haddo house

grey and drizzly, but that's never stopped our family from going to gardens when we're on holiday! tho i do admit i prefer the summer version, all sunshine and hotness!

we started today at pitmedden with the parterres (formal planting, in all sorts of designs). nice, but there's nowhere to stand to get a proper view - and the newly created one... *shudder* back to the drawing board! and a general 'well, it's nice enough, but...' feel.

thankfully after lunch we hit haddo house which was everything pitmedden wasn't. to start with, it's a proper estate, with woodland walks, buildings (tho we didn't go into the house) and properly designed so that every way you look there is A View with something to catch the eye. and then there was the raised area in front of the house, as seen in the pic. fabulous! i was in love with it the minute we walked up the steps and saw both the striking colour in the grey sept weather and also the fact they've used dahlias as bedding plants! how cool is that? ok, i'm a flower geek, but trust me, it's very unusual - and hugely effective. i do like a nice dahlia :-) previous frayed tempers were soothed with several hours here.

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backblipped for yesterday, if you're interested, btw.