Peter Dowdall: All roads lead to Carlow for Rare and Special Plant Fair

Always held on the second Sunday in May, the 2023 event, in association with Bord Bia, takes place in Borris House gardens

Salvia microphylla, also known as Baby sage: This variety Hot Lips is probably the best known of all the Blacurrant sages and Peter Dowdall will be on the lookout for more at the Rare and Special Plant Fair. Picture: iStock

THE Rare and Special Plant Fair was established in 2001 to ensure that the gardening public has an opportunity to purchase rare, unusual and special plants at reasonable prices, and to ensure that nurseries and breeders of these plants in Ireland have an opportunity to showcase their horticultural treasures.

At the same time, the fair aims to provide an opportunity for visitors to visit a private garden that they might not otherwise visit. The fair is an annual event, always held on the second Sunday in May. Over the years the event has grown in stature and reputation with the fair being hosted in some of Ireland’s most notable and beautiful private gardens, and more recently in public and state gardens of note.

This year, the Rare and Special Plant Fair, in association with Bord Bia takes place in the gardens of the historic Borris House in Co. Carlow on Sunday, May 14, marking the Rare and Special Plant Fair’s 21st year, having missed two years due to covid.

Up to 40 specialist nurseries from all over Ireland will be on site with beautiful, unusual and hard-to-find varieties of plants for sale, as well as giving expert advice on care and growing.

Borris House is the ancestral home of the McMorrough Kavanaghs and it holds an important place in the nation’s history as this family are one of the very few ancient Irish families to have remained in possession of their lands in the same place through centuries of upheaval and disturbance. 

A Rare and Special Plant Fair from previous years.

The McMorrough Kavanaghs were Kings of Leinster and Borris House is one of the few Irish estates that can trace its history back to the ruling families of ancient Ireland. Originally an important castle guarding the River Barrow, Borris House, in its present form, is an excellent example of the application of a Tudor Revival aesthetic to an earlier 18th-century structure. Tours of the house will be available on the day.

Can you imagine the tales that the trees could tell?

With the River Barrow running nearby, and extensive woodland, Borris House is home to some beautiful exotic plants and trees. In the parkland and church paddock, visitors will find a rich selection of stunning trees including Lebanese cedar, fern leaf beech and tulip tree. There are also fine specimens of Parrotia persica, the Persian ironwood and Davidia involucrata, the handkerchief tree,

Around the house, visitors can walk along the woodland paths, enjoy the fairy trail along the way and visit the 18th-century ice house.

A walk through the gardens of Borris House will take in the breathtaking views of Mount Leinster, the Blackstairs Mountains and the Barrow Valley. The newly-established Lace Garden takes inspiration from Borris Lace, using symbols and shapes from the lace as well as a white colour palette of plants.

It’s easy to lose the run of yourself in such places as this and jam the car packed with small specimens of parrotia and davidia, after seeing them in all their magnificence in these surroundings but remember to be realistic.

Perhaps you have a vast estate in which to plant such treasures, for these small samples in pots will grow big, and if that’s the case, then fine, buy away and plant to your heart's content but if you are lost in the moment and forget that you’re going home to a more modest, semi-d garden, then be careful.

Better then to look for some of the smaller jewels that you will find at the Rare and Special Plant Fair, maybe a particular perennial, alpine or small shrub.

Wild purple salvia sage flower: Salvias in a variety of colours are a favourite in Peter Dowdall's garden and he will be on the lookout for more at this year's Rare and Special Plant Fair. Picture: iStock

I’ll be keeping an eye out, in particular for some interesting salvias, having fallen deeper under the spell of this fantastic genus over recent years. There are over a thousand species and many thousands of varieties and cultivars of the genus commonly referred to sage and I love them all. 

Well, ok I haven’t been introduced to even a small fraction of them but I am particularly enamoured with varieties of blackcurrant sage or Salvia microphylla. I have several varieties now growing in my garden, in glorious shades of blue, purple, pink and white and am always on the lookout for more.

Each part of the plant is strongly scented when you rub or brush against it and it is a delight in the garden, bees and butterflies too adore it. I have absolutely no doubt that I will find such a salvia at the fair as it comes of age so to speak in the glorious grounds of Borris House.

• The Rare & Special Plant Fair, 10am-4pm; fair and garden ticket, €7; fair, garden and castle tour ticket, €12. For further information visit borrishouse.ie or rareandspecialplantfair.ie