Over a year ago I was asked to design an outdoor space for a wonderful cafe in Strandhill, County Sligo, called Shells Surf Cafe. The popular artisan cafe and shop has a seafront location in a very exposed part of the Wild Atlantic, North-West of Ireland and designing an area of green at the front was indeed a challenge. The design brief had to take into account the cafe’s modern-vintage
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The hue of this week’s chosen plant is so recognizable that an actual colour has been named after the plant. Cornflower blue is a stunning shade of medium to light blue and was one of the favourite colours of the Dutch painter Vermeer. The flower that inspired the name Cornflower blue is the Centaurea, a fascinating plant with many uses and stories. Cornflowers is a common wildflower that is originally
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The first time I came across a Magnolia tree was as a child in my neighbours garden in County Leitrim. On a rural road, miles from the nearest town, a true plantsman had created a haven of beauty. To us as children finding this place seemed like we had stumbled upon a secret garden. Each cleverly separated space in the garden was like a little garden room and each was filled with it’s
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This time of the year is an incredibly exciting one for gardens. The recent stretch of warm weather has seen the plants in my garden shooting up, their beautiful colours starting to brighten up the borders. It’s also the time of the year where produce from the garden is bountiful and can be used in the kitchen again. I love using plants from my own garden for cooking and baking. Taking
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It’s that time of the year again. The days are getting longer, gardens are starting to explode with colour, and RTE Supergarden is back on the television. The popular garden show which is in it’s seventh series and follows the journey of five amateur garden designers who have five weeks to create a garden for a real client with a budget of €5000. Competing for the winning garden, their aim
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