The 2023 Alpine Garden Society show and plant sale is a great opportunity to see a selection of finely grown alpines and pick up some for your own garden from specialist nurseries. The event is open to the public and will take place on 1st April from 1:30pm-4pm at the Cabinteely Community School, Co. Dublin. […]
Author: Audrey O'Kane
IGPS AGM 2023 on 20/5/2023 (Saturday)
Saturday 20th May: AGM and visit to Ardgillan Castle and Garden, Balbriggan, County Dublin – 10.30 – 11.00 Registration, tea & coffee – 11.15 – 12.15 Annual General Meeting – 12.15 – 13.00 Talk by Dominica McKevitt, head gardener at Ardgillan – 13.15 – 14.15 Lunch – 14.15 – 15.45 Guided tour of the Gardens […]
The Gardens Trust lecture series on Irish gardens (February 2023)
The Gardens Trust in the U.K. have organised a series of 4 online talks on historic gardens of Ireland. The lectures cost £5 individually or £16 for all four. Attendees will be sent a Zoom link prior to the start of the talk. Please see this EVENTBRITE LINK for details and registration: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/unforgettable-gardens-mount-usher-tickets-514498758637 1 […]
Moorea Volumes 16 & 17 now available for digital download
Volumes 16 and 17 of Moorea, The Journal of the Irish Garden Plant Society, has just been made available as digital copies online. This journal is an occasional publication and is free to members of the society. The contents of Volume 16 are: “Reviving a Late Eighteenth-Century Town Garden (No 63 Merrion Square)” by […]
17/9 garden visit: An update
As previously advised in the August e-bulletin, sent on 13th August, our proposed garden visit this Saturday 17th September has been postponed. We hope to visit this garden next year. Unfortunately it has not been possible to arrange a visit to another garden instead, despite the best efforts of the IGPS Northern Committee. Garden visits […]
Iris sibirica ‘Fran’s Gold’
Discovered and introduced by Jim and Fran Clarke, the foliage of this perennial plant emerges each spring in a bright chartreuse yellow colour. The colour is stunning and continues until the end of June, when it turns a greener colour. Before then in May, it is topped by beautiful blue and yellow flowers with intricate […]
AGM on May 7th to be held on Zoom
The Annual General Meeting on Saturday, May 7th 2022 at 11.15am will take place via Zoom and not in-person as stated on page 32 of the Newsletter. The agenda remains unchanged. The change is due to COVID restrictions. We have just been informed that the venue at the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin is now restricted […]
Brian Duncan awarded the RHS Victoria Medal of Honour
The lifetime work of Brian Duncan, the outstanding daffodil breeder from County Tyrone and Honorary Member of the IGPS, has recently been recognised by the award of the Victoria Medal of Honour by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). This is the RHS’s highest award and is given to horticulturalists deserving special honour; it is limited […]
Prestigious RHS awards awarded to three Irish gardeners and IGPS members
This March sees three outstanding Irish gardeners and members of IGPS being awarded by the RHS for their invaluable contributions to the world of horticulture. Over the years we have all benefitted from their hard work, deep knowledge as well as generous sharing. Please join us in congratulating Thomas Pakenham, Seamus O’Brien and Paddy Mackie […]
Garden observations at the Ulster Folk Museum
IGPS volunteers met at the Rectory Garden at the Ulster Folk Museum on the 23rd of February to plan the early season’s work. Despite the recent gales a number of plants caught the eye. There were extensive clumps of snowdrops at the base of the beech hedge, a cheery two-tone wallflower, an early-flowering iris – […]
Mackaya bella
The first Curator of the Trinity College Botanic Garden was James Townsend Mackay and he held the position for a period of 60 years until his death in 1862. A contemporary of his in his later years was William Henry Harvey who, as Professor of Botany and one of the first to publish a flora […]
Primula ‘Lady Greer’
Primula ‘Lady Greer’ Primula ‘Lady Greer’ is a plant that has graced our gardens for around 100 years. This beautiful, mid-spring bloomer originated at Mrs Johnson’s garden in Kinlough, Co Leitrim some time in the early 1900s and was named in honour of Lady Olivia Greer of Curragh Grange, Co Kildare. My garden is neither […]
Garrya × issaquahensis ‘Glasnevin Wine’
Garrya × issaquahensis Garrya × issaquahensis, a cross between G. elliptica and G. fremontii, is an evergreen shrub with wavy-edged, leathery foliage which makes a very pleasant contribution to the late-winter/early spring garden when both the tassels and young growth are flushed an attractive wine colour. It will grow to three metres in height and […]
Ruscus aculeatus ‘John Redmond’
Ruscus aculeatus ‘John Redmond’ Ruscus aculeatus is notable as having cladodes rather than leaves. The cladodes are a spine tipped, flattened section of stem and it is on these cladodes that the flowers appear. Although minute, the resulting fruit of the fertilised female flowers reveals their presence. Having escaped from gardens, it occurs in various […]
Bergenia purpurascens ‘Irish Crimson’
Bergenia purpurascens ‘Irish Crimson’ Bergenia purpurascens ‘Irish Crimson’ is an exceptionally attractive plant in winter when its foliage turns an intense rich red with the onset of the first frosts while its spring pink/ruby red flowers above neat, narrow and upright foliage give another display of exquisite beauty. Given its small stature, it is best […]
Leucanthemum ‘Hazel’s Dream’
Leucanthemum ‘Hazel’s Dream’ The daisy has always been appreciated for its simple shape, colour and petal arrangement. Whether it is the modest daisy of our lawns, the wild ox-eye daisy of our roadsides or the impressive Shasta daisy of our gardens, their appeal is perennial and universal. Leucanthemun x superbum, the Shasta daisy, surely the pinnacle […]
Pittosporum ‘Silver Queen’
Pittosporum ‘Silver Queen’ Pittosporum is a genus of approximately 200 species mainly native to Australia and New Zealand. Less than 20 species are commonly cultivated as ornamentals. Those grown in gardens are chosen for the evergreen foliage which ranges from glossy green through variegated forms to those with deep purple foliage. An added advantage is […]
Hypericum ‘Rowallane’
Hypericum ‘Rowallane’ As shrubs, Hypericum tends not to be valued highly by gardeners, perhaps because of associations with new housing developments and supermarket car parks. Possibly for this reason the beautiful Hypericum ‘Rowallane’, which holds an RHS Award of Garden Merit, seems to have fallen out of favour which is a great shame. It is […]
Garden & Landscape Designers Association SEMINAR 2022
The Solution to our Climate Crisis is a Simple One – TREES Garden & Landscape Designers Association Annual Seminar – online – 26 February 2022 This will be the message from an inspirational panel of speakers at the upcoming Garden and Landscape Designer Association (GLDA) 26th Annual Design Seminar (online) on Saturday, 26th February 2022. […]