The team at Mount Congreve Gardens, in County Waterford, has announced that the estate will open to the public again on 1 February.
Mount Congreve Gardens has recently been named on the best-of and must-visit lists of Condé Nast Traveller and The New York Times, while having just won ‘Best Newcomer’ at the 2024 Irish Independent Reader Travel Awards.
‘Feast For The Senses’
“Visitors to Mount Congreve Gardens this spring are in for a feast for the senses. Much of our restorative works can be seen now in the walled gardens, and the flowers of spring 2024 will show us why all of the rain of summer 2023 was necessary,” said Ray Sinnott, estate manager.
“In the gardens at Mount Congreve Gardens, spring is all about early arrivals.”
The Pantry at CLIFF
Mount Congreve’s 70 acres of woodland gardens roll downhill from the eighteenth-century mansion to the River Suir and offer one of the largest collections of plants in the world.
The gardens include intensively planted woodlands, a walled garden, and 16 kilometres of walking trails.
The new Stables Café and visitor centre offer menus curated by the Pantry at CLIFF and include fresh garden produce.
‘River Walk’
“We already have carpets of snowdrops and crocuses, especially around the great oaks at the Bell Gate Lawn,” said Sinnott.
“We also still have winter flowering plants, such as daphnes, sarcococcas and mahonias, that have been giving us a beautiful fragrance all around the house and down along the fragrant walk.
“The early Camellia sasanqua are already out in the upper woods and main path and will soon be followed by our majestic magnolia blooms along the river walk, which tend to come before the magnolias on the Herman Dool Walk.”
