Here are some interesting facts and mythology of Irish Gardens.

• Ireland, known as the Emerald Isle, receives a lot of rain each year, keeping the grass green and the plants blooming. In 1795 William Drennan, a poet, a physician and a political radical, penned the words ‘the Emerald Isle’ in his poem “When Erin First Rose”.
  
• The Irish National Stud's Japanese Gardens, laid between 1906 and 1910 by Japanese master horticulturist Tassa Eida, are considered the finest of their kind in Europe.
  
• The highest waterfall in Ireland is Powerscourt Waterfall at Powerscourt House & Gardens.
  
• Mount Usher Gardens are amongst the loveliest in the country with a romantic garden planted in the tradition of William Robinson.
  
• Four-leaf clovers are so rare because there are actually no clover plants that produce four leaves naturally.
  
• “It will either kill your or cure you”. The Poison Garden at the Blarney Castle contains plants such as Wolfsbane, Ricin, and Opium. Although toxic, many of these plants were once used as remedies for illnesses.
  
• A single hawthorn tree should never be cut down as it is the gathering place of fairies. Roads have been diverted to avoid cutting a hawthorn down.
  
• According to Irish mythology, the elder is considered an evil tree and elder wood is said to be cursed. Superstition says that cradles should never be made from elder wood as fairies could easily steal the baby and substitute it with a changeling. Some Irish believe that St. Patrick carried a sacred rod made of elder to remove all the snakes from the island.
  
• Rowan should always be planted next to a home to ward of evil.
  
• Ireland’s earth and climate provided high yields of the potato. In Ireland it was frequently the only food for families. By the early 1840’s about one-half of the population depended upon one or two high-yielding potato varieties.