These pretty red flowers are such an accepted part of the landscape of the Atlantic coast that West Cork tourism uses the fuchsia as its quality mark. Yet fuchsia is not a native plant. It has traveled all the way from South America, originally in the bags of plant-hunters. Unlike some other garden escapees such as rhododendron, fuchsia is well behaved - it gets on well with its neighbours and doesn't spread beyond the hedgerows.
The Garden is a weaving of the old and the new, of native and naturalised plants, of Celtic myth and contemporary design. Fuchsia adds to the mix by bringing a touch of exotic warmth to the Lughnasa stone circles. It could, perhaps, symbolise something else as well - the vibrant, multi-cultural Ireland we enjoy today.
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