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| Cawdor Gardens |
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Introduction | The Walled Garden | The Flower Garden | The Wild Garden | Auchindoune Gardens
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| The Flower Garden |
The Flower Garden lies to the south of the castle and was laid out c. 1710 by the Thane of Cawdor's brother, Sir Archibald Campbell, who was at that time period manager of the family Estates in Scotland. The Thane himself had, as a young man been sent to Poitiers, Blois and Paris to study law and fencing (an interesting combination), and that sojourn may be the explanation for the French influence in the formal design of the garden.
In any case by 1725, Sir Archibald had completed his work and could boast that he had 'levelled a considerable piece of ground a part whereof was a deep morass and the rest a hill, or which he has made a handsome garden where all sorts of fruit grow that are in Scotland.' How modern landscape gardeners would have relished the bog and mound! Of these original fruit trees a few remain, gnarled and venerable, as do the clipped yew hedges which in summer are festooned with the pretty little climber, 'Scottish Flame Flower' with its scarlet trumpets, although there is nothing Scot's about it apart from its liking the climate, as it came from Chile.
The Lady Cawdor of the day designed the oval lavender-borders enclosing rose-beds, in 1850. Her plan shows long rows of gooseberries, to which the family was addicted.
In the 19th century, the family generally stayed at Cawdor only during the shooting season from August to October and so the garden was developed to produce a late show of blossom in long herbaceous borders, which are at their best from July to September. Those borders still exist, but the season for colours and scents has been extended by the introduction of bulbs, flowering trees and shrubs and plants selected for good autumn tints and attractive fruits.
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Originally designed for enjoyment in late summer and autumn, this garden's season has been extended to give pleasure from early spring, with bulbs, bedding-plants, herbaceous borders, ornamental trees and shrubs all providing delight.
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