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American Garden Writer Association member and regional
director Ginger Aarons at Bloom receiving her Innisfree. |
Bloom 2013 The Gathering of Gardeners.
What a year for this show, one hundred and ten thousand visitors passed through and enjoyed Bloom this year in splendid sunshine. Despite years of recession, doom and gloom the show is blossoming into one of Irelands leading summer attractions. What a wonderful location for this national event for the people by the people and in the peoples park! Despite the tremendous crowds attending each day there was minimal disturbance and no more than expected traffic delays encountered. This is truly a wonderful public occasion and a combination of right time, right place right spirit, long may it continue.
Go mbeire muid beo ar an am seo aris!
This year it was my great honour to have grown thousands of Irish Primrose Innisfree as gifts to thousands of visitors who visited Bloom from outside of Ireland. The Gathering of Gardeners was promoted through various garden and media publications in Ireland and UK, such as Gardens Illustrated, BBC Gardeners World Magazine, Cara and other publications in print and online. Together with An Bord Bia and the Gathering we presented "A Gift from Ireland" at Bloom.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKlEUCEpzh8
This unique Irish Primrose is part of our now well travelled dark leaved Kennedy Irish Primrose range which itself is part of our wider Irish Primrose collection. We were delighted with the reception this primrose and the other varieties in the range has got not just in Ireland but around the world. For more on that you can click here and see whats been happening during the year gone by. Just scroll trhough the dozens of pictures to get a real feel for these gems of the spring garden. I have loaded pictures of their progress through the early part of this year. www.irishprimrose.com
Quote from opening of Bloom 2013 by President Michael D Higgins.
Bloom 2013 has been dubbed ‘the gathering of gardeners’ and many additional international visitors are expected at the show. Working with Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland, Bord Bia has reached out to UK gardening families and the Irish online community of Bloom fans, which now amounts to 20,000 gardeners. They have been encouraged to use Bloom as the ideal event for a gathering of friends and family. To ensure that the international visitors have a memorable experience Bord Bia have commissioned an Irish plant breeder to supply a Bloom memento, a new Irish Primrose called ‘Innisfree’. All those who travel from abroad will receive this as a free gift. These unique plants will be accompanied by a book mark plant label printed with Yeats’ poem ‘The Lake Isle of Innisfree’.
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Children from Thomastown Presenting gifts to
President and Mrs Higgins. |
Earlier in the week on Wednesday just a day before the Bloom official opening we had the honour of having President and Mrs Higgins at our parish school in Thomastown Co Kilkenny. President Higgins unveiled a special work of art in the school grounds. We had the great honour of having one of our most recent and yet to be named Irish Primrose selections presented to Mrs Sabina Higgins and a glass decantor made by our neighbours Jerpoint Glass.
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| Close up of our most recent Irish Primrose selection |
This new jack-in-the-green Primrose has yet to be named and flowers are green white and gold in keeping with our national colours. This new variety will be released in Spring 2014 with the Irish Primrose full Spring collection
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| Pat meeting President and Mrs Higgins |
So all in all its been another eventful week for our Irish Primroses which are gaining worldwide attention for their striking and unique flower / foliage colour contrasts combined with hardy and resiliant old world charm.
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Irish Primrose Garden Trials.
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| Primula Avondale |
Spring has come very late in 2013 and indeed not fully arrived even yet. Our new primroses have weathered this most unusual and unprecedented cold March. Having been hit by sleet, snow, frost and continuous dry cold winds they are looking very perky indeed. Leaf colour on the dark leaved forms in fact is far better in cold conditions like we have now. The most interesting thing evolving that really make these forms of Primrose of great value to the Spring garden is how the flowers are remaining fresh and vivid by comparison to many of the poylanthus and large flowered winter bedding forms.
These new varieties from very old lines dating back to at least early 1900's have been slowly bred totally in out door conditions over a period of 38 years. The methodology applied is resulting in very tough genetics which ultimately is good for gardeners everywhere. Reports coming in from all over the world are so far positive. Remember these primroses are not meant to be just show pieces to look good in a pot for a fancy picture these plants must be gardeners plants. These primula are intended to last as perennials and give value to gardeners and can be divided up every few years to spread around the garden or re potted to make great flowering containers or mixed combos.
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| Primula Moneygall |
Reports are coming in from USA as far North as Alaska and South to Dallas, as far East as Tokyo Japan and in Southern Hemisphere Melbourne Australia and Auckland New Zealand. Drumcliff, Innisfree and now many others are being put through their paces in Germany, France, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, UK and other countries. Of course here in Ireland we are putting them through their paces also. So gardeners, nurseries and garden centres can be assured these plants are being tested for endurance as well as for their eye catching attributes. Up to now reports coming in are very positive and garden writers and experts around the world seem to like the surprise element of these beauties. Myself and Joe Kennedy are very grateful for the positivity shown towards these Irish Primroses and as they say in show biz, we think, you ain't seen nothing yet!
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| Primula Drumcliff |
What counts for me is that these plants work for the gardener, give something special to horticulture and stand the test of time. Knee jerk reactions to how one perceive, good or bad are never of value, it can take over 5 years to really know if a group of plants like this are of value. The process of breeding selection and final testing before release can and has in the case of these beauties taken a lifetime. You can keep up to date with images and news about our Irish Primroses on www.irishprimnrose.com which links for now to Irish Primrose facebook page, in due course a new website will be launched. oDOnt forget you can check all the other Irish Primrose stories in previous posts below.
Enjoy the pictures! :) .
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| Primula Dunbeg |
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| Primula Drumcliff |
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| Primula Innisfree |
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| Primula Claddagh |
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| Primula Tara |
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| Primula Dunbeg |
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| Primula Moneygall |
Spring is in the air and some of the more brave wild Irish primroses are peeping through their winter foliage.
On St.Patricks Day 2013 a new primrose will herald springtime in Washington. A special Irish primrose has been named in honour of the maternal ancestral village of USA President Barack Obama. The first plants of the primrose named Primula Moneygall are already growing locally in USA and now waiting for their introduction to the Whitehouse garden. This new Irish primrose variety will be gifted to President and Mrs Obama during their state visit by An Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Mr Enda Kenny and Mrs Fionnuala Kenny on St.Patricks Day 2013.
For millennia in Ireland flowering of the wild primrose has been one of the first natural signs of progression from winter to spring. The humble primrose has given rise to positive and varied primrose folklore. As my old secondary school motto says Hiems Transit (winter has passed) the native primrose gives natures silent testament to this fact.
 Primula Moneygall has similar flower colour and habit as our native Irish primrose.‘Moneygall’ along with a number of new Irish primroses now available worldwide has been raised from old Irish varieties through many years of conservation, breeding and selection work by Joe Kennedy and Pat FitzGerald. Primula Moneygall with its natural simplicity and profuse combination of single, poly and hose-in-hose flower formations is a natural Spring treat in garden containers, borders or other planting situations. The Moneygall Primrose is ideal for mass planting in garden, park, village or town planting schemes. This new primrose variety can be planted in Autumn or Spring and will compliment spring flowering bulbs such as crocus and snowdrop.
We hope this selected variety heralds a new spring for us all in 2013 and enhances the joys of spring in the Whitehouse garden for generations to come. Primula Moneygall will be available as an addition to the current range of Irish primroses from Autumn 2013.
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Kennedy Irish Primrose display at
Arboretum Garden Center |
Check for the Kennedy Primrose range in your local garden center now they are truly unique.
For further news keep up to date at
IPM Essen 2013 January 22nd to 25th
 FitzGerald Nurseries exhibited at the international plant trade show IPM Essen for the eight year. The company entered its new introduction Primula Claddagh, part of the Kennedy Irish Primrose range, in the perennial category. IPM Essen is the worlds largest commercial ornamental horticulture show.
Primula Claddagh was awarded best new perennial at this years show. Below were the judges comments about Primula Claddagh.
Judges comment
"As IPM novelty 2013 in the perennial category a new Irish bred variety was awarded: The Primula hybrid 'Claddagh' from Fitzgerald Nurseries. The red leaved, fully winterhardy primrose has convinced the jury with its natural appearance. The wild character of the plant with the honey yellow flowers is ideally suited for natural garden designs."
Show visitors feedback
Visitors to the show were very interested in the whole Irish Primrose range exhibited on our stand in Hall 2. Orders from various parts of the world were very strong. Modern Primrose breeding has taken the humble Primrose to dizzy heights of flower colour, size and form. All thisintensive breeding in the direction of more bedding type production brings the Primrose a long way from its original origin in European gardening. Possibly for this reason our collection of Irish hardy perennial Primroses will help to change focus for future consideration of the Primrose and bring it back into the perennial garden with more frequency.
General background to Irish Primroses
Primroses were perhaps the first garden plants deliberately raised selected and named in Ireland. (Charles Nelson) There are records going back to 1735 of auricula and polyanthus types grown and selected in the Earl of Meath’s Garden in Kilruddery Co Wicklow. A list of these Primroses is collated in A Heritage of Beauty by Charles Nelson.
Nelson tells us that later in the 19th Century the image of the old garden tended by a ‘little old lady'. During this period around the late 1800’s these lady gardeners were the custodians of these old old cultivars preserving them by dividing them and passing them around their circle of friends. Who in turn passed them to theirs and this was mainly how cultivars, species crosses and re-crossed the Irish channel between England and Ireland. Around this time and into the early 1900’s saw the rise of small commercial nurseries in many cases attached to the estates of landed gentry. Nurseries like Lisadell, in County Sligo in Yeats country, Newry Nurseries, Daisy Hill, Slieve Donard,Rowallne Nursery Co Down, Ballawally Alpine Nursery Dublin, Ballyrogan Nursery, Annesgrove Nurseries etc .
Visitors to Ireland with the gardening or Primrose bug at this time were spoiled for choice and picked up many of these old fashioned cultivars preserved by what became known as the Little Old Primrose ladies of Ireland. Charles Nelson again in his book A Heritage of Beauty makes the point that modern society and other pastimes gave cause for a decline in these wonderful plant. I am inclined to agree with him in the opinion that this was an unfortunate trend and the gardening world is the poorer for it. However we have what we have and we must learn from this decline and make the best of what we have.
This was my greatest inspiration to embark on my Primrose path and try to conserve the old and develop the new cultivars bred by the stalwart of modern Irish Primrose cultivars Mr Joe Kennedy. Joe is one of the greatest remaining links between our Irish Primrose heritage and todays modern garden. My collaboration and friendship with Joe is deep rooted.
History of the dark leaved Irish Primrose
Mr Whiteside Dane lived just outside Naas in County Kildare in a townland called Garryard at the end of the 1800’s. He is reputed to have produced a Primrose called Garryard Appleblossom. It is assumed that this may have been a mutation this plant resembled the wild primrose in habit, leaf and growing preferences. It had strong dark leaves over which was carried pink and white flowers. Cecil Monson a Primrose breeder from Co Roscommon documented the story of how his grandmother when moving house in 1898 brought all her treasured Primroses with her. He relayed that in this collection was the only Garryard in existence at that time. He recalled that in 1935 he first saw another Garryard variety called Guinevere in the garden of a Mrs Page-Croft and this variety was raised by another important Primrose lady Mrs Johnson of Kinlough he also records the names of another Primrose lady Miss W.F Wynne of Avoca Co Wicklow.
 After WW2 when Cecil Monson returned to Ireland from England he records there were many more of these dark leaved Garryard forms about so the Primrose people had been busy breeding. He mentions many varieties but one of most note bred this time by a Mr Champernowne from England called Enchantress which he says was the closest to the original Garryard that he had seen. Since this time these true dark leaved beauties have been crossed with many cultivars of julianas and alticas. Like many stories of plant history this account of the first dark leaved Primrose known as Garryard is contradicted by the very eminent plant historian Dr Charles Nelson who suggests that the first true Garryard did not appear on the scene in Ireland until 1935. Which ever is the true time of origin it is accepted that Ireland was where the first of the dark foliage forms originated. The original Garryard Appleblossom is said to be a cross between P. Juliae and P. vulgaris. Thanks to Joe Kennedy these foliage traits have been preserved and crossed into various hose in hose and polyanthus type Primroses. This work has given rise to what is a new and exciting future range of Primroses originating from the work of the many amateur gardeners and breeders who took interest in this wonderful simple plant through the last 150 years of Irish gardening history. But for the wonderful book by Dr Charles Nelsons A Heritage of Beauty many of these old varieties and descriptions and stories of where these varieties originated may be long forgotten and was the source of my original interest in the story of the Irish Primrose. Like Joe my first encounter with native flowers was through the wild Irish Primrose. My work as an Irish nurseryman has been to try and bring these gems to the gardening world having been saved for posterity by Joes and previous Irish gardeners good work.
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We are delighted to announce that FitzGerald Nurseries and County Wexford Garden Centre, Beechdale Plantsplus Garden Centre two local South East nursery businesses have teamed up to bring to this years National Ploughing Championships a whole new range of Irish bred and Irish grown hardy perennial Primroses.
Kennedy Irish Primrose plants can be purchased exclusively as plug plants from the Beechdale stand all days through the Championships and are in easy to carry plug form just for this one time only exclusive offer.
Visitors to the show have plenty opportunity to buy a wider range of these wonderful traditional and dark leaved Primroses for the first time ever.
These uniquely Irish Primroses have been setting gardeners heads turning around the world and have been featured in many international magazines and journals.
Beechdale Plantsplus Garden Centre will be in Block H Section 2 Stand 235
You can visit this link to see news of other exciting happenings with these Old Irish gems
For your viewing you can see a clip from the recent BBC Gardeners World featuring Irish Primroses and Primrose breeder Joe Kennedy taken on our farm and in the local Irish Famine Memorial Garden. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyPtM8dpZB4
If you would like more information please do not hesitate in contacting me directly.
Kennedy Irish Primroses
Dark Foliage Varieties
Primula Avoca First Release 2012 /13
Primula Claddagh Not available in numbers until 2013
Primula Drumcliff 2011 Release
Primula Innisfree 2011 Release
Primula Dunbeg First Release 2012 /13
Irish Cottage Garden Varieties
Primula Avondale First Release 2012 /13
Primula Carrigdale First Release 2012 /13
Primula Glengarrif First Release 2012 /13
Primula Tara First Release 2012 /13
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon also known as Hanging Gardens of Semiramis and the walls of Babylon (near present-day Al Hillah in Iraq) are considered one of the original Seven Wonders of the World. They were built by Nebuchadnezzar II around 600 BC. He is reported to have constructed the gardens to please his wife, Amytis of Media, who longed for the trees and beautiful plants of her homeland. The gardens are reputed to have been destroyed in an earthquake after the 1st century BC. However this desire to have such a place and this longing for beautiful spaces has not changed through the passing of time.   As Landscape design businesses, Magazines, Nurseries or Garden Centres we have developed a strategy to highlight and respond to this real need. Is there currently an increased trend towards people using their living spaces as places of refuge and comfort? Are people longing for the once familiar safe feeling provided by natures cocoon? No matter how streetwise, world hardened and sophisticated we have become for most is that longing still in our genetic makeup. If the answers to these questions are yes then the time may be right more than ever before to give people what they want and explain more clearly we are providing a unique service more than just the obivous physical goods. The collaboration between nurseries, architects, designers and landscape contractors come together to provide that place whether it be on the scale of Babylon or your own tiny urban / rural garden cocoon. Have governments understood this human need fully? This need is greater during times of trauma be they economically induced or simialr to the needs of Amytis of Media all those centuries ago.
 We have been reading stories from all over the world where our wise leaders have been cutting back on spending on parks and public gardens. With tighter budgets large and small businesses may also underestimate or ignore the need for these spaces for staff to unwind before, during or after their working day. Isn't there some economic formula which says supply should be dictated by demand and or need? There is enough research to show that investment in nature and creating natural spaces are always wise investments financially. Investment in the manufacture of buildings, cars, planes and other products such as financial packages have historically taken priority and I guess that is how the world is. Or was! It didnt work fully to our favour and maybe now is a good time to tweak towards natural solutions to old problems. Can we ever look forward to a time when policy dictates the planted environment must be financed and planned to show buildings and steets can be accomodated within the plan rather than making nature fit our buldings and streets. The environmental age has arrived, people want nature more part of the sustainability solution when they go home, or indeed go to work. Nature does not just provide us with a means to energy we use to power our appliances it also gives us the energy provided by well being. The good news for mankind is that there is an ample supply of skilled businesses that can supply such a services that will be able to harness renewable resources to provide both forms of energy. Our business is to simply and effectively provide a diversity plants that will fit in your immediate environment and we take it seriously. http://www.myplant.ie/
Kennedy  Irish Primroses Old Irish Primroses abroad.
What a month of activity for a new Irish Plant introduction! Primula Drumcliff and Innisfree are now widely available in USA, Europe and Japan. These are the first two varieties of the Kennedy Irish Primrose range. Following last years St. Patrick’s Day Primrose presentation by Mrs. Fionnuala Kenny to Americas First Lady Mrs. Michelle Obama word is spreading fast about these unique garden Primroses. Drumcliff and Innisfree are the first of many of these old Irish Primroses.
British Gardening greats feature Kennedy Irish Primroses.
On Thursday of last week BBC Gardener’s World visited FitzGerald Nurseries to film a segment featuring the story behind the Kennedy Irish Primroses for Gardeners World programme presented by Carol Klein to air on March 30th. Carol’s piece was set at FitzGerald Nurseries and in the Irish Famine Garden Newmarket Co. Kilkenny where FitzGerald Nurseries has donated and planted a wider range of these old Irish Primroses. The program also focuses on the native Primroses in the Rath (Ringfort) on the family farm immediately beside the nursery where the inspiration for the general Primrose conservation work had been taken.
On March 13th these unique hardy perennial Irish Primroses were written up by Mr. Graham Rice, Editor in Chief of the RHS Encyclopaedia of Perennials on his RHS blog. So high praise indeed coming from such a well respected source and recognition for bringing Primula into its proper standing amongst perennials. Click here to go to RHS Blog piece spapers feature Kennedy Irish Primroses.
New York
Last week Kennedy Irish Primroses have featured on Martha Stewart Living TV programme on the Hallmark Channel in USA. Plants were included in handout gifts on the show and presented by Lloyd Traven of Peacetree Farm ( in picture on left) as a gift for Martha’s Garden.
 Oregon
In Oregon State, Kennedy Irish Primroses have been featured on Gardentime TV as plant pick of the week and plants were supplied by Skagit Gardens of Mount Vernon Washington .
Click here to see video
 Washington State
Both Drumcliff and Innisfree were planted alongside our Carex Everest, which is now a top selling plant in USA, outside the famous Irish Landmark pub and streak house in Seattle, FX McRory’s. On Friday this week Pat FitzGerald presents the Kennedy Irish Primrose story to a group at a specially organised Primrose Party in Seattle and meets with Mick McHugh owner of FX McRory’s. Seattle Times columnist Ciscoe Morris has Featured Primula Drumcliff as one of his buys of the week for gardeners in Washington
California
On Tuesday the Primroses feature as a centre piece for a pre show party hosted by gardening author and garden designer Rebecca Sweet during the San Francisco Garden Show week. Kennedy Irish Primroses will be featured at the SFGS by Skagit Gardens of Mount Vernon Washington.
During the following week Kennedy Irish Primroses will be displayed by Pacific Plug and Liner and Skagit Gardens at the California Spring Trials one of the biggest events in the US professional ornamental horticulture industry.
Other Primrose Kennedy Primroses blog pieces
http://fitzgeraldnurseries.blogspot.com/2011/03/gifting-of-kennedy-irish-primrose.html
http://fitzgeraldnurseries.blogspot.com/2011/01/announcing-kennedy-irish-primrose.html
http://fitzgeraldnurseries.blogspot.com/2009/10/famine-garden-at-newmarket-co-kilkenny.html
http://mygarden.rhs.org.uk/blogs/graham_rice/archive/2012/03/13/irish-primroses-new-from-cotswold-garden-flowers.aspx
http://onebeanrow.com/2012/03/16/move-over-shamrocks-here-come-the-irish-primroses/
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Things have been hectic over the summer months, difficult to dicipline time aside to write any blog posts. We have just completed another Plantarium show in Netherlands.
Plantarium seemed a quieter show this year yet quality and quantity of serious enquires were up on last year. This years show again attracted a lot of visitors from USA and our business there continues to progress despite the general economic downturn and uncertain year this year. Of course if we were fortunate enough to live in better times I am sure we like everyone would be a lot happier but possibly slow growth will make us stronger.
We have been holding back a little from announcing some of our newest plants for 2012 but I assure you all that will change in the coming months and we will feature some of our new key plants for 2012 as we build towards IPM 2012 which takes place at the end of January and this will be our 6th year exhibiting at this great show. I have loaded some pictures from Plantarium 2011 to my facebook page.
Plantarium 2011 had a stronger focus this year on hardy woody plants and our Nandina got great attention. Our Carex range continues to attract great interest and our newest addition Carex Everillo is off to a fantastic start. Everillo amongst plenty of our other Carex was on two growers stands at Plantarium and they report great interest in this plant. While hardy and woody plants are making a resurgence Cordyline and spot colour is also forging ahead so long as its not too expensive the public hunger for colour is unstoppable. Sometimes we may forget we are not only growing plants but also providing colour in peoples environment and this is one important function of plants. If you look closely at peoples expressions when they look at plants you will son learn plants can be responsible for positive mood swings and this i s due in no small part to the influence of colour, at least I believe so. I did a post a while back on my blog on some plants that bring such colour. I need to update this urgently as so many additional colours are now coming in very hardy easy care plants.
In the meantime I hope you enjoy the fading light of summer and hopefully we can have one of those beautiful Septembers we sometimes get in this part of the world.
The co-incidence.
In this blog post I am re-posting a piece I first posted on http://www.myplant.ie/ back in May 2009. A few weeks after I first posted this the article was hacked and my website brought down by a virus planted on the site by hackers. My site hosting and maintenance guys said the attacks were targeted at this article possibly due to the mention of the White House. They fixed my website as luckily we got the attack early. Sometimes its very hard to get away from the feeling some things are predestined. As you will see on my last blog piece this week our primroses landed in the very place I was highlighting in the article below. http://fitzgeraldnurseries.blogspot.com/2011/03/gifting-of-kennedy-irish-primrose.html
Due to this amazing coincidence and the fact that the White House Garden project or the trend towards people growing their own vegetables wasn't just a passing fad I decided to re post this piece. I would also like your opinion on the questions posed at the end.
Is Gardening becoming a necessary life skill?
Original post.
This is probably not so hard to believe from some of us who have been around the block before. One of the silver linings for us as Horticulturists in somewhat depressing times like these is that people have more time to spend reassessing their interests, what is important and un-important. So far it looks like the signs so far are telling us that nature, growing your own and generally appreciating the garden, parks and the free or not so expensive things in life are coming out as important. 
In the USA there has been a very encouraging and dedicated lobby since last November to have a vegetable garden planted in the grounds of the White House and from the picture here you can see this has been successful and has begun. Congratulations are due to the idea instigator to the people who worked on and supported this project and for achieving such success. Have a look at the official White House Farmer website WWW.WHITEHOUSEFARMER.COM .
With the eyes of the world on the new American first family this image on the White House farmer website has to be one of the most interesting garden images this month and many of us in the Horticulture world could not have imagined such an image emanating from such a prestigious and austere location until now.
A number of months ago I came across a saying from a contemporary American writer called Orson Scott Card which goes 'Unemployment is capitalism's way of getting you to plant a garden'.
We have to hope that mass unemployment is not what it will take to get many of us to plant a garden. It's an unfortunate and interesting fact that sometimes it takes shocks of great magnitude to make some of us realize what's important and what's not. We can only hope now that when the world economy does eventually recover some lessons will have been learned and children will remember the folly of some of their elders in neglecting a few basic life skills and considerations that are the essence of our existence. Whether it be for food or for pleasure plant life is beneficial to mankind even the humblest apparently undesirable weed gives benefit to the planet and our immediate environment. For those of us who depend on gardening for a living let's hope that the many skills in the industry the great plants, fruit and vegetables that are produced by our sector will be valued and appreciated much more, by a greater amount of people and a new kind of consumer and gardener.
Lets hope our time in the sun has come.
Now almost two years on what do you think? Have we seen a change of mindset towards people in our profession or trade? Will the young people all over the world who have been exposed to the many projects like the White House Garden be better off for this new trend? Is it too early to say it has changed anything in the longer 25 year perspective when these children will be adults with children of their own?
 It isnt often one of our plants gets such a wonderful first outing that they are given as a gift from our country to the first Lady of the United States of America. So I felt I must share this news with everyone. I am honoured to announce that on 17th of March, St Patricks Day, a special basket of our new Kennedy Irish Primrose variety Drumcliff was chosen as a gift to Mrs Obama. The Primrose basket was given to Mrs Obama during the recent visit of An Taoiseach Mr Enda Kenny T.D and his wife Mrs Fionnuala Kenny to the White House, Washington D.C. This is the first time these Primroses have been seen in full flower in the USA and we at FitzGerald Nurseries are delighted that they were chosen for such an auspicious occasion.  The Primroses were propagated in County Wexford, Ireland and grown to flowering size in County Kilkenny, Ireland. Plants were inspected and certified in accordance with United States Department of Agriculture import regulations and shipped to special facilities of Herronswood Nurseries in Pennsylvania USA where plants were acclimatized and prepared for the final presentation. The Kennedy Irish Primroses were launched this January coinciding with the 50th Anniversary of the inauguration of John F Kennedy as President of United States of America. Primula Drumcliffe is named after the final resting place of the famous Irish poet W.B Yeats. The second variety released in 2011 is named Innisfree after the poem Lake Isle of Innisfree. Further varieties will be released over the coming years. Pat FitzGerald. You can find more information on the Kennedy Irish Primroses by clicking here. - FitzGerald Nurseries was founded in 1990. Ever since a child Pat has been involved in the growing of vegetable and garden plants. From the age of 17 Pat started studying Horticulture then proceeded after leaving college to work in the gardening industry. - Pat FitzGerald selects, breeds and cultivates new plant varieties and in his own right is responsible for many new garden plant varieties now available to gardeners worldwide. - Joseph Kennedy breeder of the Kennedy Irish Primroses has been breeding old Irish Primroses from old Irish cultivars dating back to the 1800’s. After retiring early from dentistry almost 30 years ago Joe took up his breeding passion full time but never released any of his work to the public until now. - About the same time as Pat was leaving his formal Horticulture studies Joe began his serious collecting of the old Irish Primrose varieties. Twenty five years later their paths crossed, they combined their mutual talents and the Kennedy Irish Primrose range was born. After five more years of selecting and propagation in Ireland the first two varieties of these plants are now available to the public. Much more to come so watch this space. In USA you can check availability of Kennedy Irish Primroses at the following. For mail order 
Irish Times InterTradeIreland All-island Innovation Awards.
 Leaders in their field, FitzGerald Nurseries Ltd have been nominated for their system, which have been designed to develop plants, marketing, micro-propagation production systems and routes to international markets for their plant ranges developed. Mr Pat FitzGerald from FitzGerald Nurseries Ltd said: We were delighted to be even shortlisted originally but to win this award in the prescence of such fantastic high tech companies is indeed an honour. It is especially wonderful to be recognized and awarded for innovation. We work hard to be the best at what we do and to come up with new products for the our customers and the international marketplace.” In the field of Horticulture this is not an easy task where mainstream industrial support and thinking is not always supported in the same manner as in other industries. FitzGerald Nurseries Ltd can be proud of this achievement and look forward to developing increased exports and business development over the coming years. “Our products have proven to be of world class standards and we have proven this through market entry success in 18 countries worldwide. You can see these products in more detail on http://www.fitzgerald-nurseries.com/ and http://www.myplant.ie/ and judge for yourself.” Now in its second year, the Irish Times InterTradeIreland All-island Innovation Awards aim to recognise and promote the best service, product or operational innovations throughout the island. Over 120 companies entered the seven categories of the competition. Twenty one of these were then shortlisted for the awards by a judging panel, before the final winners were selected.  Commenting on the awards, Liam Nellis, Chief Executive of InterTradeIreland and Chair of the Innovation awards final judging panel said “Despite the economic situation, we have been extremely encouraged by the level and diversity of innovations represented by our finalists and winners. Not only do they have strong ideas and innovative processes, crucially, they are market-led and market-focused. I’m delighted that these awards have managed to achieve exactly what they set out to do, which is to showcase the best examples of innovation on the island.” The final judging panel for the event included Colm Long, Facebook, Liam Nellis InterTradeIreland, Peter Callan, The Irish Times Group, Michael Carey, Jacob Fruitfield Food Group, Tim Cody, Accenture, Ivan Coulter, Sigmoid Pharma and Deirde Terrins, Crescent Capital. Liam Kavanagh, Managing Director of the Irish Times added, “We sometimes get caught up in the finer points of policies and strategies at a national level without appreciating the people who are putting all the fine words into practice. That’s what this event tonight – and indeed our monthly Innovation magazine – is all about. -ends- - FitzGerald Nurseries was founded in 1990. The company set up Gadera Ltd its micro-propagation production facility in Enniscorthy Co Wexford in 2005. FitzGerald Nurseries employs 20 people and its sister company Gadera Ltd 15 people. - Pat FitzGerald selects and breeds new plant varieties and is responsible for many new patent and breeders rights protected varieties worldwide. The company also offeres separate services to breeders around the world. - For further information about the awards please visit www.irishtimes.com/innovationawards
FitzGerald Nurseries Ltd has been shortlisted for a National Innovation Award from a nationwide and Island wide group of small, medium and large multi-national companies.
This is great honour for us. Especially as small family farm based rural business to be included with mainstream high tech multi-national companies with specific dedicated R&D companies. I believe this shows that Ireland is now more serious about building its economy to include a second tier of indigenous and niche developed small export focused businesses. As a small enterprise owners operating in an international marketplace dependent on 90% of our sales from exports it is essential that we develop products specific to our company but profitable and fit for our customers purposes. Therefore we must have systems and strategies to ensure this happens at all levels of our economy not just for the large corporate. This is just as essential for a small rural business as it is for multi-national.
FitzGerald Nurseries are proud to be the recipient of this recognition if only to establish a basic principal that Ireland must develop enterprise brick by brick and not in large loose insecure towers of Babel. This innovation must come from the companies on the ground and cannot come from state services but can be supported by them through policy and reform of business categorization.. I would like to thank the Irish Times and Inter Trade Ireland Innovation Awards judging panel for looking deeper into what we do by way of product development. I would like to thank all who have believed in and supported our efforts over the last few years to develop such a business model and hope this shortlisting gives some recognition to this trust in us. End.
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