“Irish Demesne Landscapes 1660 – 1740” by Vandra Costello: A Review
“Irish Demesne Landscapes 1660 – 1740” is a scholarly treatment of an era of Irish gardening written in a delightfully accessible and pleasantly readable style. Vandra Costello was inspired after reading the diaries of Samuel Pepys to read those of John Evelyn and was very taken by the many references they contained to gardens in […]
The Garden Visit – The Report!
Anticipation can bring a certain dread, a nervousness of the unknown, but the old theatre adage of it “being alright on the night” was proven true once again. Our fellow members in the local garden society arrived at the time planned; some of the committee members arrived early and marshalled the parking – ours is […]
A Weekend Away – Our Annual General Meeting Weekend in Co. Donegal, May 2015
It’s great fun to go off with a group of fellow gardeners, leave your own patch behind for a while, and wander around other gardens admiring, chatting, photographing and finding new ideas that you might try back home. We had such a weekend recently. It was the occasion of the Annual General Meeting of the […]
First Ladies of Gardening: Pioneer, Designers and Dreamers by Heidi Howcroft with Photographs by Marianne Majerus – A Review.
This has been one of the most delightful and enjoyable books I have read in quite a while. Marianne Majerus’ photographs are immediately captivating and this lead to my having to wait until my wife had read the book before I could have the pleasure. It was worth the wait and if you too wish […]
The Plant Lover’s Guide to Epimediums by Sally Gregson – A Review.
We have entered a period of renewed interest in epimediums following the introduction of a range of new species from China and the subsequent richness of cultivars bred from them. For many years gardeners have considered epimediums as the pretty plant for dry shade conditions but the new Chinese plants are simply astonishing and have […]
Hidden Histories: Trees –The Secret Properties of 150 Species by Noel Kingsbury. A Review
This book presents a collection of snippets of interesting information about a world-wide selection of trees and presents this in an arrangement of text boxes along with accompanying illustrations. As would be expected the practical uses of trees feature regularly – those used for building purposes, for making furniture or tools, for weaving into baskets, […]
The Irish Garden by Jane Powers and Jonathan Hession, A Review
In a combination of lusciously delicious text and exquisite photography, Jane Powers and Jonathan Hession have produced the most wonderful and delightful book on Irish gardens. Although there was a short interlude when Jane spent some years of childhood in America she is truly an Irish woman as she has spent most of her life […]
Secret Gardens of the Cotswords – A Review.
What is most striking about this book is the wonderful number of beautiful gardens there are within the small area of the Cotswolds and that this is matched by glorious photography and delightful text used to present them to us. Twenty gardens, all within the circle of Cheltenham, Banbury, Oxford, Cirencester and Stroud, are described […]
Subtly Scented Sarcococca
We learnt to recognise the signs, visitors stopped, looked around, walkedback, looked again, and then saw someone obviously gardening and out comes the question – ‘where is that lovely scent coming from’? This winter, especially on calm days, and after planting probably hundreds of plants over the years, the scent has gently wafted around as […]
Mount Congreve – A Preview
Mount Congreve Gardens, in Waterford, will open for the 2015 season on Thursday 12th of March but I took the opportunity to have a walk around the gardens during the last week. My first impression, as I remember the scenes of devastation we witnessed in the gardens following the storms at this time last year, […]
Authors and their Gardens by Paddy Tobin
A review of A Writer’s Garden: How Gardens Inspired Our Best-Loved Authors, by Jackie Bennett, with photographs by Richard Hanson – descriptions of nineteen gardens with the added interest of information on the authors who gardened in them. For some of the authors in this book their garden was a place which provided inspiration – […]
Snowdrop Time is with us again!
The major event of the snowdrop season is the open week at Altamont Gardens in Co. Carlow. The gardens are open to the public completely free of charge and Paul Cutler, the head gardener, gives a guided walk of the garden twice each day pointing out the various cultivars grown in the garden and telling […]
Designing and Planting a Woodland Garden by Keith Wiley: A Review
When I first visited Keith Wiley’s garden, “Wildside” in Devon, I though the man must be a complete nutcase. At the time, the planting of the garden was almost complete with some area still under development. To me, it didn’t seem much like “development” when I walked it as there was still a large area […]
