I’m spending a long weekend with my mother in Badachro in the NW Highlands. The garden here has developed over the last quarter of a century from when Mum & Dad moved in. The first thing they did was to plant over 100 trees to try and create a bit of shelter. The resulting garden at the back has three main areas merging into each other - the bottom is where Mum has an alpine bed, the bird table and the pond as main features; the middle layer has perennials and shrubs leading up into what becomes the woodland garden.

There are two glorious lenten roses which are at their best at the moment in the perennials. I love their hanging heads & particularly like the deep ruby version.

The frogs are still cavorting in the pond with lots of frog spawn already. I spotted some newts today too but didn’t catch them on camera

The mahonia is a survivor - the deer almost destroyed the original plant. Once its head had been chopped of it has re-sprouted and is now rewarding with flowers. The other is hidden away in the wild patch.