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Crarae Garden
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Autumn
Crarae is one of the finest gardens in Scotland for autumn colour. A huge variety of maples, birches and rowans from around the world provide an unparalleled display in September and October. Lesser known plants such as Disanthus cercidifolius ensure that the shrub layer is just spectacular. Berries abound too, and are a great attraction for native and visiting birds. Autumn is perhaps the best time to see our red squirrels as they busy themselves stocking up with food for the coming winter.
Winter
There is much to see in the depths of winter, whether it is the brightly coloured bark of bare deciduous trees, and winter flowering shrubs such as our spectacularly large witchhazels, or perhaps the season itself, creating wonderful icy sculptures in and around the Crarae burn. You will find some early rhododendrons in flower too, a taste of things to come.
Spring
Several hundred different species and hybrids of rhododendron and azaleas make spring one of the most popular times to visit. The main flush of flower explodes in late April, when the garden is simply stunning everywhere. The display continues into June and July, and many of the later flowering varieties have wonderful scent such as Rhododendron decorum, and R.maddenia subsp. crassum. Crarae has some of the largest and most spectacular examples of the Chilean flame tree, Embothrium coccineum, smothered from top to toe in fiery red blossom in late spring. Under everything is a superb groundcover of beautiful unfurling fern fronds. Thanks to the benign Argyll climate, Crarae has one of the most extensive fern populations in the UK, ranging from huge golden scaled male ferns, to the tiny filmy ferns, growing alongside introduced species such as the magnificent Tasmanian tree fern, Dicksonia antarctica.
Summer
There is a mass of expanding new foliage in early summer, making Crarae an artists’ paradise as textures and hues change with the passing weeks. It is also a time to appreciate the true genius behind the naturalistic planting of exotic and alien trees and shrubs that fit so well into the Loch Fyne landscape. Later, huge Eucryphias flower en masse, along with a multitude of Hydrangeas and Buddleias, the latter smothered at times with different butterflies. The summer months provide a great opportunity to marvel at the national collection of southern beeches and many different Eucalyptus species including the British champion E. coccifera from Tasmania.
You may be fortunate enough to see deer with fawns; you will almost certainly see a huge variety of birds, including tree creepers, ravens, woodpeckers, dippers and birds of prey such as buzzards, sparrow hawks and peregrine falcons, which nest nearby.
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- Crarae bridges close to completion
It will be even easier for visitors to stroll around the grounds in the stunning Crarae Garden by Inveraray soon, as a project to upgrade paths and walkways is completed. more>
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