Our last few days in Ireland were spent, first, going down to Wexford and Waterford and seeing some lovely gardens on the way there and back, and then finishing up in Dublin with last minute shopping for gifts and, on the final night, a literary pub tour.
From Wexford, we visited Waterford to see the famous crystal factory and then in the evening we had a jolly time in the Thomas Moore Tavern listening to traditional Irish music and having a wonderful singsong to accompany our pints of Guinness.
On the way back from Wexford, we stopped at Mount Usher and Hunting Brook gardens. Mount Usher is a stunning garden, considered the jewel in the crown of Ireland’s gardens.
Again, I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the River Vartry as it shimmers in the sunshine and slides silk-like through the garden and over a few magnificent weirs.
Apparently the river used to run dry until the weirs were installed. Not sure how they made such a difference, but the water looks plentiful and was flowing quickly and abundantly through the garden.
Mount Usher is also a first-class place to see magnificent trees; beautiful, large eucalyptus, superb Nothofagus and stunning Mexican blue pines.
The banks of the river have been re-landscaped, according to head gardener Sean Heffernan, and today they are lined by giant gunnera and other big leafed plants, as well as some unusual and unexpected trees such as the purple cootamundra wattle (Acacia baileyana Purpurea) which looked sensational with its frilly purple foliage.
I was surprised to see how many phormiums were in full bloom. I know phormium can bloom in Vancouver but I have yet to see as many in flower as I saw at Mount Usher.
The azalea walk was past best, but the herbaceous border was at its peak and we found wonderful creek beds packed with candelabra primula.
I feel in love again with the myrtles – the Glanleam myrtle and especially the Chilean myrtle. I suspect I would like all members of the Luma family.
The nice thing about Mount Usher is that they provide you with a map to identify all the trees as you wander around. It is not only a terrific guide but a first-rate map to get you around the garden. I would love to take children to this garden and offer them a prize for finding a dozen trees at a time.
At Hunting Brook, Jimi Blake, showed us around his 20-acre property and this time the herbaceous borders were fully out with wonderful drifts of Anne Thomson geraniums and orange geums and mounding euphorbias and many specialty plants.
It was a good opportunity to take a closer look at one of his favourite native New Zealand plants, Pseudopanax crassifolius, with its rather unusual early foliage profile.
Our last days in Dublin were spent doing some last minutes shopping for gifts and in the evening we did a literary pub crawl, visiting four pubs while listening to wonderful stories about Oscar Wilde, Samuel Beckett and James Joyce.
Our time in Ireland was joyous and memorable. But we also came away realizing how much more there is to see. We all promised to come back again for a new adventure.
