When Corona North died last year she left a legacy of rare and distinctive plants - seed-grown, wild-collected, begged, borrowed or bought from all over the globe - at her 40-acre property, Altamont, on the banks of the River Slaney in Co Carlow.
Each plant, from the mighty Wellingtonia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) to the tiniest, uncommon snowdrop was intimately known to her. Kind-hearted and generous, she gave abundantly of her boundless expertise to all who shared her interests, while ensconcing them in warm, old-fashioned hospitality. Her final philanthropic act - after making sure that her friends and helpers were looked after - was to leave her beautiful Georgian house and treasure-laden garden to the nation.
For over 50 years - following demobilisation from her second World War work as a driver - Corona toiled from early morning until late at night in the gardens, restoring, planting and beautifying. She always had a new scheme on the go - an arboretum of Southern hemisphere trees, a wildlife area, a lakeside walk, a bridge spanning the lake-mouth, an ornamental vegetable garden. And up until her last days she was planning and researching a final, fantastic, ambitious project for the walled garden.
It was to be a huge, double herbaceous border - 70 metres long and seven metres deep. It would be a tribute to Irish plants, plantspeople and gardens, and would include hundreds of special plants. There would be plants that arose in Irish gardens, like the snowdrop, `Straffan', and the yellow daisy, Anthemis `Grallagh Gold'; and plants that had been discovered by Irish planthunters, like the Chinese, yellow-flowered Saruma henryi, first found by Augustine Henry in the mountains above the Yangtze gorges in the 1880s. There would be plants that had been bred by or named after Irish people, and plants that had done the rounds of famous Irish gardens. It would be a splendid, harmonious border, with every plant singing out its story.
But Corona died before the border could be started. Her friend, nurserywoman Assumpta Broomfield, and Assumpta's business partner, Robert Miller, however, had already begun to strip the ivy from the high granite enclosure of the walled garden. For Assumpta, there was no question about whether to carry on: "She believed we would do it. She had great faith in people," she says warmly. "Had her last wish been to build a tower in the sky, there would be a tower in the sky!"
With approval - and some funding - from the Altamont Trust and Duchas, Assumpta and Robert set about realising Corona North's dream. A FAS scheme helped in the initial stages with clearing and levelling, but the rest of the work - thousands of hours of double-digging, manuring, planning, and eventually, planting - was done by Robert and Assumpta, with some help from friends and family.
Before her death, Corona had contacted other gardeners requesting plants, and Assumpta followed these up, while putting out a further plea on the gardening grapevine. Plants soon began to pour in from all over Ireland. The Botanic Gardens gave, among other things, a collection of 40 dahlias, many of them Irish-raised; more dahlias came from Harry Cleeves in Baltinglass, Co Wicklow and Christine Drennan in Laois. Penstemons came from Berna Purcell in Burton Hall, Sandyford, while Lesley Fennell in Kildare donated phlox.
Two unusual buddleia species (a favourite plant of Corona's) came from Malahide Castle, and Bernard O'Leary, the gardener at Ilnacullin in Co Cork offered Griselinia `Bantry Bay' and Cestrum `Ilnacullin'; Dr Keith Lamb from Co Offaly gave a double blue periwinkle that he had originally obtained from the renowned gardener, Lady Moore. Helen Dillon donated countless plants, including a rare Helleborus torquatus that she had got from David Shackleton of Beech Park, which he in turn had acquired from Lady Moore. Roy Lancaster, the English plantsman and broadcaster, posted a package with a plant of the coveted Saruma henryi, grown from seed collected in China.
How could anyone, you might wonder, combine all these, and hundreds of other, disparate, yet blue-blooded plants into a pleasing border? "We decided on the colours, and then we just took a plant and said, is that tall or short?" explains Assumpta - which sounds incredibly modest, especially when the resulting double border, heaving with heritage and history, is such a work of art.
On either side of the entrance gate, boxedged beds are filled with sparkling, white flowers: among them campanulas, lilies, lamium, agapanthus and a lilac hauled in from Angela Lawlor's Castleknock garden, originally bought from Altamont 15 years ago. Further down a blue and yellow section (delphinium, daylilies, yarrow, Digitalis lu-tea, evening primrose, to name a few) faces a sea of pink, purple and blue blooms: hardy geranium, salvia, penstemon, Cape fuchsia and more. Further down again a hot strip is bouncing with cherry-red dahlias, red pincushioned Knautia macedonica, and scarlet lychnis backed by sombre, maroon-foliaged Cimicifuga. Opposite, a chalky, blue and mauve border makes an cool counterbalance with icy Leymus grass, furry-white lamb's-ears, silver globe thistle and scores of other frosty plants. Finally, around a pool (yet to be completed) is a collection of large-leaved, exotic-looking specimens: canna lily, Paulownia, Arisaema, ginger lily and Aralia armata - a fierce looking, spiny thing.
As Assumpta says, surveying their work: "It's not really about a herbaceous border at all, it's more a way of honouring Corona North, because she was so incredible. She should be recognised and honoured as someone who left such a wonderful place to the Irish people. She gave the gardens because she felt that people needed beauty." And they certainly will find it here - in this poignant, Herculean memorial from her friends.
Altamont Gardens is about 9km from Tullow, Co Carlow, on the Tullow to Bunclody Road. Open Thurs-Sun 10.30 a.m. 6.30 p.m. Admission: £2. Tel: 0503-59444
Jane Powers can be contacted at: jpowers@irish-times.ie
Diary Dates
Leaves from the Past, an exhibition of botanical books, continues at Marsh's Library, St Patrick's Close, Dublin 8. Mon-Fri (except Tues), 10 a.m.-12.45 p.m. and 2-5 p.m. Sat: 10.30 a.m.-12.45 p.m.