Our Highlights of Bloom 2023

The sun is shining down on us here in the centre of leafy Phoenix Park. There is a slight breeze. It is enough to keep us cool as a sea of Panama Hats, Summer dresses and knee-length shorts flow towards us. In front of us are two bright red wooden benches where people put down their bags of plants to rest. Behind us are the smooth white tents of the Food Village. Peeking out above the treeline, the tower of Ashtown Castle stands guard over the Picnic Area.

Bloom is back again. The event is 17 years old now. It has gotten through the lockdown and is back to doing what it does best – promoting a sustainable lifestyle by throwing a large garden party. The Crepe Wagon is all dressed up in all its finery. The team are busy making crepes and churros. This is my time to journey through this 70 acre wonderland for my annual Bloom highlight blogpost.

The Show Gardens

You enter the Show Gardens through the twin clumps of vivid flower metal sculptures beside the Victorian Walled Gardens of Phoenix Park. Inside is a horticultural wonderland imagined by 22 Irish designers. As this was opening day, it was not too busy. At least it was not until the appearance of crowd-pleasers – President Michael D. Higgins and Marty Morrissey.

This year seems even more chilled than before. There are fewer of those expensive spaces that appear overly manicured. The designs are inspiring and accessible. None of them look like you need an army of landscape artists armed with nail scissors and microscopes to manage.

Instead, there is a relaxing vibe. A lot of the gardens have a youthful energy. The layouts are playful. A UFO crashlands in wildflowers. Next to it is a rusty corrugated shed with a vegetable patch. Is it a Martian who was reading the paper and drinking out of the mug sitting on the bench? There are grass roofs, reflective pools, bottle walls, winding walkways and willow archways. Willy Wonka is a clear inspiration for one. Two detainees of Oberstown Detention Centre helped design another.

My favourite is the Marie Keating Foundation Garden which is all about Catching Cancer Early. Robert Moore designed it this year and as he lost his own mother to the illness you can see the thought that is gone into it. He uses a mix of burned timbers and rusty steel in the seating to represent the corrosive nature of the disease. His choice of flowers symbolise the common form of cancers prevalent in Ireland. Large sunken water bowls are an aid to reflection while there is an obvious strength and stability in the young trees that rise above the flowers. The effect is rich, many layered and beautiful.

Workshops

One of the highlights of Bloom are the amount of workshops that are on. Not only do the stages offer a welcome seat in the shade but they are also educational. They range from culinary to craft to creatures. I sat and listened to Niall from Birdwatch Ireland talking all things birdie in the Sustainable Ireland stage. Sparks flew and water hissed at the blacksmithing demonstration in the Craft field. I marvelled at a giant hand-carved cement mixer truck surrounded by traditional wooden fruit bowls and wooden spoons. Neven Maguire tried his best to show a busy Wicklow couple how to make a simple sugar spun nest. In the kids field I watched parents and kids absorbed as they made tension trays from Willow. My favourite teacher was Monica Alvaraz, who showed us how to build a bug hotel for the garden.

Nursery & Postcard Gardens

Back over beside the Crepe Wagon is the Nursery Village. This is home to Ireland’s finest plant providers for the public. Each year they put on a display to showcase their expertise with their fave plants. These people know their plants well so they can show them off to their advantage. I grabbed some shade under the giant ferns of Kells House, imagining myself back in the Jurassic Era. The insect eating capabilities of Shady Plants fascinated me. A big change this year, most likely a result of our experience in Lockdown, was the number of plants that thrive on being indoors.

Next to the Nurseries were the Postcard Gardens. There did not seem as many this year but they made up for it in quality. For once, myself and the judges agreed on a winner – The Hermes Trismegistus School of Knowledge. They created a reflective piece with fern walls and a deeply stunning round mirror. The Brothers of Charity from Galway created a Hooker Sailboat garden. There was even a recreation of the Rathcrohan mound from Connaught. That is not something you see too often in Phoenix Park!

The Sculpture Garden

Of course we can’t do Bloom without mentioning our neighbour, the Sculpture Garden. Curated by the Kildare Gallery, on a walkway surrounded by purple and white flowers, this is always amazing. Somehow they always seem to capture the mood in the air. The women are defiantly doing things they shouldn’t be doing. The animals are unusual. There are lots of mischievous rabbits, strange fish and playful birds. The textures range from the sleekest smoothest polish to earthy clumps. Watching over it all is an artist working on a beautiful live portrait of a fox.

Family Friendly Activities

While Bloom is known for catering to those with time and money to spend gardening, there is plenty for all ages. Opening Day also attracts the local primary schools. Lines of uniformed kids meander through the mature trees, shepherded by ever tolerant teachers. Many would never have encountered sheep or cows before. Nor would they have watched them being sheared or milked.

There are hundreds of benches scattered everywhere inside Bloom. There are also hammocks and giant bean bags in the Picnic Area. You need a certain amount of enthusiasm to get in and out of these. Instead I watch Sean McComish and his drummer bang out some upbeat pop tunes on the Youbloom stage. In the Budding Bloomers field there are jellyfish displays, face-painters and giant bubble-blowing performers to keep you occupied.

Sustainability

When we signed up for Bloom 2023 the organisers emphasised that this year there would be a big push on sustainability. When he opened Bloom, President Michael D Higgins followed up on this. He remarked on how gardening always makes us think about our impact on the planet. In his time in Áras an Uachtaráin he installed swift boxes, beehives and did his best to encourage bat roosting.

In our own way we try to do better too. We salvaged a discarded 3-wheeler bicycle this year and fitted it out. It is our new pay point and it gives us more room for food preparation. The Food Cloud truck collects any of our unused foodstuffs every evening. There is a biodigester on site here to reuse food waste. Even the generators that are supplied to us by Bensons Catering run on vegetable oil. How cool is that?

This push on Food Sustainability means that we can focus on doing what we do best – making delicious fresh food. We always use Keelings Fruit for our dessert crepes and we are always trying new recipes. This year we are aiming for a Bord Bia Bloom Foodie Favourite award to join our Mobile Catering Award from 2019. Come and check out our dish for the Visitor Award. It is a deliciously soft Brie, Honey and Walnut Crepe. The Brie comes from Colleeney Farm in Tipperary and it provides a melted savoury hit to counter the sweetness of the honey. We pick the the rocket by hand from our own garden. You can’t get more sustainable than that!

Pop in and say hello if you are coming to Bloom over the weekend!