Hunting Brook Gardens News
March Newsletter
Jimi's new administrator!!!!
"A host of golden daffodils.......beside the lake, beneath the trees,fluttering and dancing in the
breeze". Wordsworth's daffodils - that's what March in Hunting Brook reminds me of. They
will be looking stunning for our first open weekend of the season - this Saturday and Sunday
17th and 18th, when we look forward to seeing many of our old friends and lots of new ones.
The whole garden is looking beautiful, with an incredible display of spring flowers and shrubs.
Equal pride of place at the moment goes to the hellebores of every hue,which grace most
parts of the gardens, but particularly the left hand border, as you come up the drive,
where many of the sixty cultivars which Jimi grows can be seen to advantage. As
you approach them from below, you get a better view of their shyly down-turned blooms, in
wonderfully subtle shades from creamy white, through dusty pinks to deeply rich plums.
There is a succession of spring bulbs in the woodland garden, the crocuses and snowdrops
having given way to the delicate ballerina-like Intro of dog's tooth violets and other small
beauties. With his typical careful planning, Jimi has succeeded in achieving a constant
succession of colour from early spring through to the first frosts.
Jimi is off to the USA and Canada on a lecture tour next week. We will be dying to hear of his
exploits on his return.
A Happy St. Patrick's Day to all our friends!
Hunting Brook opens for St Patricks
weekend
Open Sat 17th & Sunday 18th, 11am - 5pm
Free Class With Jimi
Jimi will give a free class in the garden at 2pm on Saturday and Sunday - he will give a detail
talk about growing Hellebores and the best early spring flowering plants to grow.
Tea and Cakes will be served in the house by Jimi's friend Tim who will also have a stand
selling second hand books
Directions on
www.huntingbrook.com
Cardamine ennephylla
Jimi's favourite early flowering woodland plant.
The common name of white toothwort is misleading - the flowers, which appear in late
January till April, are a soft cream, touched by a hint of apricot. These are enhanced
by the emerging bronze-tinted leaves, which form umbrella-like whorls as they
expand. It is a low-growing cardamine, reaching only 25cm and spreading slowly. It
isn't as vigorous as its earlier cousin Cardamine quinquefolia. It will usually die back
down for the summer.
June discovered this stunning Pulmonaria in her garden a few years ago and saw that it was something different
having large pink flowers open and stay the same colour without any blueing, uniform grey-silver foliage, 30cm. Tough and
easy.
Pulmonaria 'Blake Silver' is available to buy in June's nursery
Primula 'Francisca' has wonderful green flowers with pale yellow eyes in polyanthus-type heads Mar-Jul, 18cm. The flower
heads persist and look good for many months. Found by Bob Brown on a round about in Vancouver! Jimi will be on the look
out on his trip to Vancouver next week.
Volunteers Positions Available in Hunting Brook
We are delighted that so many of the volunteers who help in the garden on Fridays end up
studying horticulture or getting jobs in gardening. Due to this we now have a few volunteer
positions available in the gardens, administration, and on open days.
The usual Friday volunteering starts at 10am with a tour/class in the garden and then a few
hours work in the garden. It's a wonderful way to learn your plants and to be involved with the
ever evolving gardens in Hunting Brook
Please call 087 2856601 to enquire
The new Hunting Brook gates were looking beautiful at sun rise this morning. They were hand crafted by Jimmy Miller of
PikeMan Forge in Wexford.
Pikeman Engineering specializes in all areas of forge work, in the design and fabrication of all requirements for work
treatment plants, new house schemes, wrought iron, stainless steel, welding, site and service maintenance plus general
engineering.
Uniquely designed products are a speciality especially when it comes to our forge. We specialize in gates, forged gates, gate
automation, curved, spiral and standard staircases, balconies, railings, interior design and commission work.
Pikeman Engineering and Forge is an Irish, Wexford based company, who specialise in the design, fabrication and fitting of all
elements of steel work, both in mild and stainless steel. Pikeman Forge, Sinnotts Mill, Castlebridge, Co. Wexford.
Tel: 053 9159590 Email: [email protected]
www.pikemanforge.ie
Burtown House and Gardens
Jimi brought his plants's persons courses students on a tour to see Burtown Gardens and
was blown away with this beautiful spring garden.
Burtown House and Gardens is open to visitors from April 12th Thursday - Sunday 10.00am
- 5.30 pm until September. The gardens at Burtown are unusual in that they are worked by
three generations of the family;Wendy Walsh, one of Ireland's finest botanical artists;
Wendy's daughter, painter Lesley Fennell, and her son James and daughter in law Joanna, a
professional photographer and designer and cook respectively.
A retrospective of work spanning the life of acclaimed botanical artist Wendy Walsh will be
launched this May 2012 at the new Gallery at Burtown. Many of the plants she has painted
are now in the garden.
May 2012 will see the opening of The Gallery Café, and Shop with an extensive collection of
original paintings, prints, cards and books produced by family members as well as
handmade jewelry of semi precious stones by Joanna Fennell, as well as other local artists,
designers and food products.
The gardens at Burtown are made up of several areas, including large herbaceous borders,
shrubberies, a rock garden, a yew walk divided by a pergola, a sundial garden, an old
orchard, a more formal stable yard garden, a walled organic vegetable garden and a large
woodland garden surrounded on all sides by water.
www.burtownhouse.ie
Russborough House & Gardens Opening St Patricks Weekend - the perfect day out after visiting Hunting Brook and June
Blakes Garden
Russborough offers one of the finest guided tours in Ireland. From art lovers to historians to the curious passer-by, our tour
will leave you feeling fulfilled and inspired.
At Russborough we are opening on Saint Patricks day with many fun, unique events. We have a Treasure Hunt planned for
the kids which tells the story of Saint Patrick and leads you to clues all around Russborough's Demesne. The price is just €5
for the kids to come and enjoy our day out and finishes with a wonderful Dance show in the house at 5.30pm all of who are
welcome to enjoy the dance show with the O'Brien School of Dance free of charge.
Alongside our Guided House Tours, 3D exhibition and the twists and turns of our maze we will have plenty of unique dates for
the diary from a Historic Car Day, to a Vintage Car Exhibition, to an indoor and outdoor Easter Treasure Hunt.
To find out more about Russborough please view our website on www.russborough.ie - we are currently rebranding our site
so do take a look in April at our new logo and our new look!
WELL ROTTED MANURE FOR SALE
Noel who is responsible for building the new stone wall in Hunting Brook is selling top
class farm yard manure by the bag or trailer load. He will deliver it to your garden .
Call Noel on 087 2712446