The Irish Rover A Tour Around Ireland’s Finest Gardens Two departures available: June 25 – July 2, 2015 (depart USA on June 24) August 13 – 20, 2015 (depart USA on August 12) This tour is arranged in collaboration between Hidden Treasures Tours and Brightwater Holidays of Scotland. Hidden Treasures Tours has collaborated with Brightwater Holidays on all UK tour since 2007. The tour leader will be a botanical expert that leads this tour annually for Brightwater Holidays. A tour in Ireland promises a rich feast of horticultural excellence, with memorable and beguiling gardens, enthusiastic and skilful owners and an ever-changing backdrop of lush green hills, fertile fields and glittering seascapes. Our north to south journey is packed full of gems yet relaxed and unhurried, taking in the very best that the Emerald Isle has to offer. We begin in Northern Ireland on the shores of Strangford Lough, whose sub-tropical micro-climate lends itself particularly well to the creation of lush and exotic gardens. Nowhere is this more evident than at the dazzling and idiosyncratic garden of Mount Stewart, truly one of the great gardens of the world. We also visit romantic Rowallane and atmospheric Castle Ward. We move on to Dublin where we meet June Blake, a passionate plantswoman who grows a unique mix of bamboos, ornamental grasses and perennials. The unmissable Dillon Garden features of course, along with Hunting Brook, with its fusion of prairie and tropical planting; Killruddery, a historic garden that still retains much of its original 17th century style; the Italianate seaside garden at Corke Lodge and Powerscourt, one of Ireland’s most famous gardens with magnificent vistas over the surrounding countryside. Continuing south we call in at Mount Usher, a wild and informal garden with some rare and exceptional trees, on our way to the lively and cultured city of Cork. From here we tour Ilnacullen, with its magical setting on an island bathed in the warm waters of the Gulf Stream, and the impressive private garden of Kilravock. The wonderful gardens Lakemount and Poulacurry complete an outstanding tour. Daily Itinerary Pre Trip Departure Date June 24 or August 12 – Please book international flights to arrive into Belfast, Ireland Day 1 Arrival is into Belfast where we will join our coach and transfer to our first visit, Mount Stewart, the dazzling and idiosyncratic gardens which bask in the micro-climate of low rainfall and humid coastal air that exists here. The Italian Garden south of the house is in the form of a giant parterre, edged in startling golden thuja or smouldering purple berberis and filled with plantings of carmine, yellow and scarlet on one side, with cooler blue, lavender and grey on the other. Elsewhere, there is a Spanish garden with huge eucalyptuses looming in the woods behind, and an exuberant and formal sunken garden surrounded by a fine pergola planted with clematis, honeysuckle and roses. The entrance façade of the house overlooks an entirely different landscape, a scene of serenity with noble trees leading gently uphill to a lake. East of the lake are blood-red and orange rhododendrons and the banks of the lake are planted with long drifts of arum lily. This is one of the most attractive and stimulating gardens, where traditional features are carried off with exuberance and panache, and we have allowed plenty of time here to take everything in. Following our visit we continue to our hotel, the comfortable Dunadry Hotel in Dunadry, County Antrim, where we will enjoy dinner in the evening. All rooms in the hotel have en-suite facilities. Meals included: Dinner Day 2 Today, following our full Irish breakfast, we will travel to Rowallane Garden. The first impression is one of mystery as you approach the house through a dark tunnel of conifers and rhododendrons, but this is quickly dispelled by the flower-filled spectacle which opens up before you. In the afternoon we move to the southern tip of Strangford Lough, where Castle Ward sits in a wooded valley with a memorable view towards the lough. Apart from some traces of 18th century woodland, the garden is chiefly Victorian in character. Perhaps the best thing about Castle Ward, though, are the grand walks in the huge demesne, with delicious views of trees and the lough beyond. Meals included: Breakfast, Dinner Day 3 Following breakfast we check out of our hotel and travel south, crossing the border into the Republic of Ireland towards Dublin, where we call in on the gardens at Killruddery, the oldest surviving gardens in Ireland still in their original 17th century unique style together with 18th and 19th century additions. Following our visit we transfer to our hotel in Dublin, where dinner will be served in the evening. Meals included: Breakfast, Dinner Day 4 This morning after breakfast we will travel to the Dillon Garden, a well-known favourite of ours. Helen Dillon is a world-renowned plantswoman, writer, lecturer and broadcaster who, together with her husband Val, has created a garden that is considered to be one of the gems of the horticultural world. This widely acclaimed garden is a mixture of startling design and perfectly grown plants – many of them unusual and rare. The view of the gardens from the windows of the elegant drawing room is one of the most photographed scenes in contemporary gardening. Our next visit is to the gardens of Corke Lodge. The house was built in the 1820s by William Farrell as an Italianate seaside villa, with a Mediterranean grove planted with a Cork tree as its centrepiece. In the remains of this romantic wilderness, the present owner designed a garden punctuated by a collection of architectural follies salvaged from the demolition of Glendalough House, an 1830s Tudor revival mansion built for the Barton family by Daniel Robertson who designed Powerscourt Gardens. We return to the hotel in the evening where dinner will be served. Meals included: Breakfast, Dinner Day 5 This morning, after breakfast, we visit Hunting Brook, home of Jimi Blake, the former head gardener of Airfield Gardens in Dundrum. Hidden in the foothills of the Wicklow Mountains near Blessington, the garden is a plantsman’s paradise with contemporary borders, creating a fusion of prairie and tropical planting in a natural setting. With something for everyone, from lazy woodland walks through the ancient glacial valley to the remains of a 7th century ring fort, where an extensive range of woodland plants are grown, many of which were collected on various trips around the world. Hunting Brook is now home to Ireland’s largest collection of ornamental grasses with over 200 different species and cultivars. Following our visit we continue to Jimi’s sister’s garden at June Blake’s Garden and Nursery. June is a passionate plantswoman who grows from seeds sourced all over the world. Her garden is extensive and sits in the old cut granite farmyard of Tinode House. We end the day at Powerscourt Gardens, Ireland’s most famous gardens which first began to take shape over two and a half centuries ago. Enjoy the charming walled garden, the striking terraces, fine statuary and varied trees which are linked by carefully designed walks and are all set in the magnificent surroundings of the Wicklow mountains. We return to the hotel in time for dinner. Meals included: Breakfast, Dinner Day 6 This morning after breakfast we check out of the hotel and head south, stopping en route at Mount Usher, a lovely informal garden which dates back to 1850. The garden was inspired by Irish gardening maverick William Robinson who eschewed formal Victorian bedding schemes in favour of a more naturalistic style. There are approximately 5000 different species of plants, shrubs and trees originating from all over the world, including some exceptional species from the southern hemisphere, such as the wonderfully scented Japanese Magnolia obovata and collections of eucryphia and eucalyptus. We continue south through the counties of Wicklow, Wexford and Waterford and on to our accommodation at the Imperial Hotel, Cork. This well known hotel has played host to several well-known guests including Sir Walter Scott, Charles Dickens and the composer, Liszt. All bedrooms have en-suite bathrooms, direct telephone, T.V, hairdryer, iron & ironing board and tea/coffee making facilities. The hotel’s facilities include Ireland’s first Aveda Lifestyle Salon & Spa with treatment rooms, dry flotation bed and hydrotherapy pool and hair salon. Meals included: Breakfast, Dinner Day 7 This morning after a full Irish breakfast we take the ferry across to Garinish Island in Bantry Bay to visit Ilnacullen, surely one of the high points of our visit to Ireland. Some gardens become so well known that their reputation quickly outstrips the actuality. Ilnacullen is, if anything, even more beautiful than one expects it to be. The garden, commissioned from Harold Peto, was made for Annan Bryce in 1910. The elegant Italianate folly overlooking a sunken garden is familiar from countless photographs with the Caha Mountains behind. The beauty of Ilnacullen comes from its wonderful intermingling of the formal and the wild. We also visit Kilravock at Durrus, the private garden of Malcolm and Phemie Rose. The garden, started 15 years ago from a two acre field with the help of a neighbour, overlooks Dunmanus Bay and has featured on television and in several national and international publications. We return to the hotel for dinner. Meals included: Breakfast, Dinner Day 8 This morning after breakfast we visit Lakemount Garden, nestling high in the hills above Cork. Brian Cross has created, according to the RHS, one of Ireland’s “flagship gardens”. It supports the cultivation of a multitude of plants from every corner of the globe with flawless standards of horticulture, and the recent addition of a charming cottage-style area has enhanced the garden’s atmosphere of calm serenity.