This year’s Bloom will feature immersive seed-sowing workshops for children who can learn how to grow their own pumpkins
The Bord Bia Bloom garden festival is pretty much a byword in the capital for the June Bank Holiday weekend as every year it attracts more than 100,000 visitors over the five days of ever expanding events and displays.
The heart of Bloom, celebrating its 18th year in the Phoenix Park, is, of course, the show gardens — 22 this year, made up of small, medium and large feature gardens, all of which reflect current trends and creativity in garden design.
Sustainability and enhancing biodiversity remain recurring themes because individual gardeners can be so effective in protecting the environment, but this year there is also an emphasis on encouraging children to catch the gardening bug.
The ‘Budding Bloomers’ area promises to keep children engaged and entertained with a food school, workshops on bugs, books, birds and bubbles, games, toddler play area and much more!
But more seriously, gardening has been proven to offer a host of benefits to children, from improved self-esteem to reduced depression and anxiety, as well as a better attitude to healthy eating. It is so empowering for a child to care for a plant and witness the transformation of a seed into a flourishing plant.
Because of this, Westland Horticulture, which manufactures brands such as Big Tom, Jack’s Magic, New Horizon, Boost, Peckish, and Kent & Stowe, and which sponsors the Cultivating Talent prize at Bloom for budding designers, is putting its focus on helping children to learn about cultivating and nurturing plants.
They are running immersive seed sowing workshops at the Westland Potting Shed which aim to inspire children to embrace the joy of gardening and to cultivate the next generation of green thumbs.
Young visitors will be able to plant their pumpkin seed, but also learn essential gardening techniques to nurture their plant throughout the summer. By autumn, Westland hopes to see thousands of youngsters harvesting their own pumpkin, perfect for carving into jack-o’-lanterns in time for Halloween. In addition to sowing seeds, children will have the chance to get creative by decorating their own biodegradable
Crafting clever garden designs in small spaces is highlighted with the Sun Harness Garden by Hendrik Lepel, sponsored by Peppermint Farm Glasshouses, which demonstrates how to create a microclimate by harnessing the Sun’s energy.
A Space for Possibilities: The Modular Container Garden by Louise Checa, showcases a garden pots, which can be planted directly into the ground at home.
The aim of these workshops, says Westland, is to ignite a passion that can adapt and move in tandem with different life stages, and two balcony gardens will show how to maximise smaller spaces, including Óir — The Zarbee’s Garden by Leonie Cornelius (pictured left).
Many keen gardeners will find inspiration in the ever-popular Postcard Gardens, which include 13 small but perfectly for gardening in children, offering them a hands-on experience that helps them connect with nature. formed pop-up gardens designed and built by community groups, schools, and training groups from across Ireland.
The Nursery Village has stands of plants from some of the country’s leading nurseries, floral displays, and a botanical art exhibition is also a big attraction. Other gardens include:
Rewild! by Nóra Tombor, Cultivating Talent co-winner, sponsored by Westland Horticulture;
nThe Westland Potting Shed will be open to all visitors from 9am to 6pm during Bord Bia Bloom, held in the Phoenix Park in Dublin from May 30 to June 3.
Tickets are on sale priced at €30. Up to two children aged 12 and under go free with every adult ticket. To find out more, visit bordbiabloom.com
nIn Perspective by Oliver and Liat Schurmann, sponsored by the European Commission;
Coming Home to Nature by Nicola Haines, sponsored by Fingal County Council;
Above & Beyond by Gavin Saunders and Stephen Mackle, sponsored by Natural World Products and New Leaf Compost;
Love that Keelings Feeling Garden by James Purdy, sponsored by Keelings.
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