Threave Garden is part of the Threave Estate and lies off the A75 Dumfries to Stranraer road, 1 mile from Castle Douglas. There is a lot to explore and it has a particularly large collection of northern hemisphere species, planted in the rock gardens, island beds, ornamental borders and woodland. It is also home to the School of Heritage Gardening where students learn practical skills from the head gardener and help to transform the 65 acre site.
(click to enlarge and scroll through the gallery)
Mask in the wood
Phlomis russeliana
Paeonia lactiflora ‘Bowl of Beauty’
Red Squirrel
To the walled garden
Tools of the trade
Through the borders
In the Sculpture Garden
Woodland Garden
Rhubarb in the Walled Garden
Herbs
Herb Garden
Granite sculptures
The Sunken Garden
To the Sunken Garden
Rosa-Wisley-2008-‘Ausbreeze’
Lily in the Glasshouse
Ornamental Gate
Eucalyptus
The Mushroom Shelter
Rose Terrace
Working hard
Cornus contraversa ‘Variegata’
Lily Pond
Galloway cattle in the play area
Asphodeline lutea
Dog Roses
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Woodland Garden
Limnanthes douglasii
Earth laughs in flowers 
That fantastic variety…it looks a great place for a stroll. 🙂
It was a very pleasant stroll – we thought it may rain so the house was an option, but it didn’t so we explored the grounds. The wildlife from the bird hide was unexpected.
Unexpected (pleasant) surprises are best!
Your poppy shot is lovely, cool sculpture and great plants! Phlomis is a plant I’m very fond of, it’s one of those plants that makes me ask why? how? Just gorgeous 🙂
I used a soft focus on the poppy shot – it already had a burred foreground so I just enhanced it a bit. And Phlomis is one of those plants that looks great in the autumn and winter with the dried seed-heads – I don’t usually manage to capture it in flower!
RED SQUIRREL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
YES!!!
You can tell how excited I would have been 😉
I have never see one in the wild before – only taken me 60 years 😀
I saw a few in Scotland when I was quite young and was incredibly excited about it then! Let me loose up there with a camera and I’ll be lost to the wilds for days 😉
Where to begin? You’ve captured so many things in wonderful shots – and ID ed them as well. I want to visit – but then perhaps I don’t need to. Your woodpecker is superb, as is your freckled lily, steps, herb garden, mask, etc etc etc. I like the presenation: collage that turns into a slide show – it doesn’t quite work when I try it, maybe because I’m using iPad. Thank you for yet another set of pleasures. It made me wonder about Australian gardens.
I think I probably post too many photos – it takes me days to sort them out, reduce the size, edit them and caption them! Which is why there isn’t a lot of text on this post! Still I think the photos speak for themselves. It is a lovely space where you can easily spend a few hours, and the bird hide was wonderful. Sitting watching the red squirrels trying to grab the nuts, running over the roof and sipping water from the rain barrel (where I got the shot), the woodpecker and lots of birds I can’t identify other than blue-tits!
I’d love to visit some Australian gardens. I know the Botanic Garden in Sydney but I can’t remember visiting any others. There must be some. I shall have to Google 🙂 Still people go to Australia to visit the beaches!
So many gorgeous captures, this a lovely stroll with refreshing views. It’s hard to pick a favourite, but I really like the blurred the poppies. So far, I haven’t seen a red squirrel in England, sad to say. In Norway I never saw a grey one, when I think about it.
Wishing you a lovely afternoon, Jude. I’m back on Bonn, almost drowning in work… 😉
Big hug!
Oh, shame about the work Dina; good time in Norway though? It’s always hard returning to work, after a week you feel as though you’ve never been away. Glad you enjoyed the garden – I rather like those poppies too 🙂