Back in September again and I was in Ireland and my friend Orlaith Murphy had set up a diverse tour of great local gardens for me! Day two, we visited the National Botanical Gardens in Kilmacurragh which is still undergoing restoration after being taken over by the main botanical gardens in Dublin in 1996! There’s been a garden here for a long time and you can read more of its history here: http://botanicgardens.ie/kilmacurragh and its monumental trees here: https://www.monumentaltrees.com/en/irl/leinster/wicklow/2531_kilmacurragharboretum
As usual, most of the pictures are of useful and unusual edible plants discovered on our visit! See also the two videos at the bottom!
Back in 2011, I visited the main botanical garden in Dublin and here are a series of blogs from then:
Approaching the National Botanical Gardens of Ireland in Kilmacurragh
Ring of dead trees…the shallon is growing from the tree on the right!
Gaultheria shallon growing out of a dead tree (bird sown?)
Go on…have a taste ;)
A magnificent Podocarpus salignus
Rosa spp.
Rosa spp.
Rosa multiflora?
This Rhododendron species looks at first sight to be dying but the rusty brown appearance is natural onf these young leaves
Mandarin rose, Rosa moyesii “Pink Form”
Typha
Typha
Gunnera and Typha
Orlaith showing me the Ha-ha; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haha
Very sad that these old yew trees are dying (Phytophthora I think?)
Yew
Yew
Aralia cachemerica – I haven’t come across this one being eaten
Luma apiculata
Ostrich ferns (Matteuccia)
Tree fuchsia (Fuchsia excorticata) from New Zealand. I wonder if it produces berries much loved in the past by the Maori! This must be one of the biggest in the British Isles?
Cardiocrimum spp.
Surprised to see this! I don’t think this is proven scientifically…in fact it can have the opposite effect, spreading spores!
Lilium leichtlinii, one of the species used for food in Japan
Aster macrophyllus “Twilight” (Native Americans used the young shoots)
Aster macrophyllus “Twilight” (Native Americans used the young shoots)
Luma apiculata “Glanleam Gold”
Cornus capitata
Taxus spp.
An orange berried yew
The Big Tree
Field mushrooms
The Big Tree
The Big Tree
The Big Tree
The house has suffered two fires
Ochagavia carnea from Chile
Myrceugenia leptospermoides (I haven’t seen mention of the berries being used)
Sampling Fuchsia fruit!
Gunnera
Drimys aromatica, one of the mountain peppers
Gunnera
Fuchsia
Fuchsia fruit
Edible Ugni molinae
Edible Ugni molinae
A newly planted avenue of monkey puzzle trees
Angelica sylvatica (wood Angelica) growing wild on the edge of the garden)
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