Watch: Take in the bliss of the blooming gardens at Blarney Castle

Peter Dowdall takes a walk around the blooming Castle gardens this week, where the borders are summer-blowsy.

I found myself wandering around the grounds at Blarney Castle recently. No, I hadn’t decided to join the throngs in line to obtain the gift of the gab, best of luck to them. No, I was here purely to enjoy the gardens. I try and visit every few months as they are improving and progressing at such a pace, I don’t want to miss anything.

In particular, I wanted to see the herbaceous borders. Two long borders flank a gravel path with a simple stone urn perfectly positioned under a birch tree acting as the focal point at one end of this path and a beautiful cast iron bench painted red drawing the eye at the other end. Both beds are tied together by a series of arches which enclose the path like a pergola — although there were still some blooms, the roses were definitely past their best but the rest of the planting was breathtaking.