Gardens Too

Returning to yesterday's wander round the Royal Botanical Gardens of Edinburgh, we continue our stroll around the grounds.

It's sometimes easy to forget to look down as well as up when walking round a garden, but when you do remember, you can be rewarded by the most magnificent sights. Such was this diminutive Gentian, which more than made up for it's size, with the richest blue you could imagine in a flower.

Before heading inside the glasshouses, we took in the Alpine houses.

Here too, colours abounded - but in very small doses.

Tight little cushions of green, supported tiny flowers of great beauty and delicacy - and most from plants which would easily fit in the palm of your hand.

Time to head inside for a look at the Palm House and Glass Houses. Hot and steamy in some of the houses, the flowers were rather more exotic.

Even those plants with names with which we think we are familiar, had a decidedly unfamiliar form. This for instance, is an Impatiens (Busy Lizzie).

Strange and colourful...

and getting hotter and steamier.

Hanging from other plants and supports, 'waterfalls' of Tillandsias or Air Plants seemingly living on nothing but air and fog.

Below all this exotica, Orchids flowered in the dim light.

I think this splendid specimen was a Paphiopedilum and what a stunner!

Much more to come from the glasshouses tomorrow...