The Jungle Garden – A Review
Paddy Tobin Book Review September 7, 2021 Philip Oostenbrink writes of the jungle style of garden which has become very popular over recent years especially so with those who have relatively small garden space attached to an urban house for it creates an area of sanctuary, enclosure, privacy, of withdrawal and of transport to a setting which […]
Zooming Along!
The Committee has decided that the winter lecture programme should move online via Zoom due to uncertainties about the availability of venues and in-person meetings. Our thanks to the regional committees who have put together the following programme of events. The links below will bring you to the full event details: 13 October: Pollinators in […]
Visit to Fernhill Garden.
Members were treated to a smorgasbord of horticultural delights on their recent visit to Fernhill, a three and a half acre garden nestled in the countryside outside Ballynahinch, Co Down. Fernhill isn’t exactly new; the old bungalow and three fields were bought by the owners nine years ago but what an exciting development has taken […]
Visit to Kilgar Gardens, Co. Meath. 14th August 2021
The intrepid gardeners in IGPS Leinster were not deterred by the rainy, dull weather from going to visit a very special garden in Co. Meath. In fact, if anything, the dreary and disappointing weather increased their enjoyment, because the colours and beautiful contrasting shapes in the garden were all the more vibrant. The extraordinary copper […]
IGPS visit to Ballywalter Park, County Down, 24th July 2021.
A sunny day with temperatures in the mid to high twenties combined with a cooling fresh breeze was perfect for the IGPS visit to Ballywalter Park, hosted by Lord and Lady Dunleath. Andrew Mulholland, the first Lord Dunleath, planted the thirty acres of pleasure grounds with around 95,000 trees and shrubs in the mid-1840’s. The […]
E-Bulletin, July 2021
Celebrating 40 Years of the Society Dear Member Welcome to a special ebulletin which marks 40 years of the society. Our Chair, Mary Forrest provides us with a special introduction. Stephen Butler details a fantastic achievement and fellow members continue to provide interesting and varied snippets and news. On a summer’s evening in 1981 – […]
Much to Celebrate! – A Note from the Chairperson.
On a summer’s evening in 1981 – July 7th. to be exact, the inaugural meeting of the Irish Garden Plant Society took place in the Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin. A group of plant enthusiasts, both amateur and professional, all keen to conserve garden plants and preserve Ireland’s garden heritage. Quoting from the first newsletter, ‘the Society’s […]
National Collection of Irish Heritage Plants
National Collection of Irish Heritage Plants The tremendous conservation effort by IGPS members and several Irish gardens has been recognised by Plant Heritage with the awarding of the status of National Collection in June 2021. Plant Heritage, formerly The National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens, was founded over 40 years ago to […]
Visit to Greba Garden, June 19th 2021
Greba is an enchanting garden on the Ards peninsula whose owners, Richard and Beverley Britain, garden with a very light touch. Extending to three areas, it is a woodland garden with naturalistic planting developed over the past 20 years in the site of a former quarry. Members throughly enjoyed exploring the garden, getting lost along […]
Plant Portraits
Check out some of the latest additions to our Plant Portraits area of the website.
E-Bulletin, June 2021
Dear IGPS member Here we are in the first few days of ‘flaming June’ enjoying sunshine and warmth. After one of the coldest months of May on record, what a treat! The committee sends its thanks to all the members who signed on for the online AGM, the 39th due to the gap caused by Covid […]
Tom Stuart-Smith: Drawn from the Land – A Review.
Paddy Tobin Book Review June 4, 2021 Tom Stuart-Smith has deservedly earned recognition as one of the great British garden and landscape designers. His reimagining of the box parterre in the walled garden at Broughton Grange where the hedging was organised not in a traditional geometric layout but following the cell pattern of a leaf as viewed […]
Meconopsis ‘Slieve Donard’
Meconopsis ‘Slieve Donard’ The last time rhododendrons were in fashion perhaps thirty years or so ago, I was taken to see a woodland garden with many fine specimens but what actually bowled me over was the sight of a swathe of glorious blue Himalayan poppies weaving between them. I fell in love with Meconopsis ‘Slieve […]
Clematis ‘Glasnevin Dusk’
Clematis ‘Glasnevin Dusk’ This beautiful clematis came from seed collected by Seamus O’Brien, Head Gardener at the National Botanic Gardens Kilmacurragh, when he was in Tibet in the late l990s. Clematis tibetana subsp. vernayi usually has yellow or orange flowers and the best known variety is Clematis ‘Orange Peel’. Seamus himself wrote that the plants […]
Pulmonaria ‘Blake’s Silver’
Pulmonaria ‘Blake’s Silver’ Pulmonarias are given to self-seeding, regularly producing inferior or indifferent forms, but our gardens are occasionally blessed with something worth keeping and growing. Pulmonaria ‘Blake’s Silver’ is one of those good seedlings and arose in the garden of June Blake at Tinode, Kilbride, Co Wicklow. Following commercial propagation, it is widely available […]
Escallonia ‘Donard White’
Escallonia ‘Donard White’ Escallonia are much loved as garden plants, producing blooms over a long period of the summer. They are also noted for their resilience to winds and are popular as wind breaks and shelter belts in coastal areas around the island. It is no surprise to learn that A Heritage of Beauty lists […]
Visit to Kilmacrew
Visit to Kilmacrew, Co Down – Report by Doreen Wilson Approaching Kilmacrew House along the narrow laneways threading through the drumlins of Co Down there are no clues as to what to expect – it is a truly secret garden. Hidden behind a thick, mature shelter belt of native trees lies a four acre ornamental garden […]
Mid-May E-Bulletin:
Dear IGPS member This week we have lots of news from our committees and members to share. Recently we all received a thoughtful email from our Chairman, Billy McCone, making a plea for members to come forward and volunteer for the Committee and we are delighted to let you know that there has been a […]
A Garden Visit at long last!
With the easing of Covid restrictions we are at long last in the wonderful position of being able to organise a garden visit for members – with some caution. Read all about it in our Events Calendar Post
Secret Gardens of Somerset – A Review
Secret Gardens of Somerset Paddy Tobin Book Review May 3, 2021 The gardening tourist could have no better companion if visiting Somerset than this wonderful book from Abigail Willis with photographs by Clive Boursnell. It will be the perfect guidebook, providing a comprehensive listing of the most desirable locations, each temptingly described and illustrated and in these days […]
