‘I remember seeing the whole sky lit up by bombs’

HELEN Dillon is a well-known gardening guru who has presented gardening TV programmes for RTE. She is also author of a number of gardening books. She lives in Monkstown, Co Dublin, with her husband, Val. For more information, visit dillongarden.com.

What’s the most important lesson about money which your career has taught you?

I’ve had enough money to be able to travel and see plants in their own habitat. That’s exciting as you can learn so much about how to grow a plant — and the height it’s supposed to be — when you know the habitat it’s in.

The best advice you ever got about money?

My granddad was very good with money. He lived in Birmingham. I grew up in Scotland, but before my family moved to Scotland I lived with my grandparents for a while — as my father was away at the war. We were living in an underground place to keep away from the bombs. I remember seeing the whole sky lit up by bombs one night when I was only two years old. That experience of wartime taught me not to waste money. If you had two shillings back then, you were rich. These things that you learn very early stay in you.

The most expensive country you ever visited?

My husband and I went all over the place on our honeymoon — we went from Rome to Paris and so on. I found Paris very expensive. The most exciting place I’ve ever visited was China. I spent a month there studying plants.

Apart from property, what’s the most expensive thing you have ever bought?

Probably jewellery, as I quite like jewellery.

What was your worst job?

I went to a school where I could learn about typing. When I later went for a job interview in Knightsbridge in London, the person who interviewed me discovered that I could type. So she sent me to work in the ‘doubts and difficulties’ department — which was run by fantastically boring old men.

What’s your favourite coin?

I was digging in the garden today and I dug up a peculiar piece of stone. Not a coin I know — but it was a really interesting old stone which I imagine was something to do with money long ago.

What was your biggest financial mistake?

We sold a vase one time for £100 — and it sold later for half a million.

What was your best financial killing?

The whole reason I’m here living in Ireland is because about 50 years ago, I put money on a horse called Foinavon in the Grand National. I bet four shillings on Foinavon each way. Foinavon won the Grand National as all of the other horses fell and so it was the only one to finish the race. On the strength of that win, I went into the antique trade. That’s how I met my husband, who’s Irish. We moved to Dublin shortly after we met and I’m very happy in Ireland.

Are you better off than your parents?

I probably am. My father was a soldier in the war and things were tough financially in wartime. I came from a family where the eldest son gets all the money. Unfortunately I was the eldest daughter — so everything went to my brother.

Would you buy Irish property now?

Yes — why not? Though we love the house we have here in Monkstown. It was a vegetable garden and it has lovely old walls.

Do you ever haggle?

Yes, as I’m also an antique dealer and we would have haggled in the early days of antique dealing. I’ve haggled in the trade — to try to get something cheaper. I’ve always adored antiques and the buying and selling of them. These days the fun’s gone out of antiques though. These days you can ring a top dealer anywhere in the world to find out how much something is. In the old days, you couldn’t suddenly find out how much something was if it was in South America, for example — but these days you can.

Are you a spender or a saver?

I’ve occasionally been quite a spender but when you get to over 80, you finally become more sensible with money.