I have a dream: How Abba brought inspiration to garden
ABBA, zen-living, and Ireland’s fishing industry have been the source of inspiration for some of the show gardens at Bord Bia’s Bloom Festival 2018.
Ireland’s top garden designers have been putting finishing touches on the 20 spectacular show gardens.
Award-winning gardener Tunde Szentesi, of TündeLandscapes, was inspired by the upcoming ‘Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again’ movie.
“This is a celebration for anyone that can’t get away from Ireland. We wanted to create a beautiful, Mediterranean atmosphere here, and this is it,” she said.
“We’ll have a DJ from Friday until Monday to play the ‘Mamma Mia’ movie music.
“I like the story of the movie, the story of how an independent woman started a new life in a new country.
“I did that to come to Ireland from Hungary. The ‘Mamma Mia’ story is very similar to mine.”
The ‘sustainable seafood garden’ was the brainchild of Bloom gold medal designer Andrew Christopher Dunne. His inspiration was the fishing village of Clogherhead in Co Louth, where he lives with his family. “I was sitting down and having a nice seafood chowder when I realised it was all there right in front of me,” he said.
Other eye-catching designs include Kevin Dennis’s Fruit Juice Matters and Peter O’Brien’s The Enchanted Woods.
Now in its 12th year, more than 4,000 people were involved in setting up the five-day festival. Plans have been in the pipeline for the past 12 months with three acres of marquees, and 1.7km of fencing being laid down. The festival originally started out to promote garden plants and design, but soon became Ireland’s most prominent gardening event. Alongside the gardens, visitors can meet some of Ireland’s top food producers in the Food Village. Food demonstrations will take place at the Bord Bia Quality Kitchen, as well as live fashion shows. There will also be craft demonstrations and workshops for children.