Paddy Tobin, An Irish Gardener
Our garden, gardens visited, occasional thoughts and book reviews
Huntingbrook Garden is the home, workplace and love of Jimi Blake. Now, I could have introduced him as "plantperson Jimi Blake" or with such words as "plantaholic" or "plant geek" but such terms have a slightly pejorative tinge to them and I prefer to think of Jimi as a person with an extraordinary enthusiasm for … Continue reading Huntingbrook Snowdrops
Jimi Blake decided this week to take the plunge and open his garden - Huntingbrook, Co. Wicklow - at snowdrop time. Although he has gathered and grown snowdrops for many years he never considered his garden a "snowdrop garden" but he has taken an increased interest in snowdrops in recent years and has added enormously … Continue reading Snowdrops at Huntingbrook.
Just a little rant! Fionnuala Fallon wrote a review of Jimi Blake’s book, A Beautiful Obsession, in today’s Irish Times. As might be expected, she was lavish in her praise – expected because they are long-time friends and also because it is well deserved. I hasten to point out immediately that I expect no blame … Continue reading On the Use of Names.
In his seventeen years at Huntingbrook Garden, Jimi Blake has cut a dash through the traditional herbaceous border, the shrub border, the woodland garden and is leading the way in Irish horticulture with his innovative approach to gardening, with his new plant trials and introductions but, most of all, in the manner in which he … Continue reading A Beautiful Obsession
Huntingbrook, Jimi Blake’s garden in Co. Wicklow, has taken a leap forward this year with the redevelopment of a large area of the gardens. That area to the right as one walked into the garden, a quite high bank until this year, has been lowered, new soil added and the whole area replanted. Now, rather … Continue reading Huntingbrook
It is disappointing to see a good garden receive scant and silly coverage on a television gardening programme. Recently, BBC’s Gardener’s World visited Jimi Blake’s garden, Huntingbrook, and gave more time to Jimi on a trampoline than to the garden and plants. With any television programme there will be editing and selection of material but … Continue reading Much more than that!
Paddy Tobin, An Irish Gardener 