A Nod To The Irish

Coosheen on the south coast of Ireland is a Mecca for snowdrop fans with a collection that emphasises the Irish cultivars

- Annie Gatti

Coosheen, a garden on the edge of Cork city in the south of Ireland, is sheltered from the salty winds whipping off the Atlantic by a boundary of beech hedging. When Hester and Paddy Forde originally moved into the chalet house there, they inherited a few apple trees and some grass – level at the back and sloping at the front. Thirty years later, the two-part garden is a multi-layered plantsman’s delight, where each plant has been selected for its form, colour or scent. Inspired by visits to the Dublin garden that formerly belonged to the author and horticulturist Helen Dillon, Hester combines bulbs with perennials, evergreens and grasses. Her passion for snowdrops has created a garden that draws you out, even on the coldest of winter days.

Where did your passion for snowdrops come from?