Five-day treat in a 70-acre gardener’s paradise

SOMEBODY once wrote that gardeners are women who love flowers or men who hate weeds.

Well, both categories were in a paradise of flowering beauty and weed-less harmony at the opening of Bloom 2010 at the Phoenix Park in Dublin yesterday. The Bord Bia co-ordinated event is a showpiece for the country’s €717 million amenity horticultural industry.

Consumer sentiment and the interaction between horticulture, food and the environment are the themes for the five-day event which has attracted 150,000 visitors since it was first held in 2007. The venue is a 70-acre Office of Public Works site opposite Áras an Uachtaráin, where the manicured gardens and flower beds are now in full bloom.