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The gardens in both Northern and Southern Ireland really are beautiful. Not limited to public homes open just for the tourists; every home seems to have their own well planted, colorful garden spot. The colors do not come only from perennials and annuals, instead the ample year round rainfall and the cooler temperatures in summer and winter nourish green backgrounds.

Photo right - This was the garden at one of our Bed and Breakfasts during our stay in 2004.

As Spring progresses to Summer the foregrounds become punctuated with the pinks of dianthus, foxglove and alliums; the blues of Siberian irises, sea holly, and sages; and the purples of bearded iris and butterfly bush.

The Irish gardens, like their sibling the English gardens, include formal, trimmed hedges planted in mirrored images with regular stylized forms. There are also curving paths leading to yet another lawn or panoramic view.

Within the Irish gardens, like their cousins the French and Italian gardens, there are also the intricate hedges, the parterres.

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