Tuesday, March 6, 2012

A Romantic Irish Ruin & Hidden Garden, And A Surprise!

In Graiguenamanagh there are several special, hidden, places. One is the Dark Walk, part of the old gardens of Brandondale House. Near the beginning of the Dark Walk is the remains of this Secret Garden, now totally over grown.
The old Secret Garden in Graiguenamanagh, Ireland

At the end of the Dark Walk, (which is a very dark tunnel of old rhododendron bushes,) you come out into a clearing in a lovely old beech wood, filled with wildflowers in the springtime. The Folly sits at the end, looking down over the river Barrow.
The Folly at the end of the Dark Walk; most of the wildflowers are only starting to come out now (3rd of March)


wild primroses in the beech wood


 Gorse blossom (left) smells of coconut, and you can make cordial or wine from it-mmm! Celadines (above) are great for early foraging bees, and can grow in quite shady places. The Beech Wood is a fantastic place to just relax, listen to the songbirds which fill the trees, and snap a few photos like I did. But there are dangers. In fact, in the video below, I'll show you!

Buts all's well that ends well, and after all that,
 we got home & got scrubbed, and had a good nap, dreaming of secret gardens now filled with wildflowers.
Petal
Pinenut and Petal

4 comments:

  1. Hilarious! Haha.....

    What a beautiful place Graignamanagh is. Glad you have Pinenut and Petal to go home to for a bit of a relax......great blog:~)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you:-) There's never a dull moment with the 4 of them!It doesn't pay to get distracted taking photos & videos sometimes!!

      Delete
  2. Love it! More people should blog about lovely hidden places like this :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! I agree; I'd love to know of more doing just that, so we can create a little network & spread the loveliness! If anyone wants to give me a shout about blogs like that, please do! Foxglove Lane is another such blog- see the link to it over on the right hand side of this page :-)

      Delete

Have a comment, or tip about Ireland of your own? Please share it here :-) Thanks!