Memories in the Trees
Kennedy Park had been a place for us to bring the children when they were young; it had plenty of room for them to walk freely, the pathways suited prams and buggies; it had ducks; there was no traffic and it was very safe. However, as they grew, our visits became more and more infrequent […]
Helen Dillon wears Lipstick!
“In an Irish Garden” was Helen’s greatest book! It was a collection of garden accounts written by the gardeners themselves, edited by Helen and Sybil Connolly, and it captured the feeling of a generation in Irish gardening which was about to pass. Many of those who featured in the book are no longer with us […]
Oliver Schurmann – ‘Prairie Style Gardening in an Irish Climate’
A Report from Adam Whitbourn on Oliver Schurmann’s IGPS Munster lecture ‘Prairie Style Gardening in an Irish Climate’on Tue 1st March. Oliver gave an extremely interesting and informative lecture. His passion and knowledge of plants and great eye for design were evident throughout. He described his formative days of training in Germany where he first […]
Ulster Garden Scheme 2016 – with IGPS Members Involved
In Northern Ireland the very active Ulster Gardens Scheme raises money for local National Trust gardens each year through a series of open gardens. This year eight gardens will open for a day or two days over a weekend at their peak season while another 15 are open by appointment between April and October. As […]
Gardening with Wildlife
I cannot say that I garden for wildlife but I do garden with it. It is all around us and, as far as possible, I work with a live and let live attitude. Greenfly, blackfly, whitefly, slugs, snails, vine weevil larvae, carrot root fly, narcissus fly are all present in the garden and these and […]
Richard Baines talk in Belfast
About 30 members from the Northern region attended the lecture by Richard Baines, Curator of Logan Botanic Garden, organised by the Alpine Garden Society on Saturday. Logan which is situated just across the North Channel on the Mull of Galloway is one of the four gardens which go to make up the Royal Botanic Garden, […]
Snowdrop House and Castle
Monday was a pet day in an otherwise generally miserable February. We had blue skies and bright sunshine, a crisp spring day, and we were quickly into the car and off up the M9 to visit snowdrop gardens. Burtown House, near Ballintore, Co. Kildare, is furthest away from us and was our first stop while, […]
Suffering for Snowdrops
The Snowdrop Week at Altamont Gardens has become not only the established snowdrop event of each year here in Ireland but it is, undoubtedly, the best. It has run each year for over ten years and there are many reasons it is so successful. It the first place, it has the wonderful setting of Altamont […]
Heritage Irish Plants – An Update!
Heritage Irish Plants – Plandai Oidhreachta is a collaborative project between the Irish Society of Botanical Artists and the Irish Garden Plant Society which will lead to an exhibition of the works of the artists and the publication of a soft-back book using the paintings to illustrate a collection of articles. The introduction will be […]
Just Give Them Away!
I have been taught a lesson, a hard and harsh gardening lesson, but I have survived it and all will be well. Some years back a friend from Yorkshire, Alan Briggs, was staying with friends of his in Co. Wexford for the New Year and was intrigued to see snowdrops included in various posies around […]
Favourite Books from 2015
I’ve taken a look back over the gardening books I have read in 2015 and selected those I have enjoyed most. It is, I believe, important to say that these are my personal favourites and I don’t aim put them out here as the best books of the year. We all have our likes […]
Paradise and Plenty – A Rothschild Family Garden
Paradise and Plenty – A Rothschild Family Garden by Mary Keen This book provides the ultimate peep over the walls of a closed and private garden and what a delight we are shown. We are shown Eythrope, the private garden of the present Lord Rothschild, one of a family of great English gardeners. Baron […]
Flora of the Silk Road – An Illustrated Guide
The Silk Road is a place of legends, adventures and dreams, hard travelling and great beauty. It connected the west and the east, Rome and China, and along its various routes it carried trade in silk, spices, gold and ivory and introduced the compass, printing and gunpowder from the east along with learning in astronomy, […]
Heritage Irish Plants – Plandaí Oidhreachta
The beauty of the work of the members of the Irish Society of Botanical Artists was the inspiration for this project which features heritage Irish garden plants. The ISBA is quite a new society but has already made a fabulous contribution to Irish art and to our heritage of Irish plants with its initial exhibition, […]
Kneepads and things!
My weekend travels brought me to four very large garden centres. On Saturday we went to Johnstown Garden Centre near Naas now, with the M9, only a little over an hour’s journey from Waterford. We went to meet with friends who use an Irish internet gardening site, Garden.ie. It was a time to press the […]
Brushing up the New Year.
Yes, it is practically imperative that we move forward in a positive and buoyant manner. It is demanded of us to be happy and upbeat but I find all such carry-on just too energetic. However, I am happy and delighted with news of progress in a project in which I am involved. The Irish […]
Algerian Umbrellas are all the fashion at the moment.
Opening an umbrella in the house is considered bad luck but if we are following the suggestion of Vita Sackville West we might be excused. Some flowers defy the logic of the seasons and open their blossoms when all others are in winter rest. No doubt they have their reasons but it does not always […]
Colour for the Gardener
Colour is everyday and commonplace yet somebody with an artist’s eye can help us to truly see it and understand what it is doing. Andrew Lawson wrote “The Gardener’s Book of Colour” in 1996 and Pimpernel Press has recently released a revised and undated edition. The years since it was first published have seen a […]
The Art of Gardening…Chanticleer
It would seem impossible that a garden designed by committee would be considered a “standard bearer of excellence in horticulture worldwide” (Dan Hinkley at www.pacifichorticulture.org ) but it seems such is the case for Chanticleer Gardens, on the outskirts of Wayne, Pennsylvania, as they are extraordinarily successful and deeply loved by the American gardening community. […]
Gertrude Jekyll – A Lady of Many Talents.
Gertrude Jekyll was without doubt the person who most influenced the style of English gardening and gardening worldwide through the 19th and 20th centuries. However, she was much more than a gardener; her talents elsewhere were equally gifted and this book gives a wider view of the person and the breadth of her achievements. Gertrude […]
