We rarely drive anywhere in Ireland without adding an extra hour or two onto our trip time for that special treat, a garden visit. Before we arrive at our chosen garden, I find its entry in Marianne Heron's excellent guidebook, The Hidden Gardens of Ireland, and read it aloud to my husband at the helm of our vehicle. Then I look it up in Terence Reeves-Smyth's smaller guide, Irish Gardens (for a more historical side of things), and read that out too.
I know this all sounds a little precious - or even irritating - but it helps to slacken things down to a pace slower than that of the asphalt rushing under our tyres. By the time we have arrived at our destination we are nicely in the mood for the pleasures that lie ahead.
And they can be intense pleasures, especially at this time of the year when gardens are just getting into their stride. Tulips and late daffodils are in proud formal dress; magnolias and rhododendrons are bearing their indiscreet, shocking blooms; hostas are unrolling their padded, pleated leaves; and the juvenile foliage of herbaceous perennials spreads steadily across borders in a healthy green carpet. At this early point in the season, gardens are full of youthful optimism: plant-disfiguring diseases haven't kicked in yet and pests are still mustering their forces for the summer onslaught (except slugs, of course, who have been busy whenever the temperature reaches five degrees Centigrade and above).
In April and May, the "bones" of gardens are still visible under their light covering of emerging greenery, and they offer an opportunity to study the framework of a place - and perhaps to take away ideas to one's own patch. The shapes of borders, the lines of paths - and even the materials used to edge them - may provide hints for the home territory. Trees and shrubs can be seen more clearly, before they are swamped by summer vegetation, and their suitability judged for our own gardens.
Irish gardens are among the best in the world - and that's not just patriotic prejudice speaking. Our soft, weepy climate gives us mild winters and cool summers - which may be rather depressing for human beings, but not for plants. They love it. We have an environment that is hospitable to flora from all over the globe: primulas from high up in the Himalayas, tree ferns from down under in Australia, bulbs from South Africa, prairie plants from North America, fuchsias from Central and South America.
The skill of a great gardener, of course, is to grow all these diverse plants in such a way that they don't look like a mismatched jumble of disgruntled individuals. In many gardens open to the public you'll see this artistry at work. A few images that spring to mind are the lush swathes of hostas at woodland's edge at Fernhill in Sandyford; the daisy-flowered tumbles of Mexican fleabane on the garden walls at Lismore Castle, Waterford; the pockets of primulas surrounding the rock pools at Shirley Beatty's Carrickmines garden; the outsized arum lilies, gunnera and skunk cabbages lining the serpentine pond at Creagh in West Cork .
I haven't taken photographs of these compelling vignettes, but I wish I had. Which brings me to some advice for the garden visitor. Bring a camera and a notebook. Bring a fat wallet too, because in many gardens you can pick up unusual plants propagated by the owners, that you're not likely to find in garden centres. Ask questions about the plants and the conditions they require. But most of all, go with an open mind: obviously we don't like everything in every garden we visit - yet in each, however big or small, there's bound to be a plant combination, a noble tree, a striking vista, a little rockery, or even a wellmade compost heap that will give a flash of inspiration or a dart of delight.
And, please, whatever you do, don't mention the weeds.
The Hidden Gardens of Ireland, by Marianne Heron (Gill & MacMillan, £9.99). Over 100 gardens are included.
Gardens of Ireland by Marianne Heron, 30 gardens are detailed, with many colour photographs by Steven Wooster (Gill & MacMillan, £14.99).
Irish Gardens by Terence Reeves-Smyth, published by Appletree Press (£3.99 in UK), describes 32 gardens.
The May issue of The Irish Garden magazine (on sale now) has a 12-page special on gardens open to the public, including the Royal Horticultural Society of Ireland's private gardens scheme, two National Trust schemes in Northern Ireland and several garden trails around the country.