An ambitious gardening exhibition to rival the Chelsea Flower Show, which will involve 70 acres of the Phoenix Park in Dublin being turned into gardens and exhibition space, is being organised by An Bord Bia, the Irish Food Board.
The board, responsible for a horticulture industry estimated to be worth nearly €1 billion here annually, plans to stage the event over the next June bank holiday weekend (June 1st to 4th).
Angela Kennedy, the chairwoman of the board, said there was an enormous interest in gardening among the public.
On the 70-acre Phoenix Park site there will be specimen gardens, interactive exhibits and retail areas for visitors.
Bord Bia, which was one of the main sponsors of the Ryder Cup, expects that over 50,000 visitors will attend the event, which will be know as "Bloom".
The project manager of the event, Gary Graham, said it was hoped the exhibition would rival the Chelsea Flower Show.
"All our top designers will be there. Dermot Gavin, Elena Fenton and Paul Mark will be there at the event showing Ireland's best," he said.
"There is scope for an event such as Chelsea and the interest has been enormous, especially when you remember that gardeners here spent almost one billion euro on plants and flowers here annually," he said.