Bloom in the Park 2014 in Pictures

Emma Jane Rushmore's fabulous wire sculptures

The opening day of Bloom was a bit wet and miserable. It wasn't a good start. We had tickets to collect and for some reason they had to be left in the only ticket collection booth at the "main" entrance. Only trouble was that we were arriving at the Castleknock entrance.

We started to walk around as we had done last year but with the rain and the long grass and the muck we turned back and decided to drive around. But we met lots of obstacles in the form of road blocks, Gardai who told us there was no main entrance, another Garda who told us we couldn't stop the car and run over to collect the tickets. So we had to move the car from one car park to another and hike through the long wet grass to collect the tickets.

By the time we got in we had wet feet, we were cold and we were hungry. Not a great start.....

We headed straight for Bistro Bloom and went to the Prosecco Bar where last year we had relaxed in hot sunshine.

This year it was cold and the tables under the canopy and umbrellas were in demand. A lovely waitress brought us rugs.








It's self service. It's eye-wateringly expensive for pre-prepared plates of food chilled to oblivion. So chilled in fact that you can barely taste what you are eating. But that's food safety for you.
Actually the Prosecco and the food improved our mood no end and then we felt able to head off and tour the gardens.






The wet weather meant that the light was really good for photography and not a lot of people about.

This is a Wisteria in tree form. Beautiful.

This lovely garden house was in the Woodie's DIY garden which had a really beautiful colour coordinated planting scheme.

Cranberry (Ocean Spray) garden. I stood looking at this for ages as there were a lot of people in front of me and I couldn't figure out what they were. It was incredibly soothing.









The harvested cranberries in the boxes made a terrific feature.











Several of the gardens used vegetables as feature plants including potatoes. When potato plants are healthy and flowering they make a super ground cover.















Bumble bees were in abundance making the most of all the flowering plants.
















               
The recycle garden was really clever and included a composting bin in the centre of the garden as well as very clever use of food to make displays.










The red chair really drew your eye to lead you up the garden path.

Some of the really fabulous and very healthy vegetable displays that added lots of colour and texture.













There were fashion and craft stalls inside in a big pavillion. Virtually impossible not to get completely carried away.


















Everything you could possibly need for your garden was on display including these butterflies.

The main food area is an absolute foodie's paradise where you can sample and talk to the producers. This range of vinegars were an absolute find. Wildwood Vinegars. He told me he can't claim they are organic as he uses lots of foraged ingredients. To my mind they are better than organic. They are real.






Bloom is a really enjoyable day out. Once we got over the hiccup of ticket collection everything else was superb. The organisation and attention to detail is excellent. There is something to interest everyone including really terrific and interactive areas for kids to play, learn and let off steam.

If you missed it this year, get thee to the Phoenix Park next year and make a day of it.