The bells, the bells!

The bells are the beautiful flowers of Crinodendron hookerianum, a shrub from Chile. It's always been a favourite of mine, even if it's not absolutely hardy everywhere. It's fine on the west of Scotland and this large specimen is growing at Glencruitten House. Although the estate is rather degraded, there are little pockets of shrubs throughout  the woods, particularly rhododendrons, and this crinodendron grows near the Walled Garden in a little  dell of interesting ferns.

I was back again today to do the final weeding and now my beds sit in an area of (almost) total weedlessness - see extra!

Quote of the Day:

John Charles Polanyi - "A wise man in China asked his gardener to plant a shrub. The gardener objected that it only flowered once in a hundred years. 'In that case', said the wise man, 'plant it immediately' ."