Last week I was on a bit of a garden-visiting tour of Scotland, starting with a meeting at Fingask Castle at Rait where ‘Alice in Wonderland’ topiary is the order of the day. We also had a guided tour from owner Andrew Murray, who took us down the dell to St Peter’s medieval wishing well.

It was just 5 minutes down the road to Glendoick Gardens which is only open to the public in April and May – boasting a unique collection of rhododendrons and magnolias in the woodland garden it was definitely a sight to behold.

The perfumed Rhododendron Tinkerbird, a compact hardy hybrid was absolutely divine – sadly it’s been selling itself so well by wafting its wares all over the place that there were none to be bought in the garden centre but I have got my name on the waiting list.

There were flowers and colour absolutely everywhere and it was a real pleasure to wander around.

The garden centre and cafe at Glendoick, which are open all year are great – the sort of place you can spend a small fortune, and with a big smile on your face!