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Irish Examiner
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Garden Digest: Summer diary dates for the room outside
A spectacular celebration of gardens, heritage, nature, horticultural inspiration and sustainability, the 2025 Carlow Garden Festival promises to be a lively conversation that brings together leading names from the world of horticulture from today, Saturday, July 26, to Sunday, August 3. Now in its 23rd year, this beloved festival offers a nine-day programme of talks, guided tours, garden visits, workshops and culinary experiences. Today, Saturday, July 26, sees BBC Gardeners' World favourite Adam Frost join forces with rugby star Peter O'Mahony, as the great Munster and Ireland legend reveals his passion for gardening at an event at the Arboretum Home and Garden Heaven in Leighlinbridge (Eircode R93 P9F4), at 7.30pm; tickets, €25. Sarah Eberle, renowned for her record 19 gold medals at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, will share insights from her illustrious career in garden design during a talk at Borris House on Thursday, July 31. Sarah will discuss the creative process and evolution of design trends that have shaped her award-winning gardens, offering inspiration and practical advice for gardeners of all levels. Antony Barry and Noel O'Keeffe will host open gardens on Sunday, July 27, 10.30am-2.30pm, on the Bog Road, Carrigtwohill (Eircode T45 RX67). The event is in aid of Down Syndrome Ireland's Munster Branch. Refreshments will be served. All are welcome. Owenabue Garden and Flower Club, Carrigaline, will host an evening walk at Bee FitzGerald's Garden, The Old Rectory, Templebreedy, Fennell's Bay, Crosshaven (Eircode P43 E129), on Monday, July 28, at 7pm; entry, €10, in aid of Cystic Fibrosis Ireland. Refreshments and parking are available. All welcome. Organisers of the recent Innishannon Gardens and Galleries event were delighted with its success. The event, on July 5 and 6, began in the parish hall where participants picked up a map and a ticket for €10, which gave entry to al gardens and galleries. A free minibus took participants around to any outlying gardens. The funds raised will enable the Tidy Towns group to pay for heritage signs around Innishannon recording the old village names before they are forgotten. Fota House & Gardens now offers an even more memorable visitor experience. A major programme of conservation and restoration has just been completed, to the value of €2.2m over four years, including structural roof repairs, revitalisation of the house's regency interiors, and the conservation of the McCarthy 19th-century landscape art collection. Victorian garden tours take place at 1.30pm on Wednesdays and Fridays — €10, adults; €8, seniors/students; €5, children. Do you have a news item or gardening club event for Garden Digest? Email gardening@
Daily Mirror
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Award-winning Norfolk rose gardens with 'hidden gem' park is a 'lovely day out'
Fans of the venue said it is "nice to stroll around on a warm day" and dubbed it "cute and wholesome" Award-winning rose gardens have been praised online as a place to add to your "weekend list." The venue, tucked away in Norwich, Norfolk, has drawn attention online due to its picturesque views. Peter Beales Roses, in Norwich, has been dubbed a "hidden gem" by fans on TikTok, who praised the rose gardens specifically. That will come as no surprise to many as Peter Beales is renowned for being home to the largest variety of roses in the UK and having 29 RHS Chelsea Flower Show Gold Medals to its name. TikTok user Shauna (@ilyxshaun) shared a clip showcasing the venue on a recent trip. Her caption read: "One for your weekend list." In the video, Shauna walks through the venue and shows viewers the entrance, the indoor shop selling produce, meets, handmade jewellery, the cafe, and the garden shop. She then moves on to the rose gardens, which she claims are "nice to stroll around on a warm day." In her voiceover, Shauna said: "This award-winning spot in Attleborough might just be Norfolk's best kept summer day out. It's known for its beautiful rose gardens, but there's a lot more you can do here. "Inside. They've got a shop with lots of local produce like jams, chutneys, fresh meats, even handmade jewellery. They also have a cafe for brunch and afternoon tea. "Plus you can sit outside when the weather's warm, which is a bonus. There's a garden section with indoor plants, tools and just all the little bits that you didn't know you even needed. "But the best part, without a doubt, is the rose gardens. There were rose bushes everywhere, little archways to wander through and so many pretty corners. It's so nice to stroll around on a warm day. Peter Bales is ideal for when you don't have plans but want something cute and wholesome to do." Beneath the video, others praised the venue and shared their favourite things about it too. One viewer said: "such a lovely day out" and a second wrote: "looks lovely." A third added: "When I last went there was a little hidden play park too for children we had to follow signs and it was very hidden but very cute." A different person said: "Yep there's a children's play area right at the back and a little nature walk." The praise continued, with one viewer writing: "I love visiting here solely for the rose gardens!" and another adding: "Love it here. The rose festival is fab!" According to Peter Beales, the rose gardens allow visitors to "escape to a world of beauty and tranquillity", where "nature's artistry meets timeless elegance." The venue's website adds that the gardens are the perfect place to "lose yourself in a sensory paradise." The rose gardens feature rose-covered archways and walkways draped in vibrant blooms, a "stunning" observation turret offering panoramic garden views, a "serene" wildlife garden buzzing with biodiversity, and display gardens with "intoxicating perfumes and seasonal colour." Peter Beales Roses is based around half a mile off the A11 in Attleborough, Norfolk. The venue features free parking, wheelchair access, toilets, and baby-changing facilities. Entrance to the rose gardens, which is open seven days a week, year-round, is free.
Evening Standard
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Evening Standard
Queen Camilla opens new garden at London's beloved Battersea Dogs & Cats Home
The Queen, who is Patron of Battersea, was there to unveil the permanent RHS and BBC Radio 2 'Dog Garden', designed by gardener and broadcaster Monty Don. The Queen first saw the garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show earlier this year and has been involved in supporting it from the very beginning.
Daily Mirror
13-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
BBC star makes comment on retirement after health issue mistaken as stroke
Television favourite Nicki Chapman has spoken about the impact of being diagnosed with a brain tumour and her thoughts about retiring from a glittering career in television Television presenter Nicki Chapman has issued a definitive statement on whether she plans to retire any time soon. The star of Pop Idol and Escape to the Country said that she wants to continue looking forward and to stay in her profession. Nicki's comments came after a terrifying health incident in which she was originally believed to have had a stroke before doctors realised she had a benign melanoma on her brain. Speaking to Candis magazine about the ordeal, the BBC star said: 'They thought I'd had a stroke. I cannot praise the NHS highly enough: I was looked after brilliantly from start to finish. 'I went back to work six weeks to the day after surgery. I'm 58. I have my health, my various jobs, and my lovely husband.' On whether she plans to retire, Nicki added: 'Heavens no. If you're lucky enough to love what you do, keep doing it. And I've never been someone who looks back. I always look forward – in both senses of the phrase.' This isn't the first time Nicki has spoken about her tumour and how it has affected her since she was diagnosed in 2024, the RHS Chelsea Flower Show presenter spoke to the Brain Tumour charity in 2020 about the experience and the distress she felt. She said: 'My symptoms were very sudden, over 24 hours. Initially doctors thought I'd had a stroke but scans revealed a golf-ball-sized meningioma. "It's the initial shock of diagnosis and then the shock when you tell people that's even more distressing. "It's like a slap. When you have to ring people – your family – and tell them; it's just hideous." Later, in 2024, she would tell the Mirror how much she was thankful to the NHS for their treatment of her, especially during the recovery. She said: 'Fortunately, my experience was a good one, my recovery was amazing, but I still take one day at a time. 'I'm a very positive person, so to always put a positive spin on life has helped keep me going.' Nicki added that she felt like she should share her experience so that others in the same position didn't feel alone. She explained: 'I decided to speak out after my operation as I felt not only had I received the best care I could have asked for from my local hospital and the NHS, but also that my story may help others going through something similar.'
Leader Live
09-07-2025
- Leader Live
Grade I listed landscape gets ‘garden for the future' in face of climate change
The new 'garden for the future' in Sheffield Park and Garden, East Sussex, is the first major refresh in the historic landscape influenced by the likes of Capability Brown and Humphry Repton, since it was acquired by the conservation charity in 1954. The National Trust said the new planting, designed by RHS Chelsea Flower Show gold medal winning designer Joe Perkins, would follow in the tradition of Sheffield Park and Garden's history as a place of new landscape design and experimental planting. The new garden for the future occupies a half-an-acre corner previously used for propagation of plants, with planting from around the world to showcase to visitors how plants can adapt to different environments. It will also support succession planting plans and future garden developments, the National Trust said as it grapples with the impacts of climate change such as hotter, drier summers and more extreme weather events on its gardens. The trust said significant specimens in the collection at Sheffield Park have suffered with extremes in temperature and rainfall in recent years, and some are nearing the end of their natural life. The new site harks back to Arthur Gilstrap Soames who indulged his passion for horticulture in the 120-acre garden more than a century ago with innovate and bold colour schemes, new plant hybrids and experimental planting of species from around the world. Head gardener Jodie Hilton said: 'The new garden provides an opportunity to engage visitors with a different style of planting, adapted to a different climate and planting environment, than they might see in the rest of the landscape at Sheffield Park, while taking inspiration from the garden surrounding it. 'We hope visitors will take a moment to pause and reflect in nature, in a corner of the landscape that was often overlooked until now.' The new garden includes a dry exotic area planted mostly in raised beds to allow the use of species from sub-alpine habitats of parts of Tasmania, New Zealand, central and southern Chile and southern Argentina. A second area focuses more on southern hemisphere temperate forest, inspired by the mid-altitude hill forests of central Chile and Argentina, with many species originating from the 'Gondwanan' supercontinent which once linked Australasia with South America, Africa, India and Antarctica. And a final area focuses on temperate woodland in a space mostly under the existing tree canopy, with ground covering ferns, shade-tolerant grasses and perennial forget-me-not, along with woodland shrubs such as azalea, the trust said. Once the plants are established, the team behind the garden will begin to test tolerance to drought and extreme temperatures, with planting in raised beds enabling the testing of exotic species and resilience to drier soils. Mr Perkins said resilience was a 'core principle' of the planting scheme. 'Early on, we identified the need for plants which can tolerate both extended periods of drought, and potentially heat, as well as cold winter temperatures. 'We've created different planting habitats which will allow the team to explore plants from around the world that could be better adapted to future conditions. 'From drier raised beds to shadier, wetter woodland planting, we're continuing with Arthur Soames' experimental approach as we tackle the challenges and opportunities that climate change is predicted to bring us,' he said. Sheila Das, National Trust head of gardens and parks, said: 'The team at Sheffield Park are bringing huge energy to an already stunning landscape. 'Our gardens never sit still so, to keep enjoying the garden's beauty into the future, we must constantly experiment. She added: 'In the wider garden, the team are looking into how the planting can be adapted for the future and in the garden for the future, visitors can enjoy a brand-new concept that sits well in the landscape but brings something new and inspiring.'
