Iconic trees

The Giant Redwood avenue in Benmore Gardens as Spring begins to make itself felt. There are clumps of daffodils at the foot of the huge, soft-barked trees; some of the rhododendrons have been in flower for the best part of a month already, the birds are singing their heads off and the gardens are open again after the winter closure. 

I can never visit this famous part of the gardens without memories of children rushing ecstatically under the trees - my own children, and their children after them. They were so small, the trees so tall ...