Excerpt taken from a 2010 issue of the
Connemara View newspaper

I recently visited a wonderful Wildflower Garden near Roundstone. Errisbeg Lodge is run by Jackie and Shirley King. The garden managed by Jackie, is a delight. Acres of the most beautiful flowers dotted this land, and in a relatively small space, almost every wildflower which grows in Connemara, was thriving. Early purple orchid (Orchis mascula) grew in their hundreds, and were wonderful. Due to the position of the garden being literaly a stones throw from the beach, there was also a good selection of plants associated with a machair system. Plants such as Lady’s bedstraw (Galium verum), Sea sandwort (Honkenya peploides), and common bird’s foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus).

The garden is managed very well; the taller grasses are kept under control by using a strimmer; and in other parts, animals are allowed to graze. In these meadows, I found a great array of plants, Yellow pimpernel (Lysimachia nemorum), Self-heal (Prunella vulgaris), and the new growth of Centaury (Centaurium erythraea).The rocks are covered in stonecrop, probably (Sedum anglicum), and higher up on the hillside, low gorse (Ulex gallii) and heathers a mixture of (Calluna vulgaris and Erica tetralix) form a perfect matt.

An area around an old ruin, contained a different habitat, with trees including Ash (Fraxinus excelsior), Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus) and Fuchsia (Fuchsia magellanica).

What was so nice to see, and important for any garden, be it wild or tamed, was that the natural features were enhanced rather than disguised. The wet areas were bog gardens and the rocks, natural rockeries. Of course, this was a natural space but it is being managed and some areas have grass cut tight which shows up the natural features even better.