Gardens and Horticulture
Bord Bia Bloom is a horticulture, food, and drink experience with nature and sustainable living at its heart.
Show Gardens
The show gardens are the heart and soul of Bord Bia Bloom. They bring some of Ireland’s most talented designers together to create spectacular gardens that not only illustrate how to make the most of your outdoor spaces, but also shine a spotlight on some of the most important issues of our times. With 22 gardens on show this year, you’ll find lots of inspiration for your own outdoor space, no matter how big or how small.
2024 Show Gardens
Postcard Gardens, supported by Tirlán CountryLife
Our small, but perfectly formed Postcard Gardens are one of the most popular visitor attractions at Bord Bia Bloom each year. Created by amateur gardeners from community groups, schools, and training groups from across Ireland, they showcase their locality or highlight the issues that matter to them. They are proof that size doesn’t matter when it comes to creating wonderful outdoor spaces! This year we are excited to host 13 Postcard Gardens at Bloom. You can read about the gardens here.
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Cultivating Talent
Following a successful pilot in 2023, Bord Bia Bloom’s Cultivating Talent initiative returns this year with support from new sponsors, Westland Horticulture. The programme provides financial support and one-to-one mentoring to emerging designers, helping them to design and deliver their first show garden at the festival. This year’s winners are Nóra Tombor (Rewild!) and Sarah Buckley (The Mind Yourself Garden).
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Garden Stage sponsored by Finn & Elder
At the outdoor Garden Stage, sponsored by Finn & Elder, you will find plenty of advice to help you create your own show garden at home. Fiann Ó Nualláin, the Holistic Gardener, returns to host the stage programme again this year and, as well as his MC duties, he will share his knowledge on the therapeutic benefits of gardening and nature. This year’s programme is packed with insights from top experts like Paul Smyth from RHSI Bellefield; Mary Reynolds of grassroots movement, We Are The Ark (Acts of Restorative Kindness; Erin Thomas of Hopeless Botanics; and YouTube gardening sensation, Niall McCauley, plus many more!
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Eat Well Garden
Located adjacent to the “Horticulture Is Life” feature is the “Eat Well Garden”. This garden features a range of fruit and vegetable and amenity plants both outdoor and grown in a glasshouse and polythene tunnel. As well as having the opportunity to view and explore the plants there will be regular walk n’talk sessions around the crops about how the crops are grown, organic production, managing key pests and tips for GIYers to take home and practise in their own gardens. In addition a series of talks will take place over the five days of Bloom on all aspects of kitchen gardening in our ‘Polytunnel Talks’ schedule of expert speakers.
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Horticulture is Life
Bord Bia, The Department of Agriculture, Food & Marine and Teagasc have come together at Bloom to create an inspiring, informative and educational feature in the Food Village. Under the theme “Horticulture is Life” the interactive feature will exhibit how each of the agencies work to support the Irish Horticulture Industry and growers to deliver top quality local sustainable produce and plants.
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Sculpture in the Park
The annual Sculpture in the Park feature garden, which is designed and curated by The Kildare Gallery, provides visitors with an opportunity to interact with the best of Irish outdoor art in a tranquil garden setting. You can learn more about the design of this year’s garden.
Sculpture in the Park
AOIFA Floral Exhibit
Helen Battigan, Frances Cosgrave, Brigid Kinsella, Mary Somers, Jill Swift and Margaret Woodbyrne from County Wexford Garden and Flower Club created 2023's feature exhibit for the Association of Irish Floral Artists (AOIFA) in the nursery village at Bord Bia Bloom. Their installation is inspired by the theme of “High Rise Living” and how vertical gardens of living walls, planted balconies and window boxes can transform urban areas and improve quality of life. The exhibit will feature succulents and greenery from their own gardens along with Irish-grown flowers from the Flower Farmers of Ireland.
Sculpture in the Park
OPW Victorian Walled Kitchen Gardens
Bord Bia Bloom visitors can enjoy the beautiful surroundings of the Victorian Walled Kitchen Garden next to the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre. This formal garden was originally part of the Under Secretary’s Demesne and later the Papal Nuncio’s residence and was used to supply fresh fruit and vegetables to these households. It has been restored by the Office of Public Works in recent years and contains colourful summer planting that is worth viewing during your visit to Bloom.
The Nursery Village, in association with Elite Garden Products
The Nursery Village showcases the very best plant nurseries in Ireland. This charming outdoor village is brimming with a selection of floral and foliage delights. Large displays from 18 of our top nurseries and floral artists will give you plenty of ideas for your own garden this summer. Here you will also find a wide array of plants and flowers available to purchase.
Bord Bia Bloom 2024 Floral Art Competition
Bloom’s Floral Art Competition is organised by the Association of Irish Floral Artists (AOIFA), the official organisation of affiliated Flower and Garden Clubs in Ireland. The competition showcases the work of talented floral artists who compete number of classes based on a variety of themes.
The Plant Emporium, in association with Arboretum Garden Centres, Kildare Growers Association and Bord Bia
The Plant Emporium is set among the popular outdoor retail stands located close to the show gardens area. This feature is organised in conjunction with Arboretum, Bord Bia and the Kildare Growers Association and here you will find a selection of plants from Irish nurseries which are available to purchase. These plants are grown to the highest quality standards in the Irish climate, making them ideal to grow and thrive in your garden.
Ask the Expert Plant Clinic, in association with The Irish Garden magazine
The Bord Bia Bloom Plant Clinic, presented by The Irish Garden magazine, marshals the collective horticultural brains of more than 20 expert contributors to The Irish Garden magazine to deal with your plant or garden queries. All of them are trained, experienced horticulturists and gardeners.
Please bring photographs or samples of the affected plant material (kept in a plastic bag to maintain plant hygiene). Non-chemical solutions will be offered as a priority, in keeping with the with long-standing policy of The Irish Garden magazine. The magazine’s Editor, Gerry Daly, and his expert colleagues look forward to solving your gardening problems.
Garden Design Clinic, in association with the GLDA
A new feature at Bord Bia Bloom this year, the Garden Design Clinic offers you an opportunity to meet with members of the Garden & Landscape Designers Association (GLDA) and ask for advice on creating the show garden of your dreams. Members of the GLDA are experienced garden and landscape designers, many of whom have designed award-winning Bloom show gardens.