Cambo Estate is famous for its spring-time display of snowdrops, with folk travelling a long way to see them. What I hadn’t realised is that there are also superb gardens, with the 2-acre Victorian walled garden the highlight, surrounded by new prairie and winter garden plantings, as well as the extensive parkland and policy woodlands with their snowdrops.
The walled garden is probably the largest I’ve seen and makes good use of the space. It has been divided up very effectively to give productive areas, bedding, glasshouses, lawns and perennial plantings. The latter were at their peak for our visit.
Throughout the plantings michelmas daisies, Aster sp. were used in profusion to great effect. The taller, looser, smaller flowered types are more to my liking. Grasses also play a dominant role. Some, such as Calamagrostis ‘Karl Foerster’ were already yellowing. Others, including Molinia arundinacea, either the cultivar ‘Windspiel’ or ‘Transparent’, were at their perfect best, dancing playful in the wind. Many Miscanthus were just starting to come into flower. Regardless of their flowering time all will provide a strong, architectural framework within the garden throughout the winter months.
The new prairie garden just outside the walls held a similar range of plants but used to produce a very different, more naturalistic effect.
Open 10-5 daily and located in the East Neuk of Fife, a visit is highly recommended.
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