Blooming marvellous
Malcolm Rogers looks at a new guide to the gardens of Ireland, stays
at Brook Hotel, Dublin, and considers walking and cycling tours along
the riversides of the Emerald Isle.
 By
Malcolm Rogers
Ireland’s benign climate has made it a paradise for plants, both
in the wild and in formal gardens. From Co. Clare with its incredible
mix of tropical and sub-Arctic flowers, to Kerry and south-west Cork where
the wild strawberry tree grows, this is a nature lover’s paradise.
And the committed botanist can just as easily head up North —
Florencecourt (Fermanagh), Castlewellan (Down) and Tollymore (Down) have
all been responsible for introducing species which are now famous worldwide
— the Irish Yew, the Castlewellan Gold, and the dwarf spruce.
But you don’t even have to go to formal gardens to find colours
which even Fabergé would find gaudy — the hedgerows of the
west bleed with fuchsia, while ancient hawthorn and a 101 wild flowers
decorate every hillside throughout the country.
No matter what the season Ireland is ablaze with colour. Lady Dixon
Park in Belfast, with the Lagan running broad and clear beside the rose
gardens, or Westmeath’s Tullynally Gardens with its two ornamental
lakes complete with haughty swans, offer days of languid serenity.
A new book ‘Ireland for Garden Lovers’ by Georgina Campbell
promises “gentle journeys through Ireland’s most beautiful
gardens with delightful places to stay along the way” and it’s
pretty much as good as its word. So let’s make a start on our tour
through Horticultural Hibernia.
I’ve restricted the choice to gardens that are open throughout the
year.
The National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin 9.
Tel + 353 1 837 7596
This is Ireland’s premier botanical and horticultural establishment
boasting some 20,000 species and cultivars. (Quick botany lesson: An Irish
yew is a cultivar.
It’s not a species, but a variety. Another cultivar, you might
be interested to hear, is the Bastard Service tree, a hybrid of Sorbus
X thuringiaca — in other words a cross between a whitebeam and a
rowan.)
The Dublin gardens have a Victorian feel about them, a wonderful olde
worlde atmosphere, and a smashing café and tea shop. Where you
won’t get Bastard Service.
Ardgillan Castle & Demesne, Balbriggan, Co. Dublin
Tel + 353 1 849 2212
A 200-year-old estate with walled garden, garden museum, rose gardens,
orchards and Gothic house. The manicured lawns are bordered by wonderful
glasshouses stuffed with rare specimens.
In the orchard huckleberries grow in a tangle alongside peaches and greengages.
An ancient collection of Irish apple trees produce varieties — which
you’ll never find in supermarkets today — such as Blood of
the Vine (16th century) and Ballysattin (1820).
There’s also a fine collection of plum trees — and here’s
a fascinating fact, trivia fans. Wood from these trees was used in the
making of uilleann pipes when supplies of African blackwood and ebony
ran short in the 19th century.
Even today most pipers will say that plumwood or pearwood pipes give a
more rounded sound to the pipes.
Powerscourt Gardens, Eniskerry, Co. Wicklow
Tel + 353 1 204 6000 www.powerscourt.ie
At the foot of the Great Sugar Loaf Mountain lies one of the greatest
collections of ornamental trees and flowers in Europe.
Giant Sequoias, dwarf copper chestnuts and a bewildering array of rare
shrubs jostle for space amongst azaleas, magnolia and rhododendrons.
Overlooked by the ‘big house’, containing the legendary ballroom
where Princess Grace famously danced the night away, Powerscourt is beautiful,
dramatic, impressive.
Mount Usher Gardens, Ashford, Co. Wicklow
www.mount-usher-gardens.com
The River Vartry courses through these exotic gardens, washing the roots
of trees and shrubs from all parts of the globe.
Set amongst wild woodland, Mount Usher offers ever-changing scenes as
the seasons tramp through the land. The autumn glow of the deciduous trees
is worth the trip alone, and anyone here could take the risk of promising
you a rose garden — for Mount Usher’s is truly a classic of
the form.
Mount Congreve, Kilmeaden, Co. Waterford
Tel + 353 51 384115
These gardens are only open on Thursdays. But if you ever find yourself
in the area of a Thursday you’d be well-advised to swing by Mount
Congreve.
Here you’ll find an unforgettable massed planting of rhododendron,
shrubs and trees in a beautifully located demesne.
Lisselan Gardens, Clonakilty, Co. Cork
Tel + 353 23 33 249
This handsome, 30-acre garden situated on the banks of the River Adrigadeen
boasts wisteria-covered bridges, lily-filled ponds and sparkling arboretums.
Flagstone walks wind round the sides of the river valley to azalea gardens
and a rose pergola. A stroll known as the Ladies’ Mile will have
you gasping at the great banks of rhododendrons, Japanese maple, myrtles,
Judas trees and robinia.
Ireland’s formal gardens are a horticultural spectacle, the product
of some 300 years of planning, planting, pruning, coppicing, shaping,
hoeing and weeding.
The end result of this work is a fascinating collection of ornamental
gardens, lakeside walks, riverside follies and wild woodland.
For the horticulturally aware, some magnificent specimens grow throughout
the country — the tallest tree on the island, a western hemlock,
can be found in the afore-mentioned Castlewellan in Co. Down.
The other behemoths of the tree world, the redwoods, also thrive throughout
the country. Dawn Redwood, although sounding like a Nashville country
singer, is a sequoia from Manchuria in China.
This Chinese takeaway is a thing of wonder to behold as the weak winter
sun glints through its wafer thin, multi-coloured needles.
Birr Castle is the place to go for redwood spotting.
As the old saying goes — if you want to be happy for a few hours,
get drunk. If you want to be happy for a few years get a lover. But if
you want to be happy forever take up gardening. You might not have a garden
of your own but Georgina Campbell’s book will certainly guide you
in the right direction.
Ireland for Garden Lovers can be sourced at www.ireland-guide.com
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