the Great Garden at Pitmedden, a few miles inland from Newburgh on Ythan. This magnificent formal garden, now in the care of the National Trust for Scotland, was originally laid out in 1675 by Sir Alexander Seton, 1st Baronet of Pitmedden. During the second World War the whole garden was given over to food production but in the 1950s the elaborate floral designs were re-created under the guidance of the late Dr James Richardson. Three of the four formal parterres are based on designs used in the gardens at the Palace of Holyrood, Edinburgh in 1647. The fourth is a heraldic design based on Sir Alexander's coat-of-arms.