Glenarm Castle Gardens

We made our 1st visit to the Glenarm Castle gardens 3 weeks ago and I am only now getting around to telling you about it, which is odd because we really enjoyed our time there and I couldn't wait to upload the photos, but something just made me forget. The website is nice, check it out.

Yesterday and today the Castle is holding it's annual Highland Games, which is a big deal over here. We've never been though and yesterday, after fresh baked plum crumble at our favourite cafe in the village we dandered over to see how much it was to get in ~ £12 per adult!!!! Couldn't believe it, there was no way, so we missed out on seeing the games, stalls and the castle (still in private use [I've met the Viscount's brother, oh hark at me!]) up close. Anyway, that is what reminded me about the gardens...

They weren't all that cheap to visit either £6 each I think, but it was a beautiful day and it turned out to be worth it. This is the kitchen garden that greets you as soon as you hand over your money. Beautiful, I really want to live in that gardener's house at the back. Here they were growing pretty much everything we grow at our lotties apart from the soft fruits. I could post all the photos I took but it would take forever and you'd get very bored. Plus I'm writing about this place for my monthly Benches Photojournal in a few days and I'd get bored too!

On the right of this area there was a wall with figs trained up it and they were fruiting, something I would not have believed possible in Northern Ireland by the sea.

Below is the view looking back to the entrance/cafe, check out those artichokes.

On the right it the gate into the main gardens which you can see at the very edge of the 1st pic.

Inside this is a magical place of 'rooms' as proper landscape designers call them. But immediently to the right was the most glorious old greenhouse with peaches growing away merrily and just out of reach - darn it! On the outside of this long building was a huge line of lavender-like flowers ('nepetias', I am told by my hubby here) full to bursting with bees. This gave us the idea to grow loads of lavender on our plot, something I'll write about soon.

You can see some beautiful trained beech trees on the left here, they were a big feature around the gardens except at the very back wall (in the distance in this 2nd photo) which was totally covered in many different types of apple. Just lovely, though again there was a sign forbidding you to eat any ~ double darn it!

Well, we'll be back to see the progress as a good lot of the main walled gardens is pretty young and it will be nice to watch it mature.