Sunshine and Bloom

Unfortunately for us, the good weather that has graced us Irish folk recently seems to be over. Not, luckily, before my family and I had the chance to don our suncream and shades and head over to the Phoenix Park to see Bloom, the annual flower and garden show that is hosted there.

This year was the 7th and plans for the 8th are already up on the website (I do love when people are organised). My grandmother went for the flowers, being an avid gardener, but luckily for people (like me) who seem to kill any plant they touch, there were a wide variety of stalls to hold our interest.

They kindly provided complimentary buses from the LUAS stop, though the traffic meant walking would probably have been quicker. We got there in the end, fortunately, and saw this on the way up. Of course I turned to the mother and asked "Can I have one please?" with a big smile. Still waiting to hear her decision. 

The place was packed once we got inside and seemed to stretch out indefinitely, so we grabbed a map. A cursory glance to get our bearings and we headed straight to the food stalls- we have our priorities in order in my family.

There were a selection of farm animals around- pigs, hens, and of course these darlings, who were being fed as we wandered past. All together now- awwwwww!

We had a quick look around at what was on offer- and there was a lot- before settling on promising looking crepes. Given the length of the line (which we were at the back of in the above picture, by the way) my hopes were high and a little dashed once I got the actual crepes. Bit of a gooey texture. Then again, mine contained chocolate and marshmallows, so that may have accounted for it....

On our wanderings we spotted these gentlemen, who oddly enough had a penchant for Nicki Minaj rather than anything more ethnic. A nice addition nonetheless! 

On to the actual gardens. There were far too many to show here, and most had won some sort of medal or other award. My mother was wistfully sighing at a number of them- our own back garden is more jungle than anything else. 

You had to admire the details that went into these gardens. (Eamon DeValera is the who the nation is mourning, if you can't make it out.)

More like something from The Secret Garden than the Phoenix Park...This won a Gold, if I remember correctly.

This whimsical fort was from a garden based on the Wizard of Oz!

My absolute favourite, however, had to be this fairy garden. There was a fog machine that set off a mist periodically, further enhancing the magic of it all. I was, of course, immediately enamoured. 

Come on, look at the tiny fairy-sized houses. Obviously the best in show. My love of Disney and fairytales makes me an utterly unbiased judge, clearly.

Indoors, these works of art made me feel particularly untalented. 

We took a stroll through the plants that were for sale. My grandmother and mother kept us all informed on names and origins, which unfortunately whizzed right over my head so I can't even recall which ones we bought! That being said, I've always been partial to roses. 

Laden with bulbs and blooms, we decided to call it a day. I have to say, rather more fun that you'd expect from a flower show. June Bank Holiday 2014, I await you with anticipation!