If the latest issue of Vogue magazine is to be believed; parks are "the new gym, the new club, even the new office". The garden season is definitely here and to mark the event, the Norwich Union International Garden Festival - Mallow's answer to the Chelsea Flower Show - opened its gates on Wednesday afternoon at Cork Racecourse.
The five days of horticultural heaven ends tomorrow after which there will be no excuse for wilting weeds in the gardens of the participants. At Wednesday's opening, RTE's Gerry Daly was accompanied by a hoard of live garden gnomes as he went into the New Parade Ring at the racecourse; a rather scary sight which Gerry carried off with his usual aplomb.
He's also judging the festival, along with Adrian Greenoak, formerly a director of Hampton Court Garden Festival, and designers Angela Jupe, Terry O'Reagan and Erik Van Lennep Hyland. At the lunch that accompanied the opening the talk of the town was the "Celtic experience garden" created by festival director Dominick Cullinane which is a recreation of the Gallarus Oratory in the Dingle Peninsula. Among those who were out enjoying the sunshine at the racecourse were solicitors Harry McCullagh and Geraldine O'Donoghue; acting chairman of Cork County Council, Tom Sheahan; chairman of Kerrygold, Denis Cronin; the Lord Mayor of Cork, Damien Wallace; Niamh Kelly and Sean Hegarty of Blackwater Resource Development Group; Terri O'Hara and Mary Buckley of Creative Management. Over 100,000 will have attended the festival by the time it closes and - considering that gardening is the fastest growing leisure activity in Europe after golf - there seems to be some truth in the gardeners rallying cry that it's the new rock and roll.