The Lure of Secret Gardens

Secret gardens offer intrigue, visual delights, and an opportunity to both lose and find oneself. Eight days in Ireland, visiting twelve breathtaking gardens from Dublin to Limerick, made me want to paint, plant and dream. Allow me the pleasure of revisiting these gardens with you, while I ponder what I learned and am inspired to do.

In each garden, our small group tour from NC was granted a unique privilege. Our tour leader, Adeline Talbot (http://www.studiotraveler.com), arranged for the master gardener or an enthusiastic protégé to show us their garden. (photo: author with Adeline at Bewley's)

I clung as close as possible to our expert, not wanting to miss a word. These gardening wizards pointed out this and that blazing splash of color and texture in stately planting beds, leaves sparkling in sunlight and mist in shadow gardens, forests of towering rare trees, and wild meadows for the bees. They told us the decisions required to achieve their opus magnum. All the while, I felt we were being served bowls of fresh garden salad, herbal dressings, and creamy gelato with berries. Such was the sensual feast consumed as we strolled along the paths.

Each garden was unforgettable but I found my favorite garden, Hunting Brook, on the first day. Jimi Blake portrays his garden as "A Beautiful Obsession," the name appropriately given to his book about the garden.

Hunting Brook Garden has been featured in two segments of BBC Gardener's World. World gardening experts have described it as one of the best contemporary gardens in the world. Hunting Brook is just outside Dublin in the Wicklow Mountains.

Ecologically friendly, Jimi uses no pesticides, and provides plenty space for weeds and wildflowers along with rare, exotic specimens. Jimi's plant world allows him to "live like a river flows, carried by the surprise of its own unfolding," a verse from his favorite Irish poet, John O'Donahue.

The Irish Times described Jimi as gardening royalty. Ever since he worked his special magic as a young graduate of the Botanic Gardens at Airfield in Dublin all those years ago, he’s been acquiring a growing international reputation as a maverick designer and brilliant propagator with a wizardly touch when it comes to unexpected, outlandishly beautiful plant combinations.

The article goes on to say, It’s that restless, creative energy, that willingness to push the boundaries, to flout the rules, to forever explore and experiment, that has made his garden, Hunting Brook, such an interesting place. (https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/homes-and-property/gardens/meet-jimi-blake-the-garden-obsessive-who-became-gardening-royalty-1.4013779 )

To get to Hunting Brook, our van climbed a winding mountain lane until we found his rickety sign painted on a piece of tin, toppled over a bit, as if in neglect. We discovered, however, that the sign was symbol for Jimi's muse: "Only those who are ready to see it, will find my secret garden." No glitzy entrance or ticket kiosk, and closed much more than open, the rare visitors know they have stumbled upon something magical, if they can unjam the old garden gate and step inside.

Jimi and his English sheep dog, Doris, met us at the gate and invited us in, ready to astonish a dozen gardeners from North Carolina with the miracles that can be wrought with a few acres of rocky hillside, a meadow, a forest, a sandy bit of soil constructed for his latest cactus obsession, and a bog with a moss covered table set for leprechauns in the woodlands below.

Greeting us in a woolen toboggan, his trademark flowered shirt, and bold silver jewelry made by his sister, June, this tall willowy man with a shy grin and sparkling eyes, urged us to hurry up the path, so much to see. Hurry up. To stop. And gaze.

Every few feet he parted his hands to frame one beloved plant, as if introducing a soloist in an orchestra, for which all those gathered around it were planted in harmony to elevate the beauty of that one plant. On this hillside, his vibrant, magenta lupine was the star, "a masterpiece", he declared. He told us that tall spiky lupines are spectacular in perennial gardens and attract bees and hummingbirds. As Jimi repeatedly said, "It's all about the plants."

When we reached the top of the flower garden, near his tea house and greenhouse, he showed us interesting shrubs and trees that he loves for their leaves. "It's all about the leaves," he now told us. "So often we clutter foliage plants and never appreciate the stems and leaves of each plant."

He showered us with the backstories of individual plants, often harrowing tales about how he acquired various seeds from Himalayan monasteries, tropical jungles, research stations and botanical gardens globally. Plant possessed, he digs up hundreds of his exotic plant children before the frost and guards them in his cottage, green house, and poly-tunnels over winter. Waiting for spring when he can set them out again.

Before Jimi disappeared to offer some gardening instructions for his lone volunteer that arrived that morning, he pointed to a distant hill beyond a ravine. This pastoral landscape with grazing cattle was the sight of his childhood family farm. The view rising from the banks created an illusion that Jim's garden connected directly with the field's grasses and rushes across the cut.

Then Jimi Blake released us to explore the paths winding through a dense forest thick with ferns and mosses to the stream below and up and out again to a natural meadow filled with native wildflowers and weed pollinators for the butterflies and bees. And we did so, quite gleefully, never mind the drizzle and the mud.

"You must see my sister's garden, just down the way," he said as we departed, and so we did. June, a trained artist and architect, lays out her gardens, according to an overall plan for color impact throughout the blooming seasons. June's garden has been described as a rare fusion of inspired design and painterly planting. (http://www.juneblake.ie)

June took up gardening like her younger brother on land where they grew up in the rubble of an old tumble-down manor house. The family camped in the ruins and gradually built habitable structures, as they also farmed the land. June lives in a stone, caretaker's house in the center of her garden and has restored the barn to become guest lodgings. She funds her gardening passion with ticket admissions, income from the guest house, and her on-site nursery that offers her propagated plants and seeds for sale.

Both Jimi and June remember happy childhoods where they played and explored like mountain goats, and helped their mom with her vegetable and flower garden. A hot cup of tea from June's herb gardens was a fitting close to a day of visual and olfactory pleasures and the good fatigue of tromping in three gardens, starting with the National Botanical Garden and ending in Jimi and June's gardens.

As we rode back to our hotel, weary in delights, I thought about something Jimi said: In some gardens your mind explodes with creativity and the possibility of what you might do in your own garden." That was certainly true for me. Jimi described himself as an "excitement addict," and our small troupe of gardeners from North Carolina discovered that his passion for gardening, shared with us that day, was contagious.

Readers can take a tour of Jimi's garden, (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWJMM1Eqpeo) or take an on-line course available at his website: https://www.huntingbrookgardens.com/

As dusk approached, I also thought about the morning visit to the National Botanic Gardens of Ireland (https://botanicgardens.ie) Melissa, our guide, had a passion for historic plants like the Hawthorn tree, which has four-season interest and is tolerant of most any growing conditions. The leaves, flowers, berries, stems, and even the bark of the plant are often used in herbal medicine to help treat heart disease, digestive issues, and more. Have you ever heard of a rag tree? Great history, look it up. https://www.flickr.com › photos › infomatique

Melissa was most enthusiastic about the Botanic Garden's recreation of a Viking home and garden that included medicinal plants and willowy trees and vines used to form the bones and woven walls of the shelter. The Vikings used the Hawthorn as a barrier wall.

She pointed out how the Viking setting was designed with an understanding of nature, which provided life and livelihood. It was functional but also attractive, framed in wildflowers and filled with the scent of medicinal herbs. She told us about the Botanic Garden's ongoing scientific research to find out both historic and new uses of plants before they are extinct. Melissa encouraged us to plant and appreciate the plants prized by our ancestors, to be part of a movement to save our ecosystem that will ultimately save ourselves.

The next day we visited Powerscourt Estate, considered one of the most swoon-worthy gardens in the world. National Geographic ranked Powerscourt the third most spectacular garden in the world after Versailles in France and The Royal Botanic Garden of Kew. Travel and Leisure magazine depicted it as the most beautiful public garden in the world.

My Beaufort friend and travel companion, Elizabeth Gould, and I, were especially excited to see the estate. We felt we had already met the Wingfield family that built Powerscourt in 1740. We had arrived a day early for the gardens' tour, and along with our tour guide Adeline and her sister, we found Powerscourt's townhouse in Dublin's City Centre while joining Elizabeth's quest for fine Irish knitting yarn.

The Powerscourt town home is now a shopping center with exquisite shops, including the destination yarn shop. Check it out if you love to knit: https://thisisknit.ie/. They ship to the U.S at reasonable rates

The coffee bar in the courtyard beckoned to us while also giving pause. Having had several cups already, Elizabeth declared, "There seems to be a lot of coffee drinking in Dublin." [https://www.powerscourtcentre.ie/]

Adeline announced that we must have tea, not coffee, and bid us to follow her. She told us a bit of history about the Powerscourt town home as we kept pace to find Bewley's for afternoon tea.

During high school, Adeline was an exchange student in Ireland. She remembered staring into the window of this renowned tea shop dating back to 1840, and thinking, "When I grow up and can afford it, I am coming back for tea at Bewley's. Here we were, excited to see if it ranked as she imagined, and it did. [https://www.bewleys.com/ie/grafton-street-cafe/]

The antique, marble-topped tables and velvet chairs at Bewley's Grafton Street Café are tucked into privacy corners with fireplaces or stained window dividers and cascading potted plants, the antithesis of "fast food restaurants", which scurry diners back on the street as quickly as possible.

Bewley's was the perfect spot for sipping pots of tea and savoring the most delectable scone with clotted cream I've ever tasted. Well actually, I guess I never really had a scone before Bewley's. They are just that incomparable. I looked on-line to see if they posted a secret recipe and found none but did find an article about a mystery cake at Bewley's we had admired through the glass case. (https://www.thesun.ie/fabulous/8732281/granddaughters-solve-mystery-dublin-cake-bewleys-café)

While the Powerscourt town home was lovely and impressive, it did not prepare us for the magnificent Powerscourt country estate and gardens designed by Richard Cassels and constructed between 1731 and 1741 on the ruins of a 13th century castle [https://powerscourt.com/]. To fully experience the history of the home and 47 acres of landscaped gardens, Adeline contracted one of the most sought after garden guides in Ireland, John Dewey, who grew up on the grounds of the estate.

From the estate terrace we looked across the sweeping landscape, a forest and a ravine to pastures of grazing cows in the distance as our guide, John Dewey, told us the history of the palatial home. Initially, the gardens were designed in formal square terraces. When Queen Victoria came into power she influenced a new style of gardens that encompassed the natural landscape, while also shaping the landscape for visual effect, and the Powerscourt gardens were modified to include both the formal and "natural" gardens.

We began our tour on the terrace with a 4,000-acre overview of the landscaped grounds and distant hillside pastures where Powerscourt's livestock graze. Mr. Dewey pointed out its features as if we were viewing a pastoral painting in a gallery. He then led us on a walk that looped through the formal gardens and layered terraces, by ornamental lakes.

Our rambling walk continued through a spellbinding forest of exotic tree specimens, into secret hollows, a rock wall rookery with waterfall for keeping drinks cool in summer for picnickers, a "Tin Biscuit" tea garden, and even a pet cemetery, returning to the terrace and sculpture gardens.

We were all curious about the meaning of a "tin biscuit Japanese garden." A tin biscuit garden was an imagined rendition of how a Japanese style garden looks, inspired by pictures of Japanese gardens on cookie tins in the 1800's.

John Dewey told us that a true Japanese garden would have been built by a Zen Buddhist who had studied "how to live" in a monastery for forty years and was then able to reflect that in a garden. A different experience, John assured us, from this tucked away space at Powerscourt where ladies could let down their guard and corsets for an afternoon of tea and gossip with the girls.

John Dewey's father was a gardener on the estate and John remembers that as a child he loved to climb across the rock bridge below the waterfall and over the moss-lined pool. He was doing so one day when the Viscount came by on his pony drawn carriage.

John's father was embarrassed that his son was gleefully climbing the rookery walls when the Viscount stopped to watch. John's father ordered his son down from the rocks and apologized to the Viscount. The Viscount laughed and said to let John enjoy himself as that was exactly where he had played as a child.

The tree gardens were my favorite section of Powerscourt gardens. This world class collection of trees was planted to show off the terrain and the individual characteristics of each tree with an overall effect of a natural forest. In some sections, huge gunnera plant leaves, like giant bird baths provided an understory for the trees.

Famous people are invited to plant a tree in the Powerscourt tree garden. Jacqueline Kennedy came here with her children to escape the press madness following her husband's assassination. She and the children planted a weeping copper beech tree, which we saw. Michelle Obama also planted a tree that we did not see. We were told that her tree is unmarked due to violent US politics, reminding us that America is no longer a beacon to the world.

Weary and enthralled from our morning walk through the grounds, we relaxed on the terraces with a delicious lunch of smoky tomato bisque, fresh garden salad, thick chunks of whole grain bread, all with ingredients grown on the self-sufficient estate, and wine sipped with a straw, too tired to return for a wineglass in the self-service café. Our repast concluded, we headed out for Glendalough Castle's wildflower gardens.

Glendalough, one of Ireland's most important monastic sites was founded in the 6th century by

St Kevin, a 6th century monk and hermit who settled in these mountains chosen for their remoteness, beauty and serenity. The extensive monastic complex he built is located in a glacial valley consisting of two lakes with evidence of human activity going back to the Neolithic Period. It is considered one of the most important medieval ecclesiastical landscapes. Take a tour of Glendalough in a You Tube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6-vFewkAdo.

I made a note to learn more about Glendalough by reading a book, How the Irish Saved Civilization. Glendalough, a monastery city, was never occupied by Rome, and developed its own form of Christianity. In its time, it had the best library in Europe until burned by the British in the 11th century.

Eventually, the monastery fell to ruins. Oscar Wilde's father, realizing its importance, influenced the government to put Glendalough under state care. As a public institution, a train line was erected, now bringing a million visitors per year. With good intentions to make the site accessible to Irish citizens, the size of uncontrolled crowds tromping wildflowers and climbing gravestones, appears to be having a detrimental effect. Luckily, we had an enthusiastic guide to help us appreciate the sacred beauty and historic significance in spite of the crowds.

Our Glendalough guide, Anne Marie, could hardly wait for our arrival in order to tell us that her daughter-in-law was from New Bern, NC. Due to this special connection, she had planned an extra-special tour for us, including areas that tourists do not typically see.

I was especially interested in the gravestones. Having never met a graveyard that didn't fascinate me, I was absolutely enthralled to see hundreds of ancient gravestones beaten by weather and time, but still beautiful and rich with stories from the people who lived long ago.

Anne Marie told us that Glendalough was one of the main pilgrimage sites in medieval Ireland. "In the days of St. Kevin, being buried in Glendalough was as good as being buried in Rome. Such a claim attracted the pious and the powerful and historical death notices and inscribed grave slabs record the deaths of kings, queens and ecclesiastics in Glendalough. As a center of learning, its scholars produced manuscripts in Irish and Latin, including medieval astronomical and mathematical texts and chronicles. Pilgrim routes crossed the mountains, often marked by Celtic crosses, a blend of pagan and Christian symbols."

After the Reformation, the churches of Glendalough were abandoned and became derelict. The site then became a burial ground for locals, both inside and outside the ruined buildings. There are many unique and beautifully crafted stones from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The oldest graves in Glendalough are near the east gable of the Priests’ House. While no names or dates remain on the oldest stones, they have been dated to the 11th century by archeologists. The oldest standing named stone, Murlaugh Doyle, dated 1697 is in this location. [Find a history of the gravestones at https://glendalough.wicklowheritage.org/places/the-glendalough-graveyard-trail.]

After Glendalough, we drove to the top of the mountain for a view of the lakes and the historic pilgrimage trails along worn, wildflower paths. The flora composition in this region (County Wicklow) can be traced back 10,000 years to the end of the Ice Age. As the climate changed and became warmer, the huge ice sheets covering the country gradually melted. As a result, sea level rose and Ireland became an island, separate from Britain and mainland Europe. This isolation of Ireland effectively restricted any further natural migration of plants to this country, leaving over 10,000 different species of flowering plants and ferns. [For the identification of wildflowers throughout Ireland, www.wildflowersofireland.net.]

On our third day of gardens, we departed the historic Wynne Hotel in Dublin heading west toward Cork. Each day I wondered how there could be yet another variation on gardening, while trusting that Adeline Talbot had more verdant surprises up her sleeve. Today, that included the Rothe House Tudor garden (https://rothehouse.com/) and Cochlough Walled Gardens at Tintern Abbey. (https://www.colcloughwalledgarden.com/). (https://www.facebook.com/Colclough-Walled-Garden-115218481851435/)

At the Rothe House we visited a Georgian walled garden and pictured town life in a medieval town enclave, which now sits as a living museum in the center of Kilkenny. The castle was perched at one end of a lane, and the cathedral on the other.

The lane was lined with tradesman shops. A looming stone wall, around the exterior, protected the inhabitants in medieval times. The narrow shopfronts opening to the lane housed the tradesman's family on the second floor, and provided a tradesman workspace, gardens, and kitchen behind on the long narrow lot behind the storefront ending at the wall.

We visited the authentically restored merchant's house and garden of John Rothe Fitzpiers. It is the only one of its kind in Ireland that is open to the public. John Rothe Fitzpiers, a wealthy merchant and politician built the three-house complex for his wife Rose Archer and their eleven children between 1594 and 1610.

Our guide, Melissa, led us through the garden which was divided into three parts - vegetable garden, formal garden, and orchard. The garden is not only historically fascinating in terms of content and structure, but it also demonstrates how an extensive utilitarian and pleasure garden can be planted in a confined space (the size of my garden back in Beaufort). Sweet peas twined with clematis on a trellis was a lovely example of combining beauty and function.

After a hearty pub lunch and an obligatory Guinness, we headed for the recently restored Coclough Walled Gardens which is located beside Tintern Abbey.

The Couclough gardens are a fine example of an 18th century garden that utilized a wall for horticulture versus security purposes. The wall allowed the gardener to create micro-climates and grow plants that would not ordinarily survive in the climate and locale. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peUrZXVaano)

Thanks to Adeline's magical tour planning, we were guided by Allen Ryan, who excavated and restored the 2.5 acre Georgian garden over 12 years. Allen used an 1821 Loudon's Encyclopedia of plants to guide the planting of authentic plants for the day. He thinks about the garden as a horticultural teaching museum, using practices such as crop rotation to increase the health of the soil.

Allen explained the many interesting benefits of a walled garden. For example, the walls enabled Coughlough garden to produce ten tons of apples last year and extended growing seasons for vegetables. With the produce, fruit, and apple cider, Allen has created a self-sustaining garden.

Historically, many Irish walled gardens had a hot wall or fruit wall, a hollow wall with a central cavity, or openings in the wall on the side facing towards the garden. Fires could be lit inside the wall to provide additional heat to protect the fruit growing against the wall. Heat would escape into the garden through these openings, and the smoke from the fires would be directed upwards through chimneys. Even without the fires, the walls create different temperatures throughout the garden, allowing growth of tropical fruits and vegetables, as well as shade for other plants.

Allen awed us with his knowledge. For example, he and the other gardeners form small piles of stones interlaced with herbs around the flower and vegetable beds to deter snails. All interesting and useful, but the thing that fascinated us the most, a garden hoe tool, was an enigma to him.

As we walked about and listened to Allen, we observed a lone gardener weeding a long row of vegetables at a very quick pace. We all wanted to know what he was using and how it was possible to weed so quickly and effortlessly. Allen told us that the oscillating hoe, while unfamiliar to Americans, was a common gardening tool in Ireland.

Immediately upon returning home, I started a search for this miracle tool, and finally found a stirrup hoe with the same shape. Although this one doesn’t oscillate, it scrapes weeds from the soil, pulling dirt from the root, in a similar fashion. The weeds dry and die quickly in the sun, thus eliminating the need to bend over and remove them. How timely it seemed, that the stirrup hoe was featured in Wire Cutter Magazine (best tools for weeding gardens) shortly after our return to NC. Now my neighbors and I are using the weeding tool and singing praise. Had to go all the way to Ireland for this gardening tip.

The next day, I spent my free morning journaling by the fire at the Granville Hotel in Waterford.

Our tour left for Lismore Castle Gardens in early afternoon. In late afternoon, we landed at the charming Ballymaloe Organic Garden and Cooking School, with a chef fondly referred to as the Alice Waters of Ireland.

The Lismore Castle was the Irish seat of the legendary Cavendish family and their gardens at Lismore were thought to rival those of the family's English Chatsworth House. Lismore, at 700 years old, is the longest continually habituated garden in Ireland.

Once again, Adeline provided us with the passionate and skilled Lismore head gardener, Daren Tops. Daren will soon take a position with King Charles III and Camelia in England at their Cornwall Estate. But for this day he was all ours and we delighted in his company. Somehow we sensed, as he talked to us about the story of Lismore's gardens, that he was also looking back over what he had wrought.

One of the distinguishing features at Lismore, compared to the other gardens we had seen, was the perennial wildness, allowing flowers to reseed and flourish at their own free will, what we think of as a quintessential British garden, relaxed and informal. Take a look at the gardens @ http://www.lismorecastlegardens.com/

While Lismore was impressive, my mind raced ahead to the afternoon tour to come at the Ballymaloe Cooking School and Gardens. Ballymaloe, a renowned and innovative cooking school since the 1970's, is described as the birthplace of modern Irish cuisine. Darina Allen, Ballymaloe's founder of the cooking school, has a decades long dedication to farm to table cooking.

There was so much to enjoy at Ballymaloe. We entered through the gift and fresh foods market. It included cookbooks, cooking utensils and servers, fresh baked goods, and prepared meals to heat at home. With lots of "oohs and aahs," we grabbed a cup of coffee and an afternoon pastry, then followed our guide, one of the original employees, through the grounds.

The Ballymaloe stone manor now serves as an Inn for guests and students attending the cooking school. Much of the grounds seemed like a dressed up farm yard, the geese in fancy pens and the tomatoes growing on elaborate trellises. Beautiful spots for reading a book, acres of acres of vegetables grown with specialized techniques, and a fine and extensive herb garden. Then a surprise.

"At the far end of the of The Herbaceous Border waits a seemingly simple little building with a slate roof and gothic windows. As you enter, giving your eyes a moment to adjust to the light, you begin to realize that the exterior was indeed a deceptive, careful ploy. The walls, window sills and ceiling are encrusted with a myriad of shells. In the center of the pebble studded floor is a circular pool of shallow clear water which bubbles soothingly. This extraordinarily beautiful folly was Darina’s idea - a surprise present for her husband, Tim!" http://www.cookingisfun.ie/gardens/herbaceous-border-shell-house

Our guide told us that during the Covid epidemic, chef Darina organized local vegetable famers, dairy, and meat producers to bring their goods to Ballymaloe parking lot once per week. People from all over the county drove into the lot and safely bought "neighbor food" from their car. Our guide also told us that Ballymaloe is a steward of bird habitats and wildlife preservation, and has led a national bird and wildlife count for thirty-two years. I just might return for a cooking course or take one on-line.

Ballymaloe Foods' is owned by Yasmin Hyde, daughter of Myrtle and Ivan Allen of Ballymaloe House, original owners of the manor and estate. It is located in East Cork countryside on 300 acres of farmland. Check out the Inn, the gardens and cooking school at these websites:

http://www.ballymaloe.com/

http://www.cookingisfun.ie/

On our final day of garden visits we explored the rare and natural beauty of Garnish Island and ended with the magnificent Blarney Castle Garden.

We took a foggy ferry ride to the island in late morning and received a brief introduction. The gardens owe their existence to the creative partnership, some eighty years ago, of Annan and Violet Bryce, then owners of the island, and Harold Peto, acclaimed architect and garden designer. The island's most famous and final private resident in the 1920'a was Irish/American film star, Maggie O'sullivan, known for her role as Jane in the Tarzan movies.

After learning the history, we set off for 90-minute self-guided walk along winding paths through a variety of habitats, hills, forests, and rocky perches to view the sea. The paths led past a number of fascinating garden buildings, such as the Grecian temple, the clock tower, the casita, and an original Martello Tower, as well as a walled garden with magnificent flowers and fruit trees. The island hosts trees and shrubs from around the world, and as in all Irish gardens, there are wildflower meadows for the pollinators. [https://garinishisland.ie/]

The Blarney Castle Gardens was a fitting finale for our tour of Irish Gardens. The first garden visited, Hunting Wood, was my favorite, and our final, Blarney Castle estate gardens, was a close second. Our enthusiastic young horticulturist tour guide, Olive, is one of seven gardeners who manage the grounds between the estate and the old castle. Olive enjoys the work because the seven gardeners move together from one area to the next, covering all tasks from planning to planting to maintaining. That is an approach to work, and life, that keeps excitement and ownership high.

As in all the gardens, Blarney Castle Gardens contain many habitats from specimen tree forests to giant hosta gardens. We asked Olive why we do not see slug damage on hosta plants in Ireland. She told us they spray the leaves with mixture of garlic and water in early spring over an extended period of early growth and they make sure each plant has a clear foot with no debris. Another gardening tip she gave us was what the Irish call "the Chelsea Clip". Just after the spring Chelsea flower show in late May or early June, gardeners clip tall perennials in half. This timing works to allow the new growth the plant needs to bloom or re-bloom, standing tall, without falling over.

We all delighted in the natural playground built from dead and fallen trees located in an open meadow and the carnivorous courtyard filled with deadly plants. The Blarney Castle gardens were filled with both fun and magic, a great theme, for a castle where daredevils lean out of a castle opening, dangling by their ankles, to kiss the Blarney Stone. You can almost feel the intrigue when you watch a video tour of the gardens at this website: https://blarneycastle.ie/gardens/

Each day and every garden held surprises, distinct characteristics, and opportunities to learn and be enthralled. Each member of our group held dear one garden or unique plant over the others, but none were a disappointment to anyone. Pictured above was my favorite plant Gunnera Manicatta. Adeline Talbot did her homework and strategically designed a series of garden visits to both astonish and teach us.

After a final drive along the seaside cliffs with vast hillside farms and ancient stone cottages, we understood why Ireland is known for its gardens. On the first day we had a walking city tour in drenching rain, and wondered aloud how gardens could thrive with so much rain. Before explaining this enigma our walking guide fed us a number of Irish jokes about the rain including this one: A tourist asks a little boy this: "Does it ever stop raining?" The little boy answered, "I don't know. I am only six."

Then the city tour guide told us that Irish rain is generally a constant mist rather than the downpour we were standing in. "This mist is like an intravenous feed for the plants, creating a country-wide, living greenhouse." That was our first-day big lesson about what makes Irish gardens so great.

Our final lesson came as a summation of experiences. In Ireland there is nation-wide appreciation for the role of wildflowers and weeds, pollinators for bees, butterflies and other insects in the ecosystem. Every garden had wildflower areas, whether a home garden or a public garden or estate. They all include a wildflower meadow. We were told that there is no shortage of bees in Ireland. Wildflowers and native weeds are appreciated and given equal standing with formal garden plantings. In Ireland there seems to be an unwritten regulation but well understood principle, that some part of your home plot should be set aside for pollinator plants.

Pictured above , this low growing weed, with miniature daisy-like flowers, was used in place of grass in parks and gardens across the areas we visited

When I returned to North Carolina, I looked at my own garden differently, both the fourteen planting beds I had for twenty years and was in the process of selling, and the small courtyard garden in my new home that I will soon plant. What did I have in my half acre garden, both intentionally and unintentionally that mattered beyond being pretty? What will I do differently now that I understand that what I do makes a difference in saving our planet.

It seemed like a beautiful coincidence that my friend, Jill Harner, an avid native plant disciple chose the book, Nature's Best Hope-A new approach to conservation that starts in your yard, by Douglas Tallamy for our August book club selection. The Irish Garden's trip helped me to better understand the book's content and suggested actions. While we should take public action against environmental ravages that threaten human existence, we should most importantly create natural pollinator habitats in our own yards, and encourage neighbors to do so as well, thus creating pollinator corridors.

Of the small patches of ground we command, Tallamy encourages us to know and plant "keystone plants." These are hyper-productive plants that host abundant caterpillars and insects required for the food web and completion of insect life cycles. Oak trees are examples of keystone trees, followed by cherry laurels and yaupons in the area where I live. Tallamy says that if you plant one tree, make it an oak that hosts hundreds of types of caterpillars. His book explains that many trees commonly found in gardens offer no value at all for the natural world. He mentioned the popular "Butterfly Bush" that is not native and only attracts one type of butterfly. Don't plant it! When we make our gardens count, getting rid of invasive and non-native plants, and instead planting keystone plants, we are then creating " Homegrown National Gardens."

To guide us in planting keystone shrubs, trees, and flowers, Tallamy's team worked with the National Wildlife Federation to create a search tool, Native Plant Finder. Insert your zip code and immediately find the best plants for your area as well as an informative planting guides. Look for it at http;//www.nwf.org/Native Plant Finder.

After reading this book I was reminded of a sign in the Irish Ballymaloe Gardens "If you have a plant obsession in your mind, you will not do well. Instead mind the plant from your region, the soil and the weather and you will do well." I would add to that we must keep in mind the worth of each plant for the environment.

I discovered that gardeners in Ireland are artists, architects, and naturalists. I discovered that the gardener in me wants to achieve this critical triad as well.

Members of my book group were moved to action by the Tallamy book and are planning spot presentations to deliver to organizations in our town. We are sending facts and encouragement to our town officials to join a small but growing civic movement across America to plant keystone trees, create town-wide butterfly and bird sanctuaries, reduce urban concrete and replace with native plants, shrink irrigation dependent lawns and replace with native plants that require less water and do more for the food web, and to prohibit sprays of insecticides and herbicides. We must network with our neighbors and educate civic associations.

When I was seven years old, I had chicken pox and was out of school for a week. My mom went to the public library and asked the librarian to recommend some books for me. Mom brought home a stack of books that included The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. In school, I was in the top reading group of those infamous Dick and Jane readers. It wasn't until I held this chapter book, a true novel, did I realize that I could actually read wonderful, complex stories. The fairy tale language of the Secret Garden evoked the sights and sounds of the English moors and from it I discovered that books could open a new world to me. I will always love my mom for giving me this discovery and a passion for reading, both of which are symbolically lodged in that special book. Thus my life-long fascination with secret gardens.

With my journey to Ireland I found as always that every journey unlocks the past and reveals passages to a whole new world of possibility.

This blog was written by Deborah Llewellyn

Deborah's 3 Muses @ https://deborah-llewellyn.com/blog