On our recent trip to Ireland I was keen to visit a few gardens. As we were there in October many were closed for the winter but a few were still open. I have already blogged about Cappoquin Gardens in Lismore and today I give you a very different style of garden: The Lafcadio Hearn Japanese Gardens in Tramore, Waterford.
The gardens reflect the life and travels of Patrick Lafcadio Hearn who was born in Ireland but who travelled extensively in America and Greece before finally settling in Japan. They are split into 10 individually themed gardens where plant structure, rocks and water play more important roles than flowers. There are however flowers to be seen, including one when we visited, that most certainly should not have been in flower in October, a Japanese Iris. Irises grow wild in Japan and are also cultivated widely in gardens there. The Japanese attribute meanings to their flowers and the Iris means Good News.
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| The American Garden |
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| The Greek Garden with amphitheatre |
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| Japanese bamboo fencing and bonsai tree |
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| Lafcadio Hearn Japanese Gardens |
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| Maple leaves |
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| Plants, rocks and water |
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| Fern spores from underside of the fronds |
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| Lafcadio Hearn Japanese Gardens |
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| Japanese Iris meaning Good News |
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| Hebe |
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| Lafcadio Hearn Japanese Gardens with the entrance path shaped like a carp |
Practicalities:
Location: Lafcadio Hearn Japanese Gardens, Tramore, Co. Waterford, Ireland
Tel: 00353 87 0960013
Website: http://lafcadiohearngardens.com/
Gardens open all year - please see website for seasonal times
Entry: €5 per person, U12 free
Guided tours possible for groups of 4 or more adults (ring to arrange)
Wheelchair accessible in gardens 1-6 with wheelchair toilets
Dogs not permitted except guide dogs
Linking up with Annie Spratt and How Does Your Garden Grow.
how wonderful. what a treat to be able to travel to such places and then put those travels back into the garden
ReplyDeleteIt is a great idea and made a lovely garden
DeleteI'm surprised there are still flowers blooming in November. We still have flowers here in Florida, USA but we're a warm state. Lovely garden.
ReplyDeleteIreland is generally fairly frost free and this autumn has been particularly mild ... the iris was very confused though as that should only bloom in spring!
DeleteWhat beautiful gardens, how lovely to have adventures to inspire a garden
ReplyDeleteExactly, Amanda.
DeleteWhat a fascinating place, and beautifully calming too I imagine. And fancy living in one of those houses over the road and having this outlook from the upstairs windows, magical :)
ReplyDeleteOne building is a school and the staff room windows overlooked the gardens. I could cope with that as a teacher!
DeleteI love the meanings behind flowers and I have a friend whose daughter's name is Iris so I must tell her what it means. How unusual to find a Japanese garden in the middle of Ireland.
ReplyDeleteIt was a most pleasant surprise!
DeleteHow lovely Rosie! Winding paths always have such character and it looks like a really different type of garden, nice to find a garden that favours rocks, water and plant structures over flowers.
ReplyDeleteLooks like you have a great time in Ireland Rosie :)
Thanks for joining in again Rosie xx
It certainly was a lovely garden and so different from Cappoquin which we visited a few days before. Now I want to go back to Ireland to visit more gardens!
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