Hello Steemit! I recently took a day trip to the National Botanic Gardens, here in Dublin, Ireland. I took my camera along so I could give you a visual tour of one of my favorite places on Earth.
The gardens, which take up some 20 hectares of space, are situated in Glasnevin; the heart of Dublins Northside. They are surrounded by various leafy housing estates, as well as Glasnevin Cemetry, the burial place of many celebrated Irish poets and statesmen. You could easily miss the single entrance to the gardens, but this just adds to the feeling of a little secret paradise where you would never expect it. It gets rather busy in summer, but the rest of the year it is superbly tranquil, and admission is free!
The entrance is nestled between two ivy-clad period houses. Once inside, you're transported from the red bricks and hard angles or Dublins inner city, to a cornucopia of life; swathes of landscaped grass, enriched with various plants, trees and flowers. The Botanic Gardens are also home to a handful of different glasshouses, various natural habitats, agricultural projects, formal gardens, as well as educational and recreational facilities.
The Palm House
Among the various glasshouses, the 65 foot tall "Palm House" is the main attraction. A beautiful, monstrous glass structure, built in the late 1800s to house exotic trees in ideal conditions.
Once inside, you are hit by a wall of balmy heat and earthy aromas, while spectacularly overshadowed by exotic creepers, banana trees and huge palms. The environment is kept warm and moist to accommodate the tropical flora, with water misting from sprinkler systems on the roof. This is the closest thing to an exotic paradise you'll get around these cold and rainy parts of Europe.
The Other Glasshouses
There are a number of other glasshouses, each of which specializes in its own habitat or plant family. There is a glasshouse for cacti and succulents, one for orchids, one for rhododendrons (my favorite), one for native Australasian plants, among others. You could easily spend a day exploring the glasshouses alone, before checking out the agri-gardens, rock gardens, or the lake area.
Rose Gardens & Rock Gardens
At the right time of year, the rose garden is packed with huge blossoming roses, of many varieties and colours. Everything is beautifully designed and landscaped. As you take a bridge over the Talka River, the garden is revealed in all its majesty.
The "Rockery" is a semi-formal Japanese style area filled with beautiful maple trees and mountain shrubs. Here, I met a man who visits the gardens daily to feed this not-so-wild Robin.
Indeed the local wildlife has become accustomed to humans. The ducks might follow you along the river, and an idle heron won't take much notice of you. Pictured below, my friend @Vajola is making friends with a squirrel. Though something tells me it's only after her nuts.
Nooks & Crannies
A whole day of photos couldn't do The Botanic Gardens justice. Aside from the more conspicuous attractions, there are lots of hidden gems for the extra curious explorer. If you don't spend enough time here, you could easily miss the many secret gardens, sun-traps, and snug, specialist glasshouses. There is even a whole "mini-farm", where food is produced and honey-bees are kept. And the best part is, it's all FREE! Thanks to support from the various trustees and sponsors, the gardens can be visited without charge.
Of course, I took some macros
I'll leave you with some close-up photography from my trip. Being home to 20,000 plants, one could spend months shooting macros here and never get the same shot. I do a lot of macro photography, so if you like these photos, please consider following me here on Steemit -
I hope you enjoyed this tour of The National Botanic Gardens Of Ireland. It took me a lot of work to shoot, edit and upload the photos, as well as writing this item, so your Upvotes are greatly appreciated. I plan on doing more photographic tours around Ireland, including Howth, Bull Island, The Phoenix Park, and more, so stay tuned!
Words & photos by me: @condra.