Crathes Castle and Garden
Just a few miles down the road from Drum is Crathes.This garden was unbelievable. I was overwhelmed by it, and this is not at all a criticism of it. It was just so incredibly rich. Only out of concern that I would run out of disk space and battery power did I stop taking pictures.
The finely chisled hedges reached 17 feet. Everywhere we turned we saw amazing contrasts of foliage and blooms, swatches of color, interesting shapes, complete little secret areas. I was in awe.
We never even entered the woodland garden. We could see the path winding off beside a placid stream. You could stay in Banchory for a week and visit this garden every day. In fact, I would like to do that.
The "a" in Crathes is short, as in "hat," and the second syllable is voiced. Glamis, on the other hand, is just one syllable: Glahmz.
What a wonderful castle is Crathes,
Where the air is as warm as your bath is,
Quite unlike Glamis,
Where you cannot grow palms,
And the wind is quite sharp where the path is.
Banchory is pronounced BANK-ery.