Castlewellan Gardens

Visiting gardens is always such a soothing experience. My family likes to tease me because when I was younger I aspired to live in a city. These days you can barely drag me to a city. Although I live in relative proximity to Belfast and Dublin, I've barely explored either. Whenever someone asks for tips on what to see or do in Dublin, I have no advice to offer. But if you want advice on beautiful gardens to visit from late spring through summer, I could compile quite an impressive list of locations worth dropping by. When I plan my day trips and holidays they tend to revolve around quiet corners of nature; elegant manor house gardens, towering ancient woods, and seaside explorations. Even amongst those haunts I try to find the paths less traveled--the castles that are lesser known, the beaches that don't attract tourists, and so on. I seek again and again the quiet of nature and the absence of a crowd. Am I different from that starry-eyed young girl who dreamed of living in a city or have I just come to recognize myself better? I'm not really sure, but I certainly wouldn't trade a day trip to Castlewellan's Gardens for a city break. What I particularly like about Castlewellan is the mix of manicured corners and wild bits that look almost abandoned. At the end of one path you might find a fragrant herb garden surrounded by tall hedges with a nearly hidden entrance covered in climbing clematis, but venture in the opposite direction and there's a neglected stone fountain teeming with weeds and lilies.