Apple Blossom

We spent the afternoon at Tyninghame House, whose grounds were open under Scotland's Gardens scheme.

Tyninghame House, A-listed, is a most impressive red sandstone mansion, dating from 1829, on a site of a C6 monastery attributed to St Baldred, and the ruins of the chapel lie in the grounds: these are included in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland, the national listing of significant gardens.

It is impossible to sum up in one photo the extent of the gardens, which are so well tended but my abiding memory will be of the profusion, (in several places, including an entire covered walk) of apple trees, of which this is one. Some specimens appeared to be quite old and I wondered what varieties were there.

Another lasting impression is of a colony of honey bees in the vast walled garden - happily nipping in and out of a crack in the mortar, to their nest in the wall itself, and being allowed to remain there, with informal warning notices for visitors to be aware.

The gardens will be open again on 29th June when, I am assured, today's spectacle of rhododendrons and azaleas will be surpassed by summer flowers.