The Irish Garden, July 2006 Volume 15 No 6
Favourite Plant
Máire Nic Gearailt
"It’s so difficult to pick one as I probably have a favourite plant for each season or maybe even for each month. Most of my favourite flowers would come under the ‘cottage garden’ label, but one that I find irresistible is the poppy – both the annual poppy and the perennial oriental poppy.
"Annuals, en masse, are such a marvellous sight, so bold, taking over and putting on a striking display on a mound of earth or a recently disturbed piece of ground. It’s as if they are laying claim to the area, like someone placing a flag on a mountain peak. There’s almost an exclamation mark after each one, saying ‘We are here… so there!’ I just love the way they can lie dormant for years and then once the ground is disturbed, up they pop.
"Then there’s the perennial oriental poppy. They appear so fragile, so delicate, so beautiful that you almost shy away from planting them, as I did, until one a few years ago completely captivated me. I then discovered that underneath that delicacy and gentle beauty lies a strength and an independence which I never expected. I thought they would have to be minded but no, I have been rewarded, without any huge effort, by a spectacular display that gets better every year. Don’t let that almost see-through tissue-like delicacy put you off – the oriental poppy is tougher than it looks.
"I garden on about an acre that includes flower beds, a vegetable garden, fruit bushes, a green house, apple, pear and plum trees and hazel trees. I love hazel nuts and have great memories of my father taking us gathering nuts every autumn in an area outside Headford called the Hills and Hollows – at least that’s what we called it.
"In the vegetable garden I only grow what I like to eat, so every year lots of peas, beans, potatoes, courgettes, spinach, as well as tomatoes in the green house. Last year, for the first time, I grew squashes and discovered the beauty of this prolific vegetable which is so easy to grow and simple to prepare for the table. There are probably loads of recipes but one that evolved last autumn, because of what I had to hand, works as well as anything I can imagine. Slice off the top, scoop out the seeds and pith and fill the cavity with a mix of the best olive oil you can find, garlic, fresh rosemary and parmesan cheese. Put the top back on and bake.
"Most of the potatoes and vegetable seeds I use come from the Irish Seed Savers Association - a bunch of dedicated people who are doing wonderful and important work in preserving and propagating old varieties of vegetables and fruit.
"I garden organically and get lots of help from the birds I feed all year round and welcome the mix of self seeding flowers – nasturtiums, calendula, borage, comfrey, poached egg plant, that appear among the fruit and vegetables every year. Gardening is for me a passion and I try to ensure that all the occupants of the patch I am lucky enough to have responsibility for co-exist as naturally as possible.
Máire Nic Gearailt is a presenter/producer with RTÉ Radio. She moved to Limerick from RTÉ Radio in Dublin when RTÉ Lyric fm opened in May 1999. Since then, she has presented the mid-morning radio programme Lyric Notes every Monday to Friday. She is originally from Headford , Co Galway and having lived for many years in Dublin city, says she is delighted to be back living in the country once again.
© Yvonne Gordon 2006
