Getting back to roots

It’S just getting better and better for Irish horticulture. Hot on the heels of the World Association of Floral Artists World Flower Show during the summer, last month Ireland played host to the International Garden Centre Congress.

The International Garden Centre Association exists to provide a forum for information exchange to benefit independent garden retailers worldwide. Rachel Doyle, from the Arboretum Garden Centre in Carlow, is the current President of the International Garden Centre Association. An annual Congress is held for one week each year in a different host country. Previous host countries have included Australia, Germany and Italy.

Over 200 delegates from 22 countries visited Ireland on a five-day itinerary, as part of the Congress. The event, supported by Bord Bia, which is the government body responsible for Horticulture in Ireland, is designed to provide international garden centre owners with an insight into Ireland’s horticulture industry, valued at an estimated €500m, about 25% of which is plants. A programme of activities was coordinated to showcase the best of Ireland’s garden centres, gardens, horticulture producers and food and drink industry in counties such as Dublin, Wicklow, Wexford, Carlow, and Kilkenny.