In the October sunshine, few things can be more enjoyable than a stroll through a woodland garden, where the leaves are ablaze with autumn colour and cascading burns provide a gentle soundtrack.
On the banks of Loch Fyne in Argyll, the magnificent Japanese maples of Crarae Garden offer a display of colour to take your breath away.
These are joined by an array of exotic shrubs such as disanthus cercidifolius, which has heart-shaped crimson leaves, and many rowan species with heavy clusters of berries in show-stopping red and orange.
Beneath your feet, low-growing cushions of Chinese gentians lift their exquisite blue trumpets to the sun.
Home to the national collection of southern beech trees, Crarae is a Himalayan-style garden radiating from a steep-sided gorge.
Planting was started in 1912, by Grace, Lady Campbell, and her work was continued by her son, Sir George, during the 1920s.
Their legacy is described by Crarae’s gardener, Nigel Price, as “the finest example of an inland woodland garden in Britain”. In autumn, Crarae is certainly one of the most brilliant jewels in Scotland’s crown.
A little farther south, close to the River Clyde, Geilston Garden is weaving its own tapestry of autumn colour. Butter-yellow leaves of acer cappadocicum contrast with the rich reddish-bronze hamamelis, or witch hazel, and a deep evergreen backdrop is provided by shapely Himalayan and Korean pines.
There, like Crarae, secluded paths lead you alongside the waterfalls and lush, mossy banks of a tumbling burn.
Geilston’s wonderful walled garden is still lit with a spectrum of colour: scarlet-tinged mahonia, orange helenium and crocosmia, golden rudbeckia, pink nerines and purple asters are offset by the huge white flowerheads of hydrangea paniculata, while dahlias and chrysanthemums glow like the embers of a summer fire.
Now that temperatures are dropping, the leaves will respond quickly with a burst of brilliance.
Whether you love gardening or photography, or you enjoy the thrill of walking through glorious woodlands, don’t miss your chance to experience one of nature’s most breathtaking spectacles.
Crarae Garden
Where: On the A83, 10 miles south of Inveraray.
When: Garden open all year, daily 9.30am to sunset. Visitor Centre open until October 31, Thursday to Monday, 10am to 5pm.
Admission: Free for National Trust for Scotland members. Adult £6.50, family £16.50, one parent £11.50, concession £5. Because the ground is on a steep slope, only the lower garden is accessible for wheelchairs.
Geilston Garden
Where: On the A814 at the west end of Cardross, 18 miles north-west of Glasgow.
When: From March 23 to October 31 daily, from 9.30am-5pm.
Admission: Free for National Trust for Scotland members. Adult £6.50, family £16.50, One Parent £11.50, Concession £5. Visitors in wheelchairs are advised that some parts of the garden have steps, slopes and gravel paths.
Contact: For details of all NTS gardens, visit www.nts.org.uk/visitgardens