The Robinson Garden at Earlscliffe, Baily, Co. Dublin, Ireland
Welcome to the Robinson Garden at Earlscliffe where subtropical plants flourish at 53.3° North latitude
This
website is dedicated to the memory of David
Robinson (1928-2004).
The Robinson Garden at Earlscliffe is on the Howth peninsula just north of Dublin city at a latitude of 53.3º N. This means that it is further north than Newfoundland and on the same latitude as Manchester England, Hamburg Germany, the southern part of the Hudson Bay and Edmonton Canada and Minsk in Russia. Yet despite being much nearer to the north pole than to the equator, bananas, tree ferns, South African Erica and a range of palms flourish outside without any winter protection.
This is not simply the result of skilled plantsmanship but owes a lot to the unusually favourable microclimate. The garden slopes to the south and benefits by being close to the sea and also from the 180 metre high Hill of Howth on its northern side. With the advantage of the warm current from the Gulf of Mexico almost encircling Howth, it seems that the peninsula can grow a wider range of plants than any other place of similar latitude.
Advantage is taken of the auspicious situation to test the climatic hardiness of plants from all five continents. No plants are protected artificially even in the coldest weather so that realistic information on hardiness can be obtained.
The Earlscliffe house itself been owned by an variety of people with links to a number of episodes and events in Irish and world history.
This site is continuously being updated to include both scientific data and information for the general enthusiast. If there is anything in particular that you would like to see in greater detail, please contact us.
Please note that the garden is not currently open to the public and there will be no formal garden tours around Earlscliffe in 2009. For further details, contact
What's New?
- The Wollemi Pine arrives at Earlscliffe! More to follow...
- Furcraea longaeva from Mexico has flowered at Earlscliffe. The flowering spike grew around 4.26 metres in about 60 days and at its fastest was growing at over 12cm a day! The plant plus spike is around 6.36m tall (nearly 21 feet) and has now produced bulbils and seed. See the news section.
- Have found some more interesting facts about the previous owners and occupants of Earlscliffe. Check out the History of the House.
- Had a visit from William Martin Murphy's daughter, Jane with her husband Patrick on Wednesday 29th April 2009. The Martin Murphy's lived in Earlscliffe from 1945 to 1949. Apart from a visit in 1952 when the family friend Dr Robert Rowan Woods moved into Earlscliffe, Jane has not been back to Earlscliffe for over 57 years.
- Had a visit from Sir John Lumsden's grandson, John Radcliffe and his wife Sheila on Thursday 23rd April 2009. John had some great stories to tell of the Lumsden family and was interested to see some copies of photographs we have from a Lumsden family album which we believe might have come from Sir John's daughter, Betty L'Estrange. John Radcliffe has kindly volunteered to identify the people in the photos and I will publish them here.
- Had some great communications with the Martin Murphy family and have included some details of their time at Earlscliffe as part of the history of Earlscliffe.
Content on this site - please note
This is a non-commercial site and its contents (including images) are copyright of the site owners (unless otherwise stated) and cannot be reused (in any form) without permission. If you wish to reuse any of the content, please contact who will be happy to discuss this with you. Any reuse, though, must be for non-commercial purposes.
If you are the owner of any copyright material that has inadvertently been included on this site, please contact who will be happy to remove or amend as necessary.
Where we think it will be relevant to visitors to this site we may refer to publications that we consider of value. This will not be a recommendation of that publication or publisher. All links are for information only.
Any horticultural or scientific advice is included on this site for information and educational use only and the site owners will not be liable for any damage caused by following any advice given in these pages. However, we would gladly appreciate your feedback!
Feedback
We welcome your feedback on either the Robinson Garden at Earlscliffe or on this web site. Please contact or use the contact page.
This page was last updated on 07-Nov-2009.
You are visitor since November 2009!
 Ireland's
largest and most spectacular gardening event |
 For
more information on some of the plants grown at Earlscliffe
|
 To find out about one of the longest established horticultural societies on Dublin's north side, visit the Howth & Sutton Horticultural Society |
 Visit the National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin, Dublin to see some of the plants growing at Earlscliffe |
For more information on exotic plants growing under temperate conditions along with a variety of other related web pages please visit other sites on the web ring below
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