Can you aid Andrew in his quest?
Text and image courtesy of Andrew Gee (Featured Image is one of Gary’s special crocosmia introductions, Crocosmia ‘Fugue’). Recently I was reading a plant lists of Gary Dunlop of the former Ballyrogan Nursery, County Down. There were hundreds of plants listed and many of them were his own hybrids. Reading this, has set me wondering – […]
The Annual Snowdrop Gala 2024
Article and images courtesy of Áine-Máire Ní Mhurchú The Annual Snowdrop Gala at Ballykealey House and Altamont Gardens, County Carlow occurred a week earlier than previous years on the 27th of January. With the mild weather it tied in perfectly with the early blossoming of many Snowdrops and other winter flowering shrubs and bulbs. On […]
AGM Weekend in County Down 18th & 19th May
The magnificent Clandeboye Estate in north County Down will be the venue for this years AGM and will be followed by visits to nearby private gardens over the weekend of the 18th & 19th of May. The 2000 acre estate on the outskirts of Bangor, 12 miles north-east of Belfast, contains formal and walled gardens, […]
Greening a city: the opportunities and challenges of creating a liveable Amsterdam
Space to grow – How our gardens and open spaces can help us achieve a liveable future.Tickets for the GLDA Seminar on Saturday 24th February are on sale now on the GLDA website. Ton Muller is head Landscape Designer at the Municipality of Amsterdam. He works as a designer and planting expert on a wide range […]
Taxus baccata ‘Lutea’
The first Irish Heritage Plant (IHP) to be recorded is a variation of our native yew. The upright form with vertical branches which was found growing on a hillside close to Florencecourt, County Fermanagh, is known worldwide as the Irish yew. It is not the only unique variation of the native yew, but its poisonous […]
Galanthus ‘Kildare’
While the snowdrop seems to exert a special fascination on many members of the gardening public and there are plenty of books about snowdrops, comparatively little coverage is given to those snowdrops that have been found, or bred, and named in the gardens and nurseries of Ireland. One of the choice Irish snowdrops that we […]
Congratulations to Kevin Halpenny
(Image courtesy of Maeve Bell) Congratulations to Kevin Halpenny, Fingal County Council’s Senior Parks and Landscape Officer, who has received the prestigious World Urban Parks Distinguished Individual Award. Kevin has been a contributor to IGPS activities, and at our last AGM in May 2023 we were pleased to present Kevin and Ardgillan Castle, with a […]
Recent IGPS Plant Sale
On October 22nd, the IGPS Leinster Committee held their annual plant sale in Blackrock. As can be seen from the images, a vast selection of wonderful plants, many of which were of Irish heritage, went to deserving homes. Thanks to all the volunteers for such a wonderful day.
Updated: “The Strategy for the Preservation of Irish Cultivars”
Plants raised in Ireland by gardeners and nurserymen are a particular focus of the IGPS. As such, we’re constantly asking ourselves: Are these plants freely available, or are they rare – requiring propagation and later distribution among members? This fundamental question is the purpose of “The Strategy for the Preservation of Irish Cultivars,” first published […]
Crainn na hÉireann: an exhibition by the Irish Society of Botanical Artists
On the October bank holiday, the Irish Society of Botanical Artists will celebrate Ireland’s twenty-two native trees with an exhibition at the National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin. The Society launched the project in 2022, inviting their members to illustrate native trees and their botanical details. Over the past two years, the painters have gathered botanical […]
NI Heritage Gardens Trust Conference 2023
The theme of the 29th NI Heritage Gardens Trust Conference 2023 was Robinsonian Gardening. Thankfully the wet weather didn’t dampen spirits at the event which was held in Letterkenny, Co Donegal from the 5th to 7th of October. It was attended by quite a number of IGPS members who enjoyed visits to Glenveagh […]
A very special find in Northern Ireland
Courtesy of the BBC and Lee Maginnis eagle eyes An orchid species has been discovered for the very first time in Northern Ireland by a young botanist while out walking with his mum. Jake Dalzell, who is a plant ecology student at the University of Cambridge, was out with his mum Judith in Killard National […]
Can you help Peter, Nicola and the Irish Agapanthus?
With the September Issue of the newsletter in IGPS members hands, Peter and Nicola Milligan kindly invite you to turn to page 9 and then to this link on the website to help the Irish Agapanthus live on. (Image above A. coddii ‘Lady Edith’ courtesy of Nicola Milligan)
European Heritage Day 9th September 2023– Two Gardens
Text and images courtesy of Billy McCone Although it was a stretch of our volunteer resources, the IGPS were represented at two sites opened for European Heritage Day. At Pogue’s Entry Garden in Antrim, volunteers Diane Sprules and Yvonne Penpraze enjoyed showing the garden to visitors. At Helen’s Bay, County Down, IGPS held a plant […]
A Fond Farewell
Meeting up at Conrad McCormick’s Garden at Ballycastle was an opportunity to say a last goodbye to the past IGPS web site manager Audrey O’Kane, before leaving for Nottingham Trent University. Audrey, originally from Hong Kong, had worked in Germany and New York before moving to Downhill, Co. Derry. After recent placements in the National […]
Congratulations to IGPS member Audrey O’Kane
Congratulations to Audrey O’Kane, member of IGPS and previous volunteer website and social media manager, who has graduated from CAFRE (Greenmount) as the top student and is the recipient of the Alpine Garden Society sponsored trophy for best plantsperson. After her summer apprenticeships at the National Botanic Gardens, Kilmacurragh and Jan Ravensberg’s nursery, Audrey will […]
New Safe Haven for Irish Heritage Plants at Helen’s Bay
Text and image courtesy of Billy McCone Situated on the northern coast of County Down is the seaside village of Helen’s Bay, named after Helen Blackwood( Sheridan) Baroness Dufferin and Clandeboye who owned Clandeboye Estate (venue of the IGPS 2024 AGM) near Bangor. On the outskirts of the village is a 1.5-acre class B1 Victorian listed […]
Saving Plants from Extinction
Courtesy of the Irish Examiner and The Guardian People are being urged to keep rare plants in their living rooms or gardens to help create volunteer collections that can save pollinator-friendly plants from becoming extinct. Plant Heritage, a UK-based charity that works to keep rare garden flowers growing even when they are out of fashion, […]
European Heritage Open Days Weekend
As part of European Heritage Open Days Weekend, guided tours will take place at Castlewellan National Arboretum and Annesley gardens, Castlewellan, Co Down on both Saturday and Sunday the 9th and 10th of September at 2pm. The gardeners will take visitors on a tour of the historic trees and share their history and conservation measures […]
The Lough Tree of Wexford
When Joy and l planned Ballyrobert Gardens just over 30 years ago, a key part of our intention at the time was to ensure that the design of the garden would reflect the historic nature of the site which seemed to have been a clachan. There were fruit trees here when we purchased the site, […]
