PARKS AND GARDENS

A MUCH FASTER SITE AS IT IS HEADLESS

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THE SUNKEN ROSE GARDENS

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THE IRISH NATIONAL MEMORIAL GARDENS AT ISLANDBRIDGE

Islandbridge is unique: it remains the largest monument to military service of any description on the island of Ireland. I walked there on Sunday and was exhausted, because of the heat, but there is an excellent bus service if you know what stops to use – there are four bus stops on Con Colbert Road [two in each directions] at there is a bus every few minutes.

The sunken rose gardens at Islandbridge are a beautiful and tranquil spot in the Irish National War Memorial Gardens. They are located to the north of the gardens, and they are divided into two sections by a pergola.

The sunken rose gardens are home to a variety of roses, including hybrid teas, floribundas, and grandifloras. The roses are planted in beds that are surrounded by low walls, and they are arranged in a variety of patterns. The gardens are also home to a number of other flowers, including lavender, clematis, and hydrangeas.

The sunken rose gardens are a popular spot for visitors and locals alike. They are a peaceful and tranquil place to relax and enjoy the beauty of the flowers. The gardens are also a popular spot for weddings and photography.

Here are some additional information about the sunken rose gardens:

  • The gardens were designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, the same architect who designed the rest of the Irish National War Memorial Gardens.
  • The gardens were planted in 1939, and they were officially opened in 1940.
  • The gardens are open to the public free of charge.
  • The gardens are open from 8am to 6pm, from April to September, and from 9am to 5pm, from October to March.

THE GREAT CROSS

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THE IRISH NATIONAL MEMORIAL GARDENS AT ISLANDBRIDGE

Islandbridge is unique: it remains the largest monument to military service of any description on the island of Ireland. I walked there on Sunday and was exhausted, because of the heat, but there is an excellent bus service if you know what stops to use – there are four bus stops on Con Colbert Road [two in each directions] at there is a bus every few minutes.

The Irish National War Memorial Gardens is an Irish war memorial in Islandbridge, Dublin, dedicated “to the memory of the 49,400 Irish soldiers who gave their lives in the Great War, 1914–1918”, out of over 300,000 Irishmen who served in all armies.

Designed by the great memorialist Sir Edwin Lutyens who had already landscaped designed several sites in Ireland and around Europe, it is outstanding among the many war memorials he created throughout the world. He found it a glorious site.

The sunken Garden of Remembrance surrounds a Stone of Remembrance of Irish granite symbolising an altar, which weighs seven and a half tons. The dimensions of this are identical to First World War memorials found throughout the world, and is aligned with the Great Cross and central avenue.

Opposite to the Phoenix Park obelisk, it lies about three kilometres from the centre of Dublin, on grounds which gradually slope upwards towards Kilmainham Hill. Old chronicles describe Kilmainham Hill as the camping place of Brian Boru and his army prior to the last decisive Battle of Clontarf on 23 April 1014. The memorial was amongst the last to be erected to the memory of those who sacrificed their lives in World War I (Canada’s National War Memorial was opened in 1939), and is “the symbol of Remembrance in memory of a Nation’s sacrifice”.

The elaborate layout includes a central sunken rose garden composed by a committee of eminent horticulturalists, various terraces, pergolas, lawns and avenues lined with impressive parkland trees, and two pairs of bookrooms in granite, representing the four provinces of Ireland, and containing illuminated volumes recording the names of all the dead.

CAN ANYONE TELL ME WHAT THIS PLANT IS

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PHOTOGRAPHED AT THE BOTANIC GARDENS IN DUBLIN

Within the living collections at the National Botanic Gardens they have over 300 endangered species from around the world, and six species already extinct in the wild. These are a vital resource, like a Noah’s Ark for the future. Cultivating a wide range of plants from the diverse climatic regions of the world, and displaying these under good horticultural practice allows visitors to see what they too can achieve in their own gardens. They run training courses in gardening and hold practical workshops throughout the year.

The Gardens are open every day throughout the year except for Christmas Day, and are completely free to enter and explore. Interpretative guided tours are available Monday to Saturday for a small fee, and are free on Sundays.

[UPDATE] Thanks to everyone who contacted me I know know what this is []

Gunnera manicata, known as Brazilian giant-rhubarb or giant rhubarb, is a species of flowering plant in the family Gunneraceae from the coastal Serra do Mar Mountains of Santa Catarina, Parana and Rio Grande do Sul States, Brazil. In cultivation, the name G. manicata has regularly been wrongly applied to the hybrid with G. tinctoria, G. × cryptica.

Gunnera manicata is a large, clump-forming herbaceous perennial growing to 2.5 m (8 ft) tall by 4 m (13 ft) or more. The leaves of G. manicata grow to an impressive size. Leaves with diameters well in excess of 120 cm (4 ft) are commonplace, with a spread of 3 m × 3 m (10 ft × 10 ft) on a mature plant.The largest on record had leaves up to eleven feet (3.3 meters) in width. The underside of the leaf and the whole stalk have spikes on them. In early summer it bears tiny red-green, dimerous flowers in conical branched panicles, followed by small, spherical fruit. Like most gunneras, it has a symbiotic relationship with certain blue-green algae which provide nitrogen by fixation.

Despite the common name “giant rhubarb”, this plant is not closely related to true rhubarb. It was named after a Norwegian bishop and naturalist Johan Ernst Gunnerus, who also named and published a description about the basking shark.

In 2022, it was shown that plants in cultivation under the name Gunnera manicata in Britain and Ireland, and likely elsewhere, were actually a hybrid, Gunnera × cryptica. It is primarily cultivated for its massive leaves. It grows best in damp conditions such as near garden ponds, but dislikes winter cold and wet.

WHY IS THE EMERALD ISLE CALLED THE EMERALD ISLE

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DO YOU KNOW WHY

Back in the late 1970s I lived in Santa Clara in California and it was on my return home that I immediately understood why Ireland is referred to as the Emerald Isle. My memory of that return home was reinforced when I visited the lily pond area in the Botanic Gardens.

In school I was taught that the first reference to the Emerald Isle, in print, was ‘When Erin First Rose’ by Irish poet William Drennan (1754-1820)

When Erin first rose
From the dark-swelling flood,
God blessed the green island
And saw it was good;
The emerald of Europe,
It sparkled and shone,
In the ring of the world,
The most precious stone.
In her sun, in her soil,
In her station thrice blest,
With her back towards Britain,
Her face to the West,
Erin stands proudly insular
On her steep shore,
And strikes her high harp
Mid the ocean’s deep roar.

RED AND FUZZY ROYAL PURPLE SMOKEBUSH

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AN ATTRACTIVE PLANT – BOTANIC GARDENS

Is this Royal Purple Smokebush? a large, upright shrub becoming spreading with age. In spring, the foliage emerges a rich maroon-red, darkening to a velvety purple as the summer progresses. Insignificant flowers mature into dusty wine-red feathery plumes, earning it the name Smokebush.

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