It wasn't until we started planning our visit there that we realised just how long it has been since our last visit. Despite planning to go multiple times in the past few years, our last actual visit was in 2021 for my birthday. Miss 4 was Miss Not-Quite-1 back then, so she had no recollection of the place whatsoever; Mr 7 was only 3 and he thought he remembered Benmore, but once we arrived we realised he was thinking of somewhere else.
Benmore Botanic Gardens are a short drive from Dunoon, in Argyll and Bute, and is linked to the Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh. It's home to an avenue of giant sequoias as well as a huge collection of rhododendrons. Entry was £20 total for the Spousal Unit and I; entry for the children was free.
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| The view crossing the bridge, we paddled in the water at that little bay on the right after lunch. |
I'm pretty certain that something happens to you as you get older and wandering around looking at large collections of plants becomes an increasingly enjoyable pastime, I'm sure I didn't enjoy doing this as much when I was younger! I've noticed that other bloggers I follow have come to enjoy gardening and walking more as they get older, so maybe this is something that naturally happens as you age. Maybe there's hope for my own garden and my green fingers wil sprout in the coming decades!
The gardens are still recovering from the damage caused by Storm Éowyn a few months ago, so some paths are closed. Instead of entering the garden over an arching bridge, we crossed the car park and crossed a larger, car bridge to get into the gardens. Due to the closure of some paths, it took me a little while to find my bearings. We let the kids lead the way and they found some metal squirrel signs so we followed those to a squirrel hide. I don't remember going here before, though I think we did visit the pond once before.
I'd intended to visit the Golden Gates and the Fernery. We saw a sign saying that we were 12 minutes walk from the gates, so set off, but whoever made the sign didn't reckon on having an extremely determined and independent one year old. My youngest was dead set on walking so it took us more than twice that long to get there and by that point we figured it was better to head back for our picnic rather than venturing on any further.
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| This little bird was very brave and was perfectly happy with us getting quite close. |
I remember following a similar pattern the first time we went when my son was only about 2.5; we didn't make it to the Fernery until our next visit the following year. As much as I would have liked to have gone on further this time, it was nice to just stretch our legs somewhere a little different. The day was so warm that it felt far more like the middle of summer than the start of April.
Next time we go, I think we'll carry our picnic with us, rather than returning back to the car for it, as that would allow us to spend more time exploring the gardens. The kids found a huge rhododendron to play inside outside Benmore House and I think this would be a perfect spot to sit in to enjoy lunch.
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| Not a cloud in the sky! |
After our wander around the gardens and a very sunny picnic, we had a little paddle in the river, before driving the 20 minutes or so into Dunoon for a bit of retail therapy. I had hoped to visit the wool shop in the town, but it was a Thursday so the shop was closed. I did still manage to come home with a granny square pattern book from a charity shop though, so definitely a successful day out.
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