MOUNT USHER GARDENS – NEW LIFE

Mount Usher Gardens, Co Wicklow, Ireland

I first visited Mount Usher Gardens in early March this year. The trees were leafless, the grounds open as the growth had not yet begun. It was so beautiful. This 22 acre Robinsonian wild Garden is an Arboretum, with trees from all over the world, when planted here by the garden’s founder Edward Walpole began in 1868. The head Gardner, Sean Heffernan told me with great pride that the garden houses over 4,500 trees and shrubs.

Coming back in May, the garden has been transformed into a tropical lushness with colour everywhere. The bees were working hard gathering the new abundance of pollen and the butterflies fluttering from bloom to bloom. The Azalea blossoms were increasable, all colours from orange, yellow and reds. The Rhododendrons were beginning to go over but still provided lush, cotton wool like displays.

I feel that the pictures will get across the content of this beautiful garden better than words.

This garden is a therapeutic, even holistic place, and is worth a visit.. The sound of the River Vartry gentling tumbling over the cascades providing therapy for the mind, the peace and quiet allowing for the imagination to wonder; the anticipation that you may get a glimpse a couple of fairies darting among the colourful bushes.