A score of blessed plots
Rosanna James
IRISH GARDENS by Olda Fitzgerald Conran Octopus, f30, pp. 224 Ifind it hard to read descriptions of gar- dens. No sooner do I come across 'another winding path leads temptingly downwards' or 'specimen trees lead you to the Rock Garden' than all concentration fades, my eyes and mind glaze over, and I can do no more than skim down the printed page, searching for interesting plant names. I am certain that I am not alone in this, but given this insuperable state of affairs, Olda Fitzgerald's book about Irish gardens is as good as it is possible to be.
It is pleasing and exciting to find a book about Irish treasures which does not mourn great losses or include sad photographs of beautiful but derelict places. On the con- trary, this imaginative choice of 20 gardens, looked after by enlightened and wealthy patrons (Ireland has become a relatively rich country), illustrates that these are on the crest of a life-enhancing wave.
Stephen Robson's photographs are excel- lent. Attractive, serious and not at all quirky, they are mercifully free of any hint of the straw hats, old boots and close-ups of ducks, which all too often appear in gar- den photographs (there is one scarecrow, but it is minute), and there is a blessed absence of modern statues. The descrip- tions of the gardens are greatly enhanced by a sepia watercolour aerial view of each by William Pounds, and this includes its surrounding landscape. These are the best garden plans I have seen. I should have liked the text and the photographs to have had more references to these plans, or to have been in a sequence which was matched with them.
It is enviable to read about the desirable plants which the mild Irish climate allows to grow: camellias, melianthus, meconopsis and special rhododendrons are repeatedly mentioned. Olda Fitzgerald lightens the tour of the challenging garden paths and terraces with informative descriptions of special plants and often includes details of the fascinating tales of plant-collecting in China and the Himalayas which brought many thrilling rarities to Ireland. Her research has been studious and often schol- arly (the vast bibliography makes good reading) and I loved finding out that as long ago as the Iron Age the Celts prized the oak most and the wild rose, sadly, the least. Irish gardening has a great history, and long may it continue.
A harp made from yew at Mount Stewart, Co. Down
Previous page
