Blooming lovely! Leitrim garden designer scoops gold medal at Bloom

Leitrim lady Leonie Cornelius took gold for The Caragh Nurseries Garden, Medium garden at this year's Bloom which is currently ongoing in the Phoenix Park.

Leonie Cornelius unveiled Noūrish – The Caragh Nurseries Garden, a courtyard-style installation inspired by Mediterranean living and ancient herbal traditions which invites visitors to slow down, restore, and rediscover pleasure in nature.

Leonie will also give daily wellness talks, Gardening for Wild + Well, on her vision for wild integration to everyday life while the stage itself will be framed by Leonie’s own, hive-design planters filled with colourful, pollinator-friendly plants to keep the Garden Stage, sponsored by Zarbee’s.

This is the sixth time the Bloom veteran has entered the competition and Leonie has won numerous medals and awards at Bord Bia Bloom since she entered her first garden in 2012.

Bloom takes place over five days on the June Bank Holiday weekend (May 29 – June 2), running from 9am to 6pm daily.

Meanwhile, two show gardens highlighting the importance of recycling, repurposing and the circular economy were awarded best large and best medium gardens.

The overall large garden category award went to the Repak Most Sorted Garden, designed by James Purdy and the overall medium garden category award was presented to The European Commission’s ‘Renewed Blooms’ Garden, designed by David Negus. All 21 show gardens showcased at this year’s festival are designed with sustainability in mind and incorporate environmental measures.

 A total of 19 medals, including eight gold medals, were awarded to show gardens in advance of the show opening to the public this morning.

The overall small garden winner was The Pot Gallery Garden, designed by Alan Rudden, which demonstrates how freestanding and vertical pots can create green spaces on terraces, roofs or balconies. The overall concept garden winner was The Rainbow Brick Balcony Garden designed by Limerick artist, Gary Kirwan, as a tribute to LEGO. Playful and unique, this garden is constructed from over 800,000 pieces over eight weeks and will be reused at family-oriented events run by Brick Shows Ireland around the country.

Commenting on the standard of this year’s designs, Chief Garden Judge, Andrew Wilson said, “Each year we come to Bloom the quality of the show gardens steps up an extra notch. The judging panel has been delighted by the range of ideas, the creativity, and the quality of the gardens this year. It’s especially great to see sustainable ideas at the fore. We are seeing this with recycling, the choice of planting, and the reuse and repurposing of materials throughout the gardens. Visitors to Bloom will have a ball visiting the show gardens and are guaranteed to get some great ideas to take home.”

READ MORE: ‘The people got very scarce’: A life lived in a vanishing Leitrim townland

Jim O’Toole, Bord Bia Chief Executive said, “After months of hard work and planning, we are delighted to welcome our first visitors here this morning. I would like to congratulate all the medal winners whose creativity and expertise has been justly rewarded. Now the public can appreciate their inspiring horticulture displays over the next five days. We have an action-packed schedule ahead with something for everyone, including over 300 performances and demonstrations across seven stages. Visitors can pick-up gardening tips and tricks, advice on sustainable living; and try the best of Irish food and drink.”

Later this morning, the festival will be officially opened by Bord Bia Bloom patron, President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, who will be accompanied by his wife Mrs. Sabina Higgins. Other big names expected on opening day are leading Government officials including An Taoiseach, Micheál Martin; Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon; Broadcasters Marty Morrissey, Áine Lawlor and Marty Whelan; Gardening experts Diarmuid Gavin, Adam Frost (BBC Gardener’s World), Chefs Trisha Lewis, Neven Maguire, Rory O’Connell and Edward Hayden; food writers and content creators Lilly Higgins and James Kavanagh.

To discover the full event programme, explore our website or follow @bordbiabloom on Facebook, Instagram and Tik Tok.