I've loved Monkey Puzzle Trees 'Araucaria araucana' aka Chilean Pine, since I saw my first one as a child. It was possibly the one in the garden of a magnificent house overlooking Loch Ard, when I was a twelve year old at Doonans Camp at Aberfoyle. Unlike a lot of my early loves, this one has remained.
We are lucky to have a wide selection of mature specimens and seedlings at Balloch Castle Country Park and I see them most days. It was pretty dull today and I was trying to take photographs looking up the trunk with varying degrees of success. Though not a huge fan of black and white, given the conditions today I thought this one gained something and gives a timeless, elegant feel.