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Irish Independent
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
‘Lots of colour, great atmosphere': Sunshine returns to Bord Bia Bloom as thousands turn out for second day
While the opening day had been hit by rain, 'real Bloom weather' as some called it, returned yesterday and brought with it a smell of sunscreen in the air. It was the first day of Bloom for Aisling Newe, from Co Galway, who praised the 'vibes' and the exhibits on display. 'I'm loving the show gardens – judging them as if I know, like an expert here. But they're really good, to see what they could do with such small spaces. It's really inspiring.' She found the Bee Happy wildlife garden – which won a silver medal and was the winning garden on RTÉ One's Super Garden – the most inspiring. Ms Newe said she came to the festival for a 'bit of inspiration for the future'. 'I don't have green fingers, but I like to think I have. I love a lot of indoor plants, so I am interested in plants… I'd love a really nice garden like this.' Fionnuala and Emmet Savage from Dublin, who were wandering through the gardens with two big bags of plants, most definitely do have green fingers. 'I can't believe the amount of vendors since I was here first, which was probably about six or seven years ago,' Mr Savage said. 'Feels like it's about 10 times larger than the first time we were here, between food and natural producers, and then, of course, plants. 'I enjoyed walking through the model gardens, but I just enjoy walking through the place and absorbing the summer atmosphere.' His wife, Fionnuala, who was looking for gardening inspiration, said: 'It's elevated again this year. More space, bigger, and everything is just fabulous. Very impressive.' ADVERTISEMENT The best show garden for Anita Deane and Margaret Deane Carolan was Nature's Symphony: Celebrating Organic Growth, which pays homage to the Bloom patron, President Michael D Higgins. 'The Michael D Higgins garden is fabulous, you can smell seaweed,' Ms Deane Carolan said. 'Lots of colour, great atmosphere.' Always the biggest attraction of the festival, the 21 show gardens were all designed with sustainability in mind and incorporating environmental measures. Many visitors admiring them were chatting with their designers and asking for gardening advice. The Repak Most Sorted Garden won the overall large garden category award and was very popular with the public, and designer James Purdy said winning the gold feels like a 'recognition for your hard work'. 'It's not normal to put wine bottles, crushed cans and old brick in a garden and make it look beautiful. So I'm glad I've got it over the line well,' he said. In his garden, he wanted to 'look for the beauty in recycled, refined and reused materials'. Another winner was The European Commission's Renewed Blooms Garden, designed by David Negus from Suffolk, England, who won the overall medium garden category award. It is his first time at Bloom, and he said it felt 'surreal' to win the award for his garden, which features a discarded railway track. 'When you're self-employed, like I am, it's actually really nice, because I haven't got anyone telling me if I'm doing well. It's just me, my own brain,' he said. 'So it's really nice to do an event like this and say: 'Oh, I kind of know what I'm doing'. It kind of reaffirms that.' Designer Alan Rudden, who created The Pot Gallery Garden, won the overall small garden category award – his ninth gold medal in 10 years of attending the festival. The Rainbow Brick Balcony Garden, designed by Gary Kirwan as a tribute to Lego, and the How To Train Your Dragon Garden, designed by Tunde Perry and Barry Kavanagh, were especially popular among the visitors. Benny Magennis, from Co Monaghan, designed The Early Bird Catches the Worm garden, sponsored by the Marie Keating Foundation, and won a silver-gilt award. 'Bloom is a great day out. It's very inspiring for people. They're asking for advice all the time. That's all part of it,' Mr Magennis said.
Irish Examiner
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Bord Bia Bloom: Sustainability is a winner at this year's festival
Gardens highlighting the importance of recycling, repurposing, and the circular economy scooped two of the top prizes at this year's Bord Bia Bloom. All of the 21 show gardens showcased at this year's festival, which kicked off at Dublin's Phoenix Park from Thursday, were designed to incorporate environmental measures and with sustainability in mind. However, the competition's judges said the Repak Most Sorted Garden, which secured the large garden category award, and the medium garden category winner, the European Commission's 'Renewed Blooms' Garden, conveyed "particularly strong sustainability messages for visitors to take home". TV host and food writer Donal Skehan and sustainable living advocate Eimear Hutchinson at the Repak Most Sorted Garden which won the large garden category at Bord Bia Bloom 2025. Picture: Fintan Clarke/Creative Coalesce The judges said David Purdy's winning design in the former category showed that waste "is not an inevitability but a design flaw; one that can be solved through thoughtful recycling and regeneration". They also said that the design by David Negus in the latter category, embodied "EU circular economy principles by repurposing materials and blending nature with human-made elements". Percussionists Patrick Lynch and Caitriona Frost with artist 'Decoy' at the European Commission's Renewed Blooms garden which won the medium garden category at Bord Bia Bloom. Picture: Chris Bellew/Fennell The top award in the small garden category went to the Pot Gallery Garden and its designer Alan Rudden which, the judges said, demonstrated how "freestanding and vertical pots can green spaces such as terraces, roofs or balconies". The overall concept garden winner was the Rainbow Brick Balcony Garden, designed by Limerick artist Gary Kirwan as a tribute to Lego. Designer Gary Kirwan from Limerick won the overall concept garden category at Bloom 2025 with his Rainbow Brick Balcony Garden, a tribute to Lego. Picture: Sam Boal/Collins The judges described this garden, constructed from over 800,000 individual pieces over a period of eight weeks as, "playful and unique". The garden itself will be reused at family-oriented events run by Brick Shows Ireland around the country in the coming weeks and months. A total of 19 medals, including eight gold medals, were awarded to show gardens in advance of the official opening of opening of the event by President Michael D Higgins and his wife Sabina on Thursday. Festival-goers take cover as the rain pours down on the opening day of the 2025 Bord Bia Bloom at the Phoenix Park in Dublin. Picture: Liam McBurney/PA Commenting on the standard of this year's designs, chief garden judge, Andrew Wilson, said that each year of the event, "the quality of the show gardens steps up an extra notch". "The judging panel has been delighted by the range of ideas, the creativity, and the quality of the gardens this year," he said. "It's especially great to see sustainable ideas at the fore. We are seeing this with recycling, the choice of planting, and the reuse and repurposing of materials throughout the gardens." Future farmers Trish Halpin from Knocklong NS, Co Limerick and Emily Lambes, from St Patricks NS, Ballinagore, Co Westmeath, at the National Dairy Council garden at Bord Bia Bloom in the Phoenix Park. Picture: Robbie Reynolds Mr Wilson added that any visitors to this year's event would be "guaranteed to get some great ideas to take home". Bord Bia chief executive Jim O'Toole congratulated all the medal winners whose creativity and expertise, he said, had been "justly rewarded". "Now the public can appreciate their inspiring horticulture displays over the next five days. We have an action-packed schedule ahead with something for everyone, including over 300 performances and demonstrations across seven stages," he added. President Michael D Higgins presented 19 medals including eight gold medals on the opening day of Bord Bia Bloom at the Phoenix Park in Dublin. Now in its 19th year, the festival continues across the June weekend until the bank holiday Monday. "Visitors can pick-up gardening tips and tricks, advice on sustainable living; and try the best of Irish food and drink.' More than 100,000 people are expected to attend this year's Bord Bia Bloom festival, which concludes on Monday, June 2.
Irish Independent
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Gardens centred around recycling and circular economy take top prizes at Bord Bia Bloom as festival opens to public
The overall large garden category award at Bord Bia Bloom in Phoenix Park went to the Repak Most Sorted Garden, designed by James Purdy. While the overall medium garden category award was presented to The European Commission's 'Renewed Blooms' Garden, designed by David Negus. All 21 show gardens showcased at this year's festival were designed with sustainability in mind and incorporate environmental measures. Judges highlighted that these two gardens particularly emphasise strong sustainability messages for visitors to take home. A total of 19 medals including eight gold medals, were awarded to show gardens in advance of the show opening to the public this morning. The overall small garden winner was The Pot Gallery Garden, designed by Alan Rudden, which demonstrates how freestanding and vertical pots can create green spaces on terraces, roofs or balconies. The overall concept garden winner was The Rainbow Brick Balcony Garden designed by Limerick artist, Gary Kirwan, as a tribute to LEGO. It is constructed from over 800,000 pieces over eight weeks and will be reused at family-oriented events run by Brick Shows Ireland around the country. Chief Garden Judge, Andrew Wilson said each year adjudicators come to Bloom the quality of the show gardens 'steps up an extra notch'. 'The judging panel has been delighted by the range of ideas, the creativity, and the quality of the gardens this year,' he said. ADVERTISEMENT "It's especially great to see sustainable ideas at the fore. We are seeing this with recycling, the choice of planting, and the reuse and repurposing of materials throughout the gardens. Visitors to Bloom will have a ball visiting the show gardens and are guaranteed to get some great ideas to take home.' Meanwhile, in the Nursery Village, a total of 16 medals were awarded to new and returning plant nurseries. This year's Postcard Gardens, which are small but perfectly formed gardens created by community groups received 11 medals. Bord Bia Bloom opens to the public today and will continue for five days up until this Bank Holiday Monday. Jim O'Toole, Bord Bia Chief Executive said: 'After months of hard work and planning, we are delighted to welcome our first visitors here this morning.' "I would like to congratulate all the medal winners whose creativity and expertise has been justly rewarded. Now the public can appreciate their inspiring horticulture displays over the next five days,' he said. Mr O'Toole noted that over 300 performances and demonstrations will take place across across seven stages over the next few days. The festival will be officially opened by Bord Bia Bloom patron, President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, who will be accompanied by his wife Ms Sabina Higgins. Other big names expected on opening day are leading Government officials including An Taoiseach, Micheál Martin; Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon and broadcasters Marty Morrissey, Áine Lawlor and Marty Whelan. Also expected to attend are gardening experts Diarmuid Gavin, Adam Frost (BBC Gardener's World), chefs Trisha Lewis, Neven Maguire, Rory O'Connell and Edward Hayden; as well as food writers and content creators Lilly Higgins and James Kavanagh. To discover the full event programme, visit or follow @bordbiabloom on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
