Spring Bloom At Kylemore Abbey
Last year the gardeners at Kylemore Abbey planted 1000s of spring bulbs, the first of which are about to bloom…..
The Victorian Walled Garden is planted with 11,000 bulbs every year. Head Gardener Anja Gohlke explains “There are two growing seasons in the garden at Kylemore – spring and summer. It was typical of Victorians to change the layout of the garden every year and replace bulbs which finished flowering with different bedding plants and at Kylemore, we continue this method of gardening. It’s intensive, but the continuous variety is worth it”.
The walled garden at Kylemore remains “Victorian”. Only varieties of flowers and vegetables which were introduced to Ireland before 1901 are grown within the walls of the garden. Each year the head gardener must research the availability of “heritage” and “heirloom” verities for the garden. A task which is getting more and more difficult every year as rare varieties are difficult to source as the popularity of new varieties rises.
Newly sourced heritage varieties of daffodils planted in autumn last year include; Narcissus “Orange”, Narcissus “Sea Gull” and Narcissus “White Lady”. As Kylemore has never grown these particular daffodils before they will be put on trial in terracotta pots to see how they perform in the Connemara environment. If they pass the test the gardeners will propagate and build their own stock of the bulb. In this way, Kylemore is helping to prevent beautiful heritage varieties of flowers and vegetables from disappearing for ever.
In addition to the spring bulbs planted in the walled garden, this is the first year the newly opened “Wild Garden Walk” will be in spring bloom with 1000s of flowers as bulbs planted last October and November are beginning to show. “We were careful in our selection of bulbs and hope our plans will realise and we will see different spring flowers in bloom over the next 3 months. As the winter was particularly harsh we are expecting late flowering but are really looking forward to seeing the irises, bluebells and different varieties of crocuses emerging around the paths and bridges” explained Anja Gohlke.
Already there are daffodils quite tall around the Tea House by the walled garden which may be the first place there will be first outburst of spring colour.
Another new daffodil in Kylemore is the “St. Patrick’s Day” variety planted in the rose beds in front of the Abbey. The gardeners are keeping a close eye on these daffodils and hope they are in bloom at the right time in March!
Kylemore Abbey & Victorian Walled Garden is open 7 days a week, all year. Group rates available and there is free entry fro children under 10 years. See www.kylemoreabbeytourism.ie for more details.