Day two at the Festival of Gardens and Nature 🌿
A full day at Ballintubbert, with talks, demonstrations, lunch, walks through the gardens and conversations across the grounds.
Darina Allen joined Klaus Laitenberger for a session on lost crops, ancient growing methods and what could thrive in Irish soil.
In the afternoon, Darina introduced Mick Kelly and Carwyn Graves for Tír to Table, exploring food literacy, young people and reconnecting with the land.
There were sessions with Sarah Raven, Harriet Rix, Mathew Jebb, Katy Merrington, Jo Thompson, Catherine FitzGerald, Tom Coward, Isik Güner, John Anderson, Jimi Blake and many more.
Trees, lost crops, romantic gardens, wild gardening, botanical illustration, planting combinations and the future of food all found their place in the day.
We’re nearly there with @festival_of_gardens_and_nature - this weekend! - everything’s coming together! Tents are up and being decorated by @roz.jellett - @minniezap is hard at it ironing out final hiccups - stages are being built @bohemiacanvas - we re planting up pots and it’s looking good - flowers being done @mystagrams of course -there will be mind expanding talks, delicious food, cider in the orchard - a “How To “ area - and the best shopping galore plants books shirts flower pictures and the most tempting of garden stuff not found in the shops! Music and convivium later - a great weekend all round 😍….
So proud and pleased how this year’s @festival_of_gardens_and_nature has come together - an epic line up with so many plant-y /garden/- landscape design /- ecologist /nature heroes from all over coming to @ballintubbert gardens and house this bank holiday weekend 2/3 May to change the way we see the world! Co collaborator @minniezap has worked tirelessly as has @bohemiacanvas and @roz.jellett for set dressing and @sue_ellencarroll for all things tech- @elevatepr for pr help - @mystagrams for flowers and of course key collaborator @emilyfaccini for our newest batch of beautiful illustrations which bring our pages alive! So many thanks to the @ballintubbert team as well - tents are going up - linings are sparkling inside - the apple blossom has just come out and the birds are singing in the hazels and lime trees. The copper beech leaves are a pale fluttering pink - Come along ! Book your tickets now for an inspiring fun weekend! 🫛🥕🥦🥬
#Repost @fthtsi
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“I got to know Laois during my student days at Trinity College Dublin. I would drive with friends down to Glin Castle, my family home, and stop off to picnic among the ancient stones,” says landscape designer Catherine FitzGerald. At the link in bio, she shares a garden lover’s guide to the medieval Irish county, encompassing estuaries, apple orchards and all. As told to @audrey_m_ward
📸: @mylesshelly
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#Laois #Ireland #GlinCastle
Very exciting to see this wonderful piece by Country Life’s John Goodall ( based in Dublin) on the achievements of the late Knight and his wife Olda restoring and caring for Glin Castle and its demesne throughout their life together. Olda aged 84 still lives in the wing surrounded by the garden she did so much to develop and the community she has been part of for 50 years. It also shines a light on Desmond’s lifetime of pro bono work campaigning for and raising funds for architectural conservation in Ireland. Thank you John thank you Country Life!
Proud of this lovely piece about Co Laois and all the exciting things there are to do there! - it’s where my co curator Minnie Preston and I put on @festival_of_gardens_and_nature each year at Ballintubbert House. Garden/ ecologist/farming/food stars speaking include Dan Pearson, Mary Keen ,Anya Murray, Sarah Raven, Jimi Blake, Isabel Bannerman, John Anderson, Tom Coward, Ailbhe Gerrard, Jo Thompson, klaus Laitenberger, James Hitchmough, Rory OConnell, Harriet Rix, Mick Kelly, Isek Gunner, Katy Merrington amongst many more!! Thank you @fthtsi thank you Audrey for words and Myles for pics!
…. Dropped into see how the gardens at Hillsborough Co Down were coming on - Mark Lutyens and I spent 5 years working on them for Historic Royal Palaces (HRP) - along with wonderful then head gardener Stephen Martelli and then later supported by Paul Hogarth Landscape architects…. We redesigned the terrace laying a mix of reclaimed stone and setts which we sourced from Hillsborough Reclammation yard which we planted into -so that plants crept between pavings and erupted out of the stones - we moved the austere topiary out of the Jubilee parterre planting it on the banks above and replacing it with softer more inviting perennials - creating a central pond with fountain surrounded by Angels Fishing Rods…. Further afield we devised boardwalks through swampy areas and bridges onto a river island with exotic plantings … and mark drew up the design for the walled garden which was to supply the veg and fruit for the cafe and to showcase beautifully grown vegetable crops esp for school children to learn ….also colourful borders an orchard, and wildflower meadow alive with insects and bees . We were so lucky to work on this wonderful project helping to bring a sleeping beauty back to life now cared for by fantastic head gardener claire woods and her team….I will be speaking about this along with some other projects in Kilkenny for the OPW in a couple of weeks!
Northern Irish garden adventures continued the other week…favourite place Seaforde Co Down (Mourne mountains beyond) with the fantastic Forde family who have created a kind of exotic heaven on earth especially dazzling at this time of year - special plants of the day included must-have small leaved Camellia transnokoensis - wonderful Rhodo calophytum and macabeanum - there were eye popping groves of huge crimson Rhodo arboreums - abd Magnolia salicifolia like snow capped peaks! Anthea’s butterfly house was about to open for the season. Patrick must have been beaming down from above as we admired his many plantings and collections from far distant shores. It was a treat to see mathew Alice and Finian though I missed my former plant hunting companion Charles who now lives in Oregon farming all kinds of nuts and fruits ….
The most lovely lunch given by @daphnemontgomery71 and Bill at beautiful Grey Abbey last Saturday in honour of our dear friend the brilliant plantsman and gardener Seamus O’Brien - toasts were drunk, memories were shared and we planted a tree for Seamus in the Southern Hemisphere garden which is full of exotic rarities. His friends flocked to be there - Margey Phillips, Daphne and Jonathan Shackleton, Neil porteous, David Maxwell, Tracy and Julie Mackie, Lesley Fennell, Rose Lauretson, Alwyn Sinnamon head gardener at Castlewellan, Christopher Moore and many more marvellous people. Thank you Bill and Daphne for such a special day remembering Seamus. 🙏🏼💚🙏🏼💚
Happy Mothers Day to all you dedicated, hard working, marvellous mams out there! Loving my card thank you christabel! One side real hellebores primroses periwinkle snowdrop daffodil and muscari threaded through the paper! Back side decoration inspired by her favourite mathew rice almond blossom on black ! 🩷🩷🩷
