Rowallane Garden is a

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

property located immediately south of

Saintfield Saintfield () is a village and civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is about halfway between Belfast and Downpatrick on the A7 road. It had a population of 3,381 in the 2011 Census, made up mostly of commuters working in both south a ...

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

on the

A7 road A7, A.7, A 7, A07 or A-7 may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * A7, the A dominant seventh chord used in many rock songs, see dominant seventh chord * A (musical note) * ''A7'' (mixtape), by SCH, 2015 * Avenged Sevenfold, a hard rock/met ...

. It is particularly noted for its extensive collection of

azalea Azaleas are flowering shrubs in the genus ''Rhododendron'', particularly the former sections ''Tsutsusi'' (evergreen) and '' Pentanthera'' (deciduous). Azaleas bloom in the spring (April and May in the temperate Northern Hemisphere, and Octob ...

s and

rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; from Ancient Greek ''rhódon'' "rose" and ''déndron'' "tree") is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are nati ...

s. It is also home to the National Collection of

penstemon ''Penstemon'' , the beardtongues, is a large genus of roughly 250 species of flowering plants native mostly to the Nearctic, but with a few species also found in the North American portion of the Neotropics. It is the largest genus of flowering ...

s. It opened on 16 May 1956 by Lady Brookeborough after being taken over by the National Trust in July 1955.

Features

The Garden, of some 50 acres in total, features a walled garden, rock garden woods, wildflower meadows, two walking paths, a bell tower, and a tea room. The estate house is the headquarters of the National Trust in Northern Ireland.

History

The Garden was laid out from the mid-1860s by the Reverend John Moore. He built a walled garden, created the Pleasure Grounds and planted many trees. In 1903 the garden passed to his nephew, Hugh Armytage Moore.

References

{{coord , 54.447, -5.828, type:landmark, display=title Gardens in Northern Ireland National Trust properties in Northern Ireland Tourist attractions in County Down Register of Parks, Gardens and Demesnes of Special Historic Interest