Not to be confused with ‘high tea,’ which is another thing altogether, afternoon tea conjures up a picture of delicate rectangular sandwiches, tiny fluted tartlets, and tiered cake stands filled with elegant desserts and slices of sponge.

Afternoon teas are a truly wonderful thing when done well, but they are almost always quite expensive, especially for a whole family. If that’s the case for you, don’t despair of celebrating Afternoon Tea Week though, as there’s one aspect that captures the essence of the tradition, is freely available, and not expensive at all— scones!

What is it about scones? Most of us have very set thoughts on how we like to have them. Just ask a few people whether the cream or the jam comes first and see what kind of reaction you get! It’s not just that extremely contentious issue though, even if there’s no cream a lot of us have decided opinions about other aspects, such as whether it should be a fruit scone or a plain scone and what type of jam is best. There’s also the debate on how to pronounce them—does scone rhyme with stone or gone? Yes, scones go deep into our collective psyche.

I have decided not to share my opinion on any of these contentious issues in this article for fear of starting arguments, but there’s one I will stand by—scones are best when eaten outside. I don’t mean as a picnic precisely, although I have nothing against that other than awfulness of tea from a flask, but rather a lovely garden setting. Here’s two of my personal favourite Perthshire locations for this:

Branklyn Garden, Perth

One of the main reasons we first visited this charming garden, apart from to see the blue Himalayan poppies, was my desire to have tea and scones on the terrace. The reality surpassed my imagination, with fabulous views over the rock garden, a fountain playing behind us, charming cups and saucers, and what tasted like homemade jam. It was just blissful and therefore highly recommended.

The Watermill, Blair Atholl

Everything here tastes so much better from being made with flour that’s ground on site using the actual watermill. You can also buy loaves of bread and bags of their own flour. Sitting in the adjacent garden makes for a lovely relaxed experience, surrounded by trees, flowers and birdsong.

Of course, there’s also always the option to get scones from one of the fabulous local bakeries in the area and enjoy them in your own garden, or if, at the opposite end of the scale, you’re after the full luxury afternoon tea experience, we’ve personally never found anything to beat Gleneagles—although Cromlix is also up there.