E-Bulletin, Early May 2021

Dear IGPS member Welcome to the month of May, full of promise and one of the most uplifting months of the year for a gardener. We hope you all received your copy of the Newsletter recently and enjoyed reading at least some of the articles. If by any chance you did not receive your Newsletter, […]

The Mystery of Crocosmia ‘Malahide’ – Nicola and Peter Milligan

The Mystery of Crocosmia ‘Malahide’   Nicola and Peter Milligan   In the September issue of the IGPS Newsletter we wrote :-   “One Irish cultivar has created an air of ‘mystery’ – perhaps ‘mystery’ is too strong a term but read on and see what you think. It appears that the well known Irish […]

Great Dixter Then and Now

Then and Then and Now!  Paddy Tobin  Book Review  April 15, 2021 Great Dixter, Then & Now is the title and I suppose “Then, Then and Now” would have been too cumbersome a title for this small volume but it would have reflected the contents more accurately for this is a pictorial tour of the garden illustrated with present-day […]

Florapedia

Florapedia  Paddy Tobin  Book Review  April 15, 2021 Carol Gracie – you may remember her from those two fabulous books of hers, Spring Wildflowers of the Northeast and Summer Wildflowers of the Northeast – has just written the perfect book for that impossible-to-satisfy gardening nerd in your life. This is a book which has across the board – I suppose I […]

Newsletter, April 2021

The latest issue of the newsletter should be with members now – Issue 152, April 2021.  This issue marks the 40th anniversary of the founding of the society with an editorial which reminds us of the aims of the society and contains some excellent articles which will appeal to members: New Irish Rhododendrons from Seamus […]

A Year Full of Flowers…Sarah Raven

A Year Full of Flowers…with Sarah Raven.  Paddy Tobin  Book Review  March 31, 2021 Here is an exceptionally good book, full or relevant information, practical advice and suggestions to enliven your gardening life. It is an absolutely superb handbook for the enthusiastic gardener. That should be “enough said”; you could stop reading here and go and order it […]

E-Bulletin, March 2021

Dear IGPS member Whether you choose to use the Celtic, astronomical, or meteorological start date, spring is definitely now with us and, even better from a practical gardening point of view, summer time starts this weekend. We have both been busy with basic activities, Branka planting her potatoes and Maeve dividing herbaceous perennials, so no […]

Pollination – Timothy Walker

Pollination  Paddy Tobin  Book Review  March 17, 2021 Pollination: The Enduring Relationship between Plant and Pollinator, Timothy Walker I have a deeply held wish in my aging life that my sense of wonder and fascination at the extraordinary workings of the natural world will never leave me. Nothing makes me feel so young (despite being retired more […]

New Nordic Gardens – Annika Zetterman

New Nordic Gardens – Annika Zetterman  Paddy Tobin  Book Review  March 4, 2021 New Nordic Gardens, Scandinavian Landscape Design – Annika Zetterman Gardens “should be designed with dignity, worked on with modesty and maintained with persistence. This is how we think, how we work and this is what we are.” There is an ethos and a feeling […]

A Touch of Africa in Ireland – Nicola Milligan and Peter Milligan

It may seem a long way from S. Africa but the distance has not stopped a native South African from putting down roots in Ireland, Great Britain and elsewhere in Europe. The crocosmia, originally referred to as montbretia, became a very popular garden plant. Between 1880 and 1900 Victor Lemoine, a nurseryman based at Nancy […]

E-Bulletin, Late February

Dear IGPS member, Welcome to our late February ebulletin. There has been more very encouraging feedback to the online lectures. Comments about the most recent one by Mike Nelhams, Curator of Tresco Abbey Gardens on the Isles of Scilly included: Enjoyed the lecture. What a garden! Joan I really enjoyed the virtual visit to Tresco. Peggy […]

Windcliff – Dan Hinkley

Windcliff, A Story of People, Plants and Gardens by Daniel J. Hinkley  Paddy Tobin  Book Review  January 31, 2021 Daniel J. Hinkley spoke in Dublin around the year 2000, an event organised by the Royal Horticultural Society of Ireland at University College Dublin, and I can still recall the anticipation and excitement of attending that talk. He was […]

A Year at Brandywine Cottage – David Culp

A Year at Brandywine Cottage  Paddy Tobin  Book Review  December 24, 2020 David Culp’s writing transports his readers, even those at the other side of the Atlantic, to an enjoyment of his garden in Pennsylvania, USA. It is a gardener’s garden and a gardener’s book, written for fellow gardeners who will understand so very well the happinesses, dreams, […]

The Modern Cottage Garden

The Modern Cottage Garden  Paddy Tobin  Book Review  December 10, 2020 If you were starting out in gardening you would be very well served by this book. It could very well be considered the essential guidebook to the beginner and to anybody gardening in a small space who wished to have plant interest throughout the year. Originally, the […]

E-Bulletin: Mid-February 2021

 Welcome to the IGPS ebulletin Mid February 2021 Dear IGPS Members While it is obviously disappointing not to be able to go to lectures and chat to friends, the very positive aspect is that all of us, regardless of where we live, will be able to enjoy a bit of escapism and find out about […]

IGPS Winter E-Bulletin

IGPS ebulletin January / February Dear members Welcome to another ebulletin. There was an amazing turnout of almost 200 of us from all over Ireland and further afield for Rosemary Maye’s talk on 21st January; we think everyone who enjoyed it will want to say a big thank you to her for injecting some wonderful […]

Post Brexit Online Plant Shopping.

Post Brexit there are complications importing plants from GB to Ireland, North and south, with Customs checks and phytosanitary certificates needed. Most GB companies, if not all, have now stopped delivering to Ireland. Bord Bia has compiled a list at…https://www.bordbia.ie/gardening/plant-delivery-collection-services/…of nurseries and garden centres around Ireland. Please look through for online ordering and postal delivery […]

Plant Portraits – Irish Heritage Plants – now Online

We have begun a collection of Plant Portraits, pen pictures of some favourite Irish heritage plants which you could grow in your own garden. These are now online on the society’s website: https://irishgardenplantsociety.com/ Simply click on the “Irish Plants” link at the top of the page and on “Plant Portraits” in the drop-down menu or, […]

Past Newsletters now Online

You can now browse many past issues of the society’s newsletter online. Newsletters from 2003 – 2020 are available to date and earlier issues will be posted in time. Go to the website: https://irishgardenplantsociety.com/ and click on “Publications” at the top of the page and then on “Newsletters” in the drop-down menu or use this […]

Plant Portraits

A selection of “Plant Portraits” of Irish Heritage Plants has been added to the website. These have been taken from recent issues of the society’s newsletter. Go to the menu item, “Irish Plants” and select “Plant Portraits” from the drop-down menu to view this first tranche of portraits. Or just click on  “Plant Portraits” here. […]