It's a pity that one of the most extensive and comprehensive garden-related shows is closed to the general gardening public. The Kildare Growers Show, which took place a couple of weeks ago at Goff's showgrounds in Kill, is strictly "trade only" - although I did see one or two private gardeners sneaking in.
The two-day event, now in its 15th year, is where more than 200 gardening wholesalers and distributors gather to meet their customers and tout their wares: months-old plants (known as "liners"), border perennials, alpines, shrubs, semi-mature trees, garden tools, ride-on mowers, composts, garden tools and chemicals, gravels, plant-labelling systems. The open spaces and rows of livestock stalls are commandeered for 48 hours by a mixum-gatherum of horticultural sundries and plant life, from hi-tech irrigation devices and beautifully-grown roses to sinisterly perfect plastic topiary.
For some exhibitors, it's a familiar, annual engagement; for others, it's a first-time, nail-crunching happening. Among the show-rookies were Ralph and Elizabeth Acheson of Orchard Nurseries in Duleek, Co Meath with a small but eye-catching stand laden with fuchsias. Pride of place went to the fairly new introduction, `Firecracker', a triphylla type (long, slim bells) with boldly-variegated pink, red and cream foliage. James Buckley of Uncommon Grounds nursery in Cahir was also experiencing his first Kildare Growers Show, and was promoting his "Bertie's Alpines" concept: 30 varieties of evergreen, easy-to-grow alpines such as sedum, campanula and saxifrage.
Another newcomer, David Llewellyn of Fruit of the Vine - featured in last week's wine column - confided: "This is our test-the-waters, make-or-break thing". And judging by the response to his selection of Irishgrown vines, the waters are balmy. Llewellyn's grapes were in the running for the "best new plant introduction" prize, but were pipped by a new dwarf bamboo, a variety of Fargesia murieliae, entered by Stam's Bamboo Nursery in Waterford. The unforgettably-named `Bimbo' is a sturdy and reliable plant - despite its ditzy monicker - and is unlike any bamboo you've seen before. It has needle-thin canes and a mass of pea-green foliage, and grows no larger than a metre high and wide. It makes a good, evergreen, feature plant for a small garden, either in the ground, or in a well-watered pot.
The "best plant stand" award went to Rentes Plants from Broadford in Co Kildare for their Disney-type stage-set of over-the-top, Italian privet spirals with a brash under-storey of sunflower `Piccolo' (grown by the three Rentes children), pink hydrangea, fiery dahlia and other show-off plants. Dahlias are definitely back in vogue, after being banished for years to the gardens and allotments of hobbyists. My favourite was the heavily-saturated deep-pink `Roxy', a show-stopping plant. Sujang Rentes noted that there is "an explosion of people wanting to do things with their gardens, and they want unusual things now". They also want "immediate gardens, and will shop around to find a specimen 10 or 15 years old". And, she added, "everything that used to be fashionable, like dahlias and roses, has come back again".
"Rose of the Year" for 2000 (a title awarded by the British Association Representing Breeders) was on show at both Minaun and Slatterys nurseries' stands. `Irish Eyes', bred by Dickson Nurseries in Newtownards, is a floribunda with small, double blooms of bright yellow and scarlet. Some visitors (myself included) found it a little angry-looking. I preferred next year's Rose of the Year, `Great Expectations', being previewed by Slatterys. A gentle apricot-pink, floribunda rose, it has good scent, glossy foliage and an old-fashioned rosette-type bloom.
One of the oldest businesses there was a seaweed-processing company, Arramara Teo, which produces organic seaweed fertiliser, turf conditioner and soil builder. Founded in 1947 to give employment in the Gaeltacht, it now provides more than 400 jobs - and has just bought up its British competitor, Alginure.
And the newest business selling itself at the show was Gerry Daly's cyber-venture, Garden.ie. The website (www.garden.ie), which will be launched in late autumn, will be "a first point of access for anyone wanting anything to do with gardening in Ireland," he explained, while pointing and clicking his mouse through a great array of items. Subjects on the site include gardening advice, gardens to visit, garden design, a plant directory, Latin translator, daily diaries from gardening personalities, and an on-line shopping service - but these are just some of the elements that make up this vast Internet facility. If it takes off - and, as Gerry says, "it's a job to explain the power of this thing" - it may be the equivalent of a 24-hour, 365day-a-year Kildare Growers Show for the backyard gardener.