When Bord Bia Bloom returned for its 18th festival in the Phoenix Park this summer it showcased the work of 22 show garden designers, including nine Bloom newcomers.
As the festival’s top visitor attraction each year, the show gardens are an important platform where designers, landscapers, and plantspeople can demonstrate their skills on a national stage, creating unique displays that inspire Bloom’s 100,000-plus visitors and the thousands more who follow the extensive media coverage at home.
We are both fortunate and grateful to be able to work with an immense pool of talented and experienced designers who collaborate with our sponsors to deliver standout show gardens at the festival each year. Their never-ending commitment and creativity are crucial to the success of Bloom, providing a trusted network of designers for sponsors to draw from. In tandem with this valued Bord Bia Bloom alumnus, we are keen to encourage a new generation of designers to apply to join us at the festival, ensuring a pipeline of talent into the industry in the future.
CULTIVATING TALENT
As part of our remit to support Irish horticulture, and in a bid to nurture emerging designers, Bord Bia Bloom launched the Cultivating Talent initiative in 2022 which provides funding and one-to-one mentoring to an upcoming designer in order to help them to deliver their first show garden at the festival.
Following the successful pilot programme, which saw Joe Eustace of onlinegardendesigns.ie bring his The Next Step Garden to Bloom 2023, the initiative returned this year with support from Westland Horticulture. In an intense competition not one, but two worthy winners were selected. Sarah Buckley went on to win a coveted gold medal for The Mind Yourself Garden, while co-winner Nóra Tombor was awarded a silver-gilt medal for her garden, Rewild!
Sarah and Nóra were two of nine new show garden designers participating in Bord Bia Bloom 2024, our highest number of first-time designers at the festival in recent years. Among the other new medallists were Louise Checa (A Space for Possibilities: The Modular Container Garden, silver-gilt medal), Hendrik Lepel (Sun Harness Garden, silver medal) and Patrik Weisser (Love Letter to Abbeyleix, bronze medal).
“Bringing a show garden to Bord Bia Bloom was such a rewarding experience,” explained Nóra Tombor, who is a landscape architect with Griffin Landscape Architecture in Dublin. “Not only did I get a chance to showcase my skills on a grand stage, I was also able to build my portfolio, network with other well-established designers during the build, and learn from my peers. I would encourage other new designers to enter Cultivating Talent 2025, or to apply to design a garden for a sponsor. Participating in Bloom is a great way to help grow your profile in the industry.”
Louise Checa concurred. The landscape architect, who worked with Mitchell+Associates and Alan Rudden before establishing her own business, LCLA, used her first outing as a Bloom show garden designer to promote her innovative concept for a modular and adaptable container garden.
“Piloting this design at Bloom was hugely valuable to me professionally. It provided me with a perfect platform to promote the concept to thousands of visitors, engage with the media through Bloom’s communications campaign, and meet so many talented and interesting people in our industry. I am grateful for the opportunity to be part of something so special.”
EXPERIENCE BREEDS SUCCESS
Hot on the heels of his success in the inaugural Cultivating Talent programme in 2023, Joe Eustace returned to Bord Bia Bloom this year, designing a show garden for Citroën Ireland. His Citroën Floating Lounge Garden was one of the stars of the show, picking up a gold medal along with the prestigious award for Best Medium Show Garden. Winning a ‘Best in Category’ award in his second outing at Bloom was a momentous achievement.
“Without a doubt, my experience winning Cultivating Talent in 2023 stood to me this year. I learned so much through the process of designing my first show garden and to win one of the top awards on my second year at Bloom was hugely rewarding,” said Joe. “For anyone considering applying for Bord Bia Bloom, I say do it! It is a big commitment and a massive challenge but it can be a huge boost to your career.”
With work on Bord Bia Bloom 2025 already well advanced, we will soon be issuing a call for garden designers and are eager to hear from newcomers and old friends. For more details, please stay tuned to bordbiabloom.com/participate and our social media @bordbiabloom. ✽
KERRIE GARDINER, BORD BIA BLOOM SHOW GARDENS & HORTICULTURE CONTENT MANAGER
IN MEMORY OF JOHN
It is with profound sadness that we pay tribute to John Dooley, a cherished member of our Bord Bia Bloom family, who sadly passed away in June.
John, a former farm manager from Co Kildare, designed Back to the Future, a beautiful show garden that featured at this year’s festival. His garden, a riot of colour teeming with pollinators, medicinal plants, and vegetables, won the Super Garden 2024 competition.
The message of John’s garden emphasised the importance of making better use of our land to produce food and protect the environment, but the real story, like all good farmers and gardeners, was to be found at the root.
It was the story of John and Liz that really resonated with the Irish public. John and Liz’s love, commitment, support and unwavering loyalty for each other throughout the series endeared them to people the length and breadth of the country.
There were laughs too, a lot of them… that’s how we will remember John. His legacy is one of dedication to the outdoors, farming, and the therapeutic power of gardening. His presence will be sorely missed, but his impact on the Bord Bia Bloom community and the hearts of those who met him will endure.
Our thoughts and deepest condolences go out to John’s family, and especially to his wife and soulmate Liz, during this difficult time. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.
