Bloom

We went to Bloom on Monday (it was a bank holiday). The weather was perfect all through the weekend for a garden show, and there were big crowds throughout the day. We arrived early enough, at 10:30, but it was already busy then. 

It was all well organised - we did

n't encounter any traffic issues (though we didn't like having to pay €5 for parking in a field), there were all sorts of things to look at - cookery demonstrations, food market, hanging baskets, garden furniture and accessories, a walled Victorian garden, a "White House" vegetable garden, a concert area, and plenty of activities for children. I enjoyed looking at all the display gardens, and I got some useful advice on how to keep my basil alive (put it in the window, and water only when the pot feels light, more or less every 3 days - I had been watering it every day and was wondering why it was dying!)

We're looking for a garden table and chairs, and anything we had seen so far in the usual shops was too big, too rickety or too expensive (and in some cases, all three together). So we were hoping that some of the exhibitors would be garden furniture companies, and we did find one company, based in Carlow, that seemed to have what we were looking for. The products look well finished (they are Swedish), and the prices were keener than what we'd seen previously. We'll have to take a trip down to Carlow to investigate further, as they had limited display items at the show.

And we found a new poppy colour - such a delicate pink - I'll have to paint this some time!