Next Day > The start of our Irish trip. We leave Llanfair Court in Monmouthshire at 8.00 but a few garden shots first. We head for Fishguard via Port Talbot…

…Erica erigena ‘Irish Dusk’ Erica erigena ‘Irish Dusk’ Erica x darleyensis ‘White Perfection’ Erica x darleyensis ‘White Perfection’ Erica x darleyensis ‘White Perfection’ Erica x darleyensis ‘Phoebe’ Erica x darleyensis…

Next Day > < Previous Day We stay in B&B at Bantry House in Bantry. A huge pile in a terribly Irish state of dilapidation. Bantry House Bantry House Box…

…death the Wexford or Cork council are about to take over. House contents all sold. It may be taken over by the Irish state in the future as an option…

…amid the rocky outcrops in full shade. Tree ferns Tree ferns The record UK and Irish Cyathea medullaris – 30ft tall. Impossible to picture. Cyathea medullaris Pinus montezumae without the…

…australis Hoya australis Erica x darleyensis ‘Kramers Red’ Erica x darleyensis ‘Kramers Red’ Erica x darleyensis ‘Phoebe’ Erica x darleyensis ‘Phoebe’ Erica erigena ‘Irish Dusk’ Erica erigena ‘Irish Dusk’ Erica…

…first flowering with us of Nepeta grandiflora ‘Dawn to Dusk’. Very tall growing for a nepeta and not obviously a nepeta to look at. Nepeta grandiflora ‘Dawn to Dusk’ Nepeta…

…Magnolia ‘Tranquillity’ better than I remember. Magnolia ‘Tranquillity’ Magnolia ‘Banana Split’ a bit wind battered. Magnolia ‘Banana Split’ Seamus O’Brien and his Irish friends below Rhododendron ‘Mrs. Butler’. Seamus O’Brien…

…into the (still wet) moss ball. In another season we may have success. Our Irish friends told us that aerial layers took only a few months. Irish optimism! Our experience…

…today. I now think this is an underrated magnolia. Magnolia ‘Shirraz’ The wind abates at dusk and the front door is no longer rattled by ‘flying’ magnolia leaves. Much greenery…