Bloom is gone but it’s not forgotten
Garden festival’s cancellation can’t stop the f lowers from blossoming in Dublin
THE Bloom garden festival may be off this year, but there are plenty of green-fingered enthusiasts keeping the dream alive.
And the run of good weather has also shown off Dublin’s Botanic Gardens to stunning effect as they reopened this week on a limited basis.
RTÉ is running a virtual Bloom with sponsors Bord Bia, inviting the public to post pictures on their social media with the hashtag #BloomWithRTE from their gardens, patios and balconies, with prizes on offer for the most inventive and spectacular.
Meanwhile, previous Bloom prizewinners and participants have told how they have been exercising their gardening muscles in its absence.
Garden designer Patricia Tyrell is a double gold medal winner, including her garden last year called Tóg go Bog é which she created with students from Cabra Community College.
Now she is concentrating on her own garden in Rathfarnham. ‘It’s always nice to experiment and try new plants when you get the chance,’ she says.
Brian Geraghty and volunteers at the Epilepsy Care Foundation in Malahide would have been at Bloom this year with their working allotment.
Now the allotment will stay in situ, to benefit people with epilepsy and also those in wheelchairs as it features waist-height raised beds. The foundation is aiming to build an epilepsy care centre on Swords Road.
Meanwhile, Niall Cullen was not going to be involved in Bloom but does tend his own allotment on De Courcy Square in Glasnevin, which has been reopened on a limited basis. ‘The place hasn’t looked better, I tell you, it’s come on in leaps and bounds,’ he said.
Another Bloom gold medallist, Alan Rudden, showed us around the Castleknock garden he designed for his mother-in-law. He says designers are inundated with requests for plans. ‘It’s the perfect storm – it’s spring so everything is starting to grow, the weather’s fantastic, and everyone’s looking out their window thinking, I wish I had a nicer spot outside,’ Alan said.
Andrew Christoper Dunne was all ready to start building an elaborate Bloom garden planned along with sponsor Cara Nurseries. He said: ‘We’ll go again next year.’
‘It’s come on in leaps and bounds’