This was my favorite castle of the trip. The castle was incredibly interesting – lots of different collections, and the family themselves were fascinating. So definitely enjoyed the inside tour, but per usual, my favorite part was the gardens. They’re actually fairly modern because they were turned over to agriculture over the two world wars, with a couple other failed market garden attempts in the meantime. But they’ve been restored, and were just such a joy to wander around. This is where I definitely cemented my need to find and grow some hybrid columbine.
But what will forever stick out in my mind is the wildflowers I found in and around that garden. My day was absolutely made finding marsh orchids around the pond. I was wandering around, giggling like a crazy person, snapping pictures. And then I met my wildflower spirit grandmother. Her name is Libby. We were outside the walls of the Hercules Garden, heading back to the car, when we came across an elderly woman holding a shepherd’s crook, standing at the side of the path so we could go by. P said hello (because he always says hello), and asked her if she’d seen anything interesting today. To which she replied “Yes, if you like unusual plants.” I’m pretty sure I squeed.
Libby comes to that part of the path every year to check on a particular orchid that blooms there this time of year. It’s saprophytic (aka, no chlorophyll), and she’d only found a rather small specimen this year. While we were comparing orchid notes, P found her a better one back in the tree line. So we were both happy after that meeting, and that interaction has cemented Blair Castle in my heart forever.
