Fota Island, Cobh, Cork, Ireland

[Paddy Tobin]

Sunday, 2nd November 2008, was a beautiful autumn day, great light and a pleasant day for a walk.  We went to Fota Island in Cobh which has an excellent collection of trees, well worth a visit if you are in the vicinity.

Here are some photographs from our visit. This first posting shows the area around the lake.

Paddy

[Maggi Young]

What a lovely place!
Now, I may be being a bit dim, but bear with me.... this  "Fota Island" is an island in a lake, correct?

[ranunculus]

Sumptuous images of a sumptuous island, Paddy... (and the word of the day is .........)!

[Paddy Tobin]

Maggi,

Fota Island is an island in Cork Harbour. It is connected to the mainland by bridge and to the car-traveller it is not apparent that one is going onto an island at all. So, it is surrounded by the sea. The lake shown is therefore a lake on an island which is, in turn and by definition, surrounded by water. The climate is, as a result, very mild and this allows a wide range of plants to be grown here, bananas outdoors for example.

Yea, "sumptuous" sums it up alright, Cliff.

Paddy

[Maggi Young]

Maggi,

Fota Island is an island in Cork Harbour. It is connected to the mainland by bridge and to the car-traveller it is not apparent that one is going onto an island at all. So, it is surrounded by the sea. The lake shown is therefore a lake on an island which is, in turn and by definition, surrounded by water. The climate is, as a result, very mild and this allows a wide range of plants to be grown here, bananas outdoors for example.

Yea, "sumptuous" sums it up alright, Cliff.

Paddy

How very complicated... and rather unusual but giving the perfect conditions for the sumptuousness of the greenery, eh? ! 

[Paddy Tobin]

A few more around the lake - on the island in the harbour etc etc.(Just to confuse Maggi!)

Paddy

[Paddy Tobin]

 A few of the more uncommonly plants in Fota Island.

Note the ferns growing high up on the Trachycarpus fortunei, last photograph posted.

Paddy

[Paddy Tobin]

A few interesting acer photographs.

The first shows the trunk of Acer palmatum which was damaged at some stage but amazingly it has rooted into the debris which collected in the damaged area.

The second and third show another Acer palmatum where the trunk has simply split in two, or perhaps it was multi-stemmed and the stems split.

The following four photographs are of a most beautiful acer, Acer grosseri, which was new to me. It was a small tree, 3 metres and as most of the foliage had already fallen I didn't include a photograph of the tree, just the beautiful autumn colouring on the foliage and the nice seeds. Yes, a few of these seeds are now sown here in Waterford - with permission of the head gardener, a friend.

Lastly, a photograph of Yucca gloriosa with stems badly malformed and even breaking. This is especially for Lesley as I had shown a similarly distorted yucca from Mount Usher gardens earlier in the year and we wondered what species it might be.

Hope you enjoy. Paddy

[Maggi Young]

Ooh, Paddy, I don't suppose any of those Acer grosseri seeds fell into  your pockets, did they? 

[Paddy Tobin]

Maggi,

You will have to read more carefully - I did receive some seed and have sown them!
 
Sorry!

Paddy

[Maggi Young]

Paddy, you are SO right.... I must pay more attention... I was just so taken with your lovely photos....! 

 In the interim..... I have been contacted by a kind chap who is offering to feed my Acer addiction..... a nice man, a very, very nice man 

[Paul T]

Sumptuous pictures, Paddy.  Looks like a stunning place to visit. 

[Paddy Tobin]

Paul,

You really are catching up. The photographs above date from November 5th and, looking back at them, it seems like it was the last day of sunshine we have had.

Many thanks for your kind comments. It is indeed a lovely place.

Paddy

[mark smyth]

Unfortunately the only day I have been there it rained, and rained ... Good to see it in sunshine

[Armin]

Paddy,
a very beautiful place.
Thanks for posting.