Members' Garden Visit: Victor and Roz - Irish Garden Plant Society

Normally, when I am sent photographs of a garden visit by society members I post a small selection on the “Latest News” section of our website with a short comment to report on the occasion, generally no more than a few sentences as this is what fits best in that location. However, Maeve Bell, Chairperson of the Northern Region of the IGPS, has sent a particularly nice selection of photographs from a recent visit to the garden of Victor and Roz Henry in Belfast. Victor and Roz are IGPS members and also contribute as committee members in the North so I feel I can do more justice to Maeve’s work and to Victor’s and Roz’s garden by showing the material here.

This is Meave’s note to me following the visit:

Hi Paddy,

We had a very enjoyable visit to Victor and Roz Henry’s garden in Newtownards yesterday despite the most unseasonable weather – heavy downpours, gusts of wind which caused the gazebo for the plant sale to lift off, and a temperature of about 12*C. But IGPS members and their friends are a hardy lot and made the most of the fleeting sunny periods to explore a garden packed with plants, both well known and exotic, and well-chosen interesting detail. Some highlights were the pergola festooned with Rosa ‘Francis E. Lester’, a fabulous cardiocrinum with blooms soaring to about three metres, and a stand of mouth-watering delphiniums in glorious shades of blue. There was a seriously well-stocked plant stall which included a decent selection of Irish cultivars including Dahlia ‘Matt Armour’, Cytissus ‘Donard Gem’, and Primula ‘Rowallane Rose’. And a final touch was the beautiful music played by their ten year old grand-daughter Josie on her harp.

Maeve’s photographs and captions will tell the story far more eloquently than I ever could so, read on and enjoy – and many thanks and a most sincere “Well done!” to Victor and Roz and a big “Thank You” to Maeve, our Roving Reporter in the North!