Blooming great: Crowds flock to garden festival

MORE THAN 70 medals were awarded to show gardens at Bord Bia’s Bloom 2011 in Dublin yesterday.

Huge crowds attended Phoenix Park for the first of the five-day event, where they were treated to 27 show gardens, more than 50 floral displays, the new Bord Bia Food Village and much, much more.

The show gardens were divided into small, medium, large and engaging spaces or interactive gardens and for the first time since the event began in 2007, each garden was awarded a medal.

The best overall winner in the large garden category went to, To The Water’s Edge, which was designed by Oliver and Liat Shurmann.

The Hidden Cube Style Garden in association with Arnotts was awarded best overall in the medium category. The garden, which was designed by Gary Hanaphy and Colm Quinn, featured in RTÉ’s Off the Rails.

Meanwhile, best overall in the small garden category was awarded to the Dublin UNESCO City of Literature garden. River Run, which was designed by Maryann Harris, hosted poetry and literary readings throughout the day and will be installed permanently at Phibsborough Library in Dublin after the event.

Portach, designed by Hortisculptures and Anu Green, took the prize in the engaging spaces category, while Paul and Orla Woods of Kilmurray Nurseries in Wexford and Marie Dodrill of Portmarnock Floral Club took the best overall in nurseries and the AOIFA Floral Art Competition respectively.

Meanwhile, the 2011 Year of Craft is being celebrated at Bloom this year with designated craft workshops, retail sections and demonstrations. Karen Hennessy, chief executive of the Crafts Council of Ireland, said that bloom really helps to increase people’s awareness of Irish craft.

“We have designated 2011 as Year of Craft to celebrate craft on the Island of Ireland. Our participation at Bloom allows us to spread the message of design and craft in Ireland.”

This is the fifth year of the event and over 60,000 visitors are expected to attend over the course of the five days.

Tickets may be purchased online or at the event.

www.bloominthepark.com