Honest Scrap

So this is a most unusual post for me it is a challenge or a passing of the gauntlet from Rebecca Sweet who is an amazing garden blogger in California with her Gossip in The Garden blog site. Rebecca has put some interesting facts about herself in this blog piece and thats the general idea so when you

get to number 2 on my piece I will wake you up by conveniently giving you a link to Rebeccas blog piece.

Nothing outstanding or startling included in the following just simple frivilous facts.

Here goes.....

1. Ok this is going to be a big admission, I was never interested in nursery production when I went to Horticulture college. Whats more I couldnt see the point in producing ornamental plants when it was so obvious they cant be eaten and people will always need fruit and vegetables. That was the logic of an 18yr old. This didnt change during my hort studies and ahemmm it was my worst subject even though I won two student of year awards for Fruit and Vegetable production and did my main project on the storage of Onions and the growing of Japanese onions :) .

2. When I was about 11 I tried to get a stand in role in the movie Barry Lyndon as it was being shot nearby they rejected me :( but my sister got a part in the crowd. My movie career cut off so young. rejection was so painful. SO you never hear of the movie Barry Lyndon starring Ryan O Neal? Aha well now you know why!

3. Before going to hort college I went to school at St Kierans College where in first year class I sat behind Ralph Fiennes the actor I cannot say anything remarkable other than he did use the term piss off Fitz more than once or twice as for some reason he didn't like being poked in the back during class. odd thing about some people. Ralph left St Kierans after one year hmmm now I hadnt thought about that and why he may have left :). He just didnt come back, whaaaattt I didnt poke him that hard. He wasn't the Dali Lama though so here is where you can go to http://gossipinthegarden.com/2010/02/02/honest-scrap-award-gulp-here-goes/honestscrap12/

4. After college I worked on a vegetable farm for a year then a hop farm for a year before finally spending 6 years working with and managing a Horticultural Workshop for people with special needs and this was my first entry into nursery production. My friend Patrick Murphy began the workshop / nursery and I took over from him when he left to be a landscape designer in USA and now operates a successful Landscape business in New Jersey. Pat actually picked up an application form I was after getting from the American Embassy as I was considering going to USA on an Agricultural working Visa. I managed the workshop and nursery until 1990 when I left to set up FitzGerald Nurseries and it was the most fulfilling work I can imagine we had about 35 trainees all with varying forms of special needs and all very special people. There were too many funny, interesting and good times to recount from Special Olympics outing to various other events with the lads.

5. This one I probably will be sorry for bringing out but its fact. As you know Carex is a big thing for the nursery and we have our own varieties now all coming from my work on Carex Evergold. In 1989 having bought me beautiful Omega watch (yes which I still have) for my birthday Noirín my then girlfriend now my wife asked me what I would like for my 26th birthday. So this guy who didn't study nursery production too well at school but now working in it and had decided that year to set up my own nursery. So I said ummm how about buying me some Carex Evergold plants so I could start producing some. I thought it was a pretty simple and very attractive evergreen so I couldn't go wrong. So Noirin bought them for me :).

6. FitzGerald Nurseries produced over 500,000 Carex oshimensis Evergold last year has introduced 3 other varieties from using mutated selections of Carex Evergold. In 2010 we expect to sell close to 1,000,000 Carex oshimensis in 4 varieties all coming from plants received as a birthday present back in 1989.

7. No matter how I try I can never remember the jokes properly I love listening to them but when I go repeat them they re gone. Very annoying.

8. During by first year at college while making my first cold frame I cut my knee badly with a chain saw, that same summer I was passenger in a serious car accident and missed a summer job in Netherlands. I am a terrible carpenter and totally useless at DIY jobs so dont ask me to fix your shelves!

9. When I worked for people with special needs I sometimes used to just blend in with them when people from outside wandered into the nursery. I would let them assume I was one of the lads so they wouldn't ask stupid questions about plants which took up our time from what we were really meant to be doing. OK there I have admitted it :) .

10. These are two among my favourite songs, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6Khy9A1mT4 my favourite group is Meatloaf this is another one of my favourite songs corny as it may be http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-2mxuj_ttQ&feature=related My favourite month is September and colour blue.

Nurseryman's Tip

Coming out of winter in this part of the world we can start to get the garden back in shape. Sorting your container plants can be a task tackled even on wet days in the dry comfort of your garden shed or greenhouse.

Like the rest of the population us gardeners are watching the pennies or cents to make ends meet while still maintaining comfortable and attractive surroundings. However we want pleasant surroundings and love to garden, that should not change and indeed it should get even stronger as the garden becomes our refuge. So for many of us thrifty is the new nifty.

FitzGerald Nurseries are producers of container plants that you can see at http://www.myplant.ie/ . I guess one might assume we like it when people have to replace plants? not necessarily so! Like any good professional we want to give value and help your plants mature into a feature in your garden. We want to be as proud of your plants as you are. You may or may not buy less but you will recommend our plants to your friends and family and hey we dont need to sell millions as we are not some big mass producer of disposable products. I personally like it when our plants give you value and you are interested enough to keep them alive, we all need a bit of maintenance now and then. Besides large container plants can be expensive to replace with like sized specimens so I want to give some tips I have learned as a nurseryman when I want to save that plant that's special to me. Over the years I have seen the behavior of plants and their fight to survive far outweighs our comprehension. Plants like humans vary in their resilience but give them a chance and they are survivors. Remember the basis to a healthy plant is similar to the basis of a healthy human nutrition, water, shelter and suitable climate environment so choose your care plan to match your plant. Choose your plants to match your realistic care limitations.

My first tip of 2010 is in relation to containerized Cordyline which is one of the most popular temperate region container plants, and one of our best sellers. Cordyline is used now even in colder regions of the world for its exotic looks. Compared even to 10 years ago there is an amzing range of shapes and colours available. I have often used the following trick this time of year as root growth begins again. This trick is ideal for larger Cordyline that have become unstable or had root rot over winter. I come across a lot of one off attractive mutations in my work which cannot be replaced easily and this little trick has saved many of these special Cordyline over the years.

Here is how you do it.

Take your plant out of the container and using a sharp knife cut off about 40% to 50% of those damaged roots shaping a tidy root ball. A bit more may be necessary if roots have badly rotted but ensure a sufficient core remains that will keep the plant anchored stably in the container. Plunge at least 6 to 8 inches of stem into a pot of moist well drained potting compost. Fill the container the rest of the way to the top. Ensure you use a good quality compost, I use a compost with 30% well composted pine bark but other good quality materials can be used. Firm the compost gently against the stem to help minimise movement as you fill the pot to the brim with the compost. Keep your Cordyline patient in a very sheltered spot or designate some sheltered hospital recovery area in your yard, garden or ideally a greenhouse. After a few weeks new roots will appear and begin to sustain the plant. During this period I must stress again it is essential to keep the plant stable in the container. Cordyline roots very easily from a trunk as old as 3 to 5 years once given the chance. I have even re-rooted a completely rootless plant with a 3 ft stem by burying in good garden soil in March and tieing to a strong iron rod for stability.

If the top growth on your Cordyline has also been damaged you can peel off some of the damaged leaves but be careful not to take off functionally sound leaves even if unattractive for for a time. Some removal of leaves will prevent the plant catching the wind if kept outdoors and reduce rocking in the wind as the plant establishes. You need your foliage to help your root recovery by allowing photosynthesis to occur. Keep the compost moist as Cordyline does like moisture but does not like cold waterlogged conditions. My experience has been that Cordyline treated this way given a little care for the rest of the season will go on for many more productive years in larger containers.

I hope this helps and if any questions just make a comment below.

Plant Climate Protection System

PlantInPod

How many of you have lost that precious plant you should have kept in the greenhouse during cold spells?. Or if you have no greenhouse and intended moving your tender container plant to the garage but forgot and one nights frost was one too many. Maybe the container was too large to move, was forgotten or you were away that weekend.

Together with Swedish company, Living Plant, MyPlant® has been working on this problem for a few years . To cut a long story short, after years of research, visits to the testing centre at the University of Agriculture Alnarp, Sweden with more on site testing here in Ireland, a solution for a number of levels of cold tolerances has been developed. Out of this work has come our PlantinPod strategy. The advantages of the shared knowledge of such a wide temperature range and how such temperatures affect various plant species has been invaluable. This cold protection system for plants is not just a product its a group of different elements and knowledge brought together to deliver the PlantInPod system. This simple system is for people who love gardening on the edge of their climate zone or for home owners with a flair for the best plants the world has to offer. PlantInPod brings more opportunity to maintain those plants which you always want to have but fear your climate zone will kill. Now you can stylishly and professionally create the climate zone your plants need in their own safety pod for those periods they will be at risk. With the decorative finish and an light we have also created a night time garden feature giving a magical glow through the frost laden environment.

All plants are sensitive to cold of a certain extreme or other. Some plants immediately die at a temperature below -1 to -3 degrees Celsius while others can tolerate a few short spells of cold. With our PlantInPod system such plants can survive temperatures down to -20 degrees C. The system has a built in control which ensures that the warming starts before the critical damage temperature is reached. This creates a "micro climate" which can give the plant a comfortable temperature of around plus 5 degrees Celcius for the entire cold period. Also with our customisable root insulation material plant roots are protected from over heating against the direct drying and burning summer heat of clay pots. The protection system is efficient for plants permanently in your garden border as well as your container plants.

As we container plant enthusiasts know plants have two main parts that need protection, roots and shoots. No roots no shoots, you can protect the shoots all you like but if those roots get killed its curtains for the shoots. Many perennial plants can survive dessication of the top growth and re-grow but for most plants survival from year to year depends on maintaining the stems, branches and foliage through the winter.
The new PlantInPod system consists of three different parts which can be used independently of each other. In the most severe weather conditions all three parts used together will protect a very wide range of plants in the most extreme weather conditions. As I write this blog piece I know all you experienced plants people out there might be of immense help to give some initial critique. Am I crazy? Is this system going to be of use to you in a meaningful and practical way? Has anyone been looking for this kind of one stop system? Any comments help or advice will be welcome! I am hopeful that this system will also be useful to botanic gardens and other specialist institutions so please feel free to spread the word about this work we have done.

In the first weeks of 2010 I will be doing a follow up blog article before the launch of the PlantInPod system. I am working on some alternative uses I am testing for the soil and air heater. I will post data from our final pre-launch winter testing. The first public and trade viewing of the system will be at IPM Essen 2010 http://www.messe-essen.de/ Our stand number at IPM is Hall 2 Stand 509.

I look forward to any comments you might have or even seeing you at IPM 2010. If you would like to buy a system from us they areavailable in limited numbers fo European delivery. You can Contact me through our FitzGerald nurseries website www.fitzgerald-nurseries.com

Industry Promotion idea

Most of us are all involved in the promotion of the great pastime of gardening and make a living from the endeavours of gardeners and consumers who buy plants.

A possibly nutty, naive or optimistic idea came to me this time last year and instead of compiling a newsletter as I had intended I thought I would focus a January mail shot on this one idea, not much else is happening in plant retail sales this time of year in this part of the world and it's time to prepare rather than promote. Instead of burying this idea I thought I would use this opportunity to share it.
Maybe it has been done already, maybe it's a standard in some industries or maybe there isn't any appetite to try it. Many of us come up with seemingly Eureka ideas in the middle of the night but we don't act on them or beat ourselves down thinking if I think or say this out loud others will laugh or simple smile understandingly. Now that we have many well proven commercial craziness in the world there are far better more infamously accomplished people to laugh at so it's safe to be a little bit risqué. The idea I am trying to push is quite simple. Thursday I was sitting in the dentist's waiting room aware that she was having a problem with her current patient that meant my time for the chair was 15 minutes away. I started shuffling through the magazines to see if there was anything interesting. I realized there was no gardening magazine but there was a golf , fashion and tourism magazine (our competitors) and guess what? Some daffodils! When I got over the disappointment that such a simple thing such as a garden magazine was not available it occurred to me the reason there was no magazine there was that my dentist isn't a gardener. The tourism magazine actually helped relax me a bit. On the way home I thought someone better sort this out but I admit I had forgotten to mention it to my dentist or her receptionist when my turn came for the chair. As you all know professionals charge a professional fee and they are business people like us. I am sure when I go back with my idea it will not be taken as negative suggestion from one business person to another such quid pro quo is the lubrication of commercial life in small towns.
Based on this gap in reading material, I am making the following proposition to anyone with the same ‘vested interest' in increasing awareness of gardening. This includes our service providers both personal and company suppliers. I am proposing we collect last years good condition gardening magazines and make some beneficial use of them instead of hoarding them. Why not distribute these magazines into as many hair dressers, doctors, chiropodists, dentists, nail bars, beauty salon waiting rooms as will be agreeable to accept them. It's a win, win situation. Maybe this has been done already but think of the cost of printing these publications, how fantastically crammed with pictures and information they can be and we just read them and stick them somewhere or dump them. We can surely make further positive promotion usage of garden magazines by increasing their circulation figures 5 or even 10 fold to many people who probably would not have been exposed to them already. You can pick up a 12 month old gardening magazine and its as valid as one printed yesterday. If in time this proves to be increasing awareness maybe industry organisations can even prepare custom made information publications for giving away in a similar manner.
To go one better we intend to slip the MyPlant leaflet into the ones we distribute as if it were originally part of the magazine. Ok it is a bit sneaky but its our business and we have to tell people about it and our budget isn't big because we are pressed on prices. You're welcome to download one of our leaflets also and pop one in your magazines . Ok nice try I guess!! www.myplant.ie/downloads/brochure08.pdf
I see a lot of magazines collecting dust in this office so I am getting rid of them in this manner, recycling the well presented information as well as clearing up clutter. This can be do-it-yourself that doesn't require major industry conferences or meetings to get going its simple and up to each of us to find ways to promote our industry even if this isn't the idea for everyone. I am not sure to what extent this particular idea will work towards increasing awareness of plants and gardening benefits but we here will be sure we worked the idea to find out. I don't see how it can hurt unless it increases the levels of paper cuts reported in doctors surgeries, now that could hurt but not much.
Maybe all of us in the industry need to be more inventive in times like this this idea above is no more than that, an idea, however we all keep depending on the weather a bit too much and we have no idea for changing that.. We can change attitude however.

Black or Dark Foliaged Plants

Black or Dark foliaged and flowering plants seem to attract some understandable curiosity and experimentation. When you think of it black does not seem to be a natural colour for a plant and it’s not for there are very few that I would consider really black but we, rightly I feel, take poetic license.

The attraction to anything black is understandable when one thinks of the position the colour black holds in all strata of fashion and visual appreciation. I once posted this quote on my Facebook page “Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black” ..... “Henry Ford”. No argument from me there Mr Ford my Volvo is metallic black thank you, oops its not a Ford oh well there is free choice for you. For me the same holds true for Phormium but the choice is the customers I just can hope they pick my choice Phormium Black Adder on some occasions.

In fashion we have the veritable institution of the little Black Dress. I know nothing of ladies fashion wear and that wont change I fear but you can read more here. http://www.fashion-schools.org/littleblackdressarticle.htm . In rock music we had ACDC’s Back in Black, Ozzy Ozbournes infamous group Black Sabbath, the whole Goth cult thing, it goes on and on Black is stuck in our genetic makeup no matter what the art or creative activity one looks at. Don’t be surprised when this love of black transfers to plants as our American cousin Gen Y’s might say duhhhh. Anyone claiming to lead this trend would be as well lay claim our pre programmed fascination with the colour black itself. It’s going to happen that now and then as the worlds appreciation of plants grows so too does the sub genre of the plant world “black plants”. Us humans have a preoccupation with the colour black and there are chartreuse, pink, red, blue etc but two colours in our psyche stand out. Black and Red and guess what there is the Red Rose Tatoo, Simply Red, Lady in Red, Red Red Wine and so on and so on. There are colours that inspire us and black is top of the heap for many and combine that with its suitability mixing with other colours I rest my case. I have no more to say about the subject of black plants as a general trend as for me the trend is a simple as the above explanation. I can be wrong on this but I hold this opinion as my understanding on the general root cause.

Horticultural involvement and curiosity about black plants for me developed in 1998 when I made my first black plant discovery on the nursery. This discovery came in the form of what is now known as Ceanothus Tuxedo. Let me tell you first I was genuinely shocked, out of a batch of about 6,000 young plants of Ceanothus Autumnal Blue here was this one plant that definitely was not green. However there is more to the story which adds to my curiosity and made me shake my head in wonderment. That year for the first time ever we lost over 60% of the plants in that batch of Autumnal Blue this plant arose in the middle of the worst affected area of the bed. I am lost as to how we managed to kill them as we rarely had difficulty rooting Ceanothus and at the time it was a very large production item for us. In any event there it was a survivor out of what was a bit of a fiasco for our production of Ceanothus Autumnal blue for that year of 1998 and my first discovery of a very dark foliage plant.
I was not finished yet, Tuxedo proved quite difficult to propagate thereafter and it took a lot of work to save the original plant. Eventually I learned it likes sunlight and lots of it probably due to the darkness of the foliage. Eventually we produced enough and the rest is our own little piece of Hort history. I managed to grow the first 3 stable plants from this one plant and from there bulked it up in numbers year by year. Ceanothus Tuxedo is now getting lots of attention as far away as California USA and Tokyo Japan and places in between. In USA you can get Tuxedo from brokers of Pacific Plug and Liner Watsonville California. www.ppandl.net For Europe go to www.fitzgerald-nurseries.com

The second Black plant developed from a mutation of Phormium Platts Black which we were trying to propagate through micropropagation but went horribly wrong. I ended up making various selections which were not true to type. This sometimes happens in micro-propagation. Eventually when I re-selected the best looking form and put it back into propagation it was stable and hey presto the best selection we brought to the world as Phormium Black Adder and look what itself and Tuxedo has been getting up to lately. http://gossipinthegarden.com/2009/09/07/the-adventures-of-black-adder-tuxedo/ Black Adder Phormium is now planted all over the world, Japan, Europe, New Zealand, Australia and USA, this last 12 months we sold 120,000 Black Adder so somebody really likes our black Phormium. If there is any need for evidence that there is a trned towards black plants I think Tuxedo and Black Adder has proven it for me.
So they are my babies I can safely say and my only claim to fame in the black plant world. Black Adder won best patio and balcony plant at IPM Essen in 2008.

In USA you can get Black adder from Pacific Plug and Liner Watsonville California. www.ppandl.net In Europe from www.fitzgerald-nurseries.com


My third horticultural involvement with a new black plant is from a friend in Cornwall called Steve Yandell. Steve is one of the nicest guys in this plant world and an amazingly enthusiastic plants man and breeder. I have been growing Ophiopgon nigrascens for 20 years now and when Steve rang me and told me he has a special form of Black Mondo Grass I thought yeah yeah ok I guess its variegated that kinda blows the black thing? Steve told me no its got longer leaves it suckers more, it grows faster it makes your coffee and bakes scones. Well I did tell you he is enthusiastic! Seriously I was cautious but I happened to be going down for a meeting at the Eden Project a few months later and I made a date to see this black plant in of all places right on the highest point one could imagine overlooking one of the most southerly parts of England Penzance. The picture below is what I saw and took home with me, he was right its all of the above but it didn’t make the tea, coffee or bake. However it did all the other things Steve said it would. So three years later its on the market and of course as it comes from Penzance its called after a famous pirate “Blackbeard”. For me so far if we are to be purist Ophiopgon Blackbeard is the little black dress of black foliage plants. Its black, its sleek, its simple unassuming and Black as I dare any plant foliage to be! That plant in the picture has a bizarre story of piracy of its own however. We are the propagators of this plant in Europe for Steve and have sent plants to USA also. TO promote the plant and get customer feed back I brought it to IPM Essen in Germany which is one of the biggest horticultural industry shows in the world. I was proud to show Blackbeard off on our stand for the first time and after the show we packed it up with some other wonderful plants and left it waiting for our transport agent. You may have guessed what next, it was stolen from our stand and never seen by us again. However thousands are now out in California and in Europe as well as Japan luckily we had begum propagation but somebody out there stooped so low as to steal our very first plant! Fact, believe it or not, an act of piracy and treachery maybe old Blackbeard himself came back from his watery grave, who knows. If it was not Blackbeard the pirate then whoever you are I am taking this opportunity to tell you, I would like it back please!
So to summarize my thoughts on black plants as a genre they must be first of all a “good plant” to be a good black plant to be the colour black just doesn’t cut it for me. On colour depth I am happy to use poetic license. So long as the plants attribute whether foliage or flower is not stretching the colour spectrum to plainly not blackish. If the plant can have berry like Blackbeard or flower like Tuxedo or pure brazen leaf shine like Black Adder it’s making my list.

If the plant pirate is reading this. Black is Black I want my baby back........ (my baby being Blackbeard! I want it back it was my plant! I got it from a friend! Thats his boot in the picture!)

Sweet Success!!

In Spring 2008 we brought our first Sweet Potato plants into our laboratory with the very kind help of the people at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge USA. We have never ventrued into the production of Sweet Potato (Ipomea batatas) before. It was a new area for our nursery and we found some very helpful people in the form of Don LaBonte of Louisiana State University Louisiana USA. Don gave me some valuable advice and helped me along my way in sourcing true to type virus clean plants of Ipomea batatas Beauregard. Beauregard was the exact variety my book research had shown to be most suitable for our climate. In my book research the variety Georgia Jet was also highly recommended but Beauregard seemed to be a better quality variety for storage and skin colour. Funnily enough in our cooking we found Beauregard also to be a better taste than the shop bought ones which are most likely Georgia Jet.
Having secured clean material we propagated mother plants at our laboratory in 2008 and proceeded to see if it was viable to make plug plants from this stock and we found this to be successful. In 2009 we went into limited propagation and produced over 10,000 plants whihc were sold into UK mail order and we planted our own trials at Kildalton College of Horticulture under supervision of Mr Jim Kelleher Senior Horticulture Advisor.

So where to from now with our development of Sweet Potato as an allotment crop in Ireland?

Year 1 Conclusions
The results of the first years commercial propagation trial and crop trial has been very positive. It is conclusive that at the very least this sweet potato variety will give a sufficient yield maturity, excellent quality and flavour under protected growing environment.

Year 2 trial proposal
Having established that Sweet Potato is without doubt a viable crop for the amateur gardener. In 2010 we will undertake a wider trial to assess the merits of Sweet potato as a commercial crop in protected and outdoor conditions. Organic growing techniques will be used and the project will seek collaboration from interested organic growers to participate in a wider trial.

See the short PowerPoint presentation here. http://docs.google.com/present/view?id=d6kvdxk_0z3m827dk

See this article on growing of Sweet Potato in your garden from RHS http://www.rhs.org.uk/Gardening/Grow-Your-Own/Grow-Your-Own-Veg/Veg-A-to-Z/Sweet-potato

Credits.
I would like to thank Jim Kelleher of Teagasc who organised and supervised the growing trial at Kildalton College. Special thanks goes also to Professor Don LaBonte and Lori Buckley at Louisiana State University research facility. Special thanks also to Dr Stanley J Kays of University of Georgia and to Dr Alan Amitage who introduced me to the initial contact that made all this happen.

The Famine Garden at Newmarket Co, Kilkenny

Last Friday was yet another one of those wonderful Autumn days that shorten the winter in this part of the world. On my way from our local Horticultural College I dropped into a project we had donated some Irish yew to many years ago. This was a wonderful concept executed with dilegence and dedication by the local community in Newmarket led by Mr Christy Twomey the local schoool principal of many years.

In the decade 1841 to 1851 Ireland changed dramatically. Two million people disappeared, one million died and one million emigrated. 1851 marked the end of the potato blight, however, disease and destitution remained. Emigration peaked in 1854 and thereafter remained a fact of life in the 19th century. Community spirit is a defining characteristic of pre-famine Ireland. Communities worked together sharing food, skills and labour. This system of communal sharing without the use of money was called Meitheal or Comhar. The spirit of community pervaded through the rich culture of musicmaking, poetry and storytelling. Irish society before the famine was rich in artistic expression and social values.

This wonderful garden is well worth visiting yourself as words can not describe the journey through the garden. The poignant design features and story uncovered as you walk through the garden brings the visitor down to earth. The garden is truly a garden of rememberance and a reminder that despite current economic difficulties there were and will be bigger and more traumatic times than these in all our countries. Every turn one makes in this garden has meaning and at the end of your visit there is hope. The eternal spirit and ability of mankind to recover from disaster through community spirit is highlighted by Gáirdín an Dochas agus na Síochána (Garden of Hope and Rememberance).

"Gáirdín an Ghorta This is the garden of remembrance. The path through the garden is a metaphor for Irish history. The journey along the path is synonymous with the journey of the Irish people from pre-famine era to the future.

For anyone wanting to know how to get there or a little more about the garden there is a website. http://faminegarden.com/ Gaírdín an Ghorta website shows the garden shortly after planting but the matured article has to be seen for yourself. The garden has matured beautifully and the Irish yews we donated are looking fantastic and were in berry when I visited. Maintenance of the Garden is meticulous. Its very easy to see that Gaírdín an Ghorta is a valued part of the community and shows great respect to the design and commitment that went into the concept from the start. Gáirdín an Ghorta (The Famine Garden) was opened on the 15th of October 1999. I visited by coincidence 10 years later to the day. It has matured into a tiny national treasure giving testament to a momentues and history changing event for many people around the world whose ansectors fled a God foresaken land. This all hidden away in a small country village in County Kilkenny.

You can find a video tour posted here. http://www.facebook.com/#!/video/?id=1817283211