A Quick Good-News Story

It has not been a pleasant time with this pandemic but there have been some good moments and it is important to make the most of them - small happinesses are to be celebrated! The restrictions brought on us by Covid 19 has meant that I have been unable to join friends in outings to …

Suddenly, Out of the…Green!

Today gave me one of those beautiful surprises which comes to a gardener every now and then. You will know the experience: a plant, thought lost, appears again, fit and healthy; a first flowering of a treasured gift, the germination of a rare seed etc etc. Gardeners will understand what I mean. Such moments are …

A Good Orchid Day

The journey from home to Gortlecka Crossroads, in the heart of The Burren in Co. Clare, takes two hours and forty minutes according to the directions from Google maps and to drive there and back in one day would be a hard day indeed. The offer of travelling part of the way and taking a …

There will be days like this!

It was a scorcher of a Sunday, with temperatures in the high 20s, and after a two hour drive we had a thirty-minute walk up a hillside in the Glen of Aherlow, Co. Tipperary, in search of the very rare Small White Orchid. There are scarce records of sightings in north Co. Tipperary and there …

A Welcome Wasp!

Native orchids have captured  my heart – and addled  my brain – and days out have been full of fabulous finds, good company, beautiful plants and one outstanding highlight. Co. Tipperary has featured very strongly in this year’s itineraries as a friend with local knowledge has brought us to some very special sites and plants. …