Three medals awarded to Tipperary participants at Bord Bia Bloom gardening festival
Nenagh-man Jack Donovan was awarded Silver for his garden, Alltar.
Tipperary was well represented at the opening of the 20th annual Bord Bia Bloom festival, with award success for participants from Nenagh, Ballina and Cashel.
2026 winner of Bord Bia Bloom’s Cultivating Talent programme and Nenagh-native Jack Donovan was awarded Silver for his garden, ‘Alltar’.
Tidy Towns Killaloe, with participants from Ballina, received a Certificate of Distinction for the Bee Community Postcard Garden.
Dundrum Nurseries were also recognised at the festival, receiving a Bronze medal in the Nursery Village category.
The awards were announced as Bord Bia Bloom opened in the Phoenix Park in Dublin on Thursday morning.
A total of 19 medals were presented across the show garden category, while 17 medals were awarded in the Nursery Village category and 14 medals were presented to Postcard Gardens created by community groups from across the country.
Jack Donovan previously won Bord Bia Bloom’s prestigious Cultivating Talent competition, which supports emerging garden designers.
He impressed the Bord Bia Bloom assessment panel with his designs for ‘Alltar’, described as “a celebration of the overlooked ecologies that arise in the margins of a city.”
Commenting on this year’s awards, Chief Judge Andrew Wilson said: “It’s wonderful to be back at Bloom to celebrate its 20th anniversary and to witness its evolution over those two decades as the world of garden and planting design has progressed.”
“With the climate pressures we are faced with, we need sustainable ideas and solutions, planting that is resilient and materials that can deliver more than once. Happily, there are gardens at Bloom 26 that reflect these concepts while providing inspirational ideas and messages that prove the value of this show which remains relevant and responsive.”