Celebrities reveal their favourite outdoor oasis

IT’S SUMMER, and while gardens, parks and meadows throughout the land have burst into blossom, nowhere will boast brighter colours or dreamier scents than the RDS, which transforms into a floral paradise next week.

The 11th World Flower Show — dubbed the ‘Olympics of flower shows’ — runs from Wednesday next to Sunday, June 22, featuring blooms from no fewer than 31 countries, including Pakistan, the United States, Barbados, Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, South Africa and Europe.

A triennial event, this is the first time that the show, whose theme for 2014 is A Floral Odyssey, has been staged on Irish soil. The event gives garden enthusiasts an opportunity to enjoy the work of Irish and international flower artistes from all over the globe — and the rest of us a chance to simply take time out and smell the roses.