Snowdrop Open Days at RHSI Bellefield in Offaly

THE RHSI are delighted that Angela Jupe’s garden, now RHSI Bellefield, will be open for visitors on two February weekends.

They will be open on the next two weekends for visitors to enjoy the Galanthus cultivars as well as swathes of naturalised plantings of snowdrops with other spring beauties.

They will open on Friday February 17th to Sunday February 19th and Friday February 24th to Sunday February 26th, 11am to 4pm each day. Admission €7, free to RHSI members. Tickets available for this exciting event on www.rhsi.ie or at the gate.

This event marks the start of a very exciting project for the RHSI as they take over as custodians of the gardens with Paul Smyth as Head Gardener. RHSI Bellefield will be a focus for Irish gardening and Irish gardeners, open for the public to enjoy and offering training and education to support the art and practice of horticulture.

Bellefield House, Shinrone, Co Offaly R42 NW82 is mid-way between Roscrea and Birr. www.rhsi.ie

The RHSI (Royal Horticultural Society of Ireland) is a registered charity dedicated to promoting the knowledge, skill and practice of horticulture and to developing an appreciation and love of gardening in all its forms.

Angela Jupe, in an extraordinarily generous bequest, left the gardens to the RHSI and they are now being managed by Paul Smyth who spent part of his training at Bellefield. It was Angela’s wish that the gardens be open to visitors and used for the purpose of training horticulturalists, gardeners and plantspeople. The RHSI is privileged to be the custodian of Bellefield and committed to making Angela’s wishes a reality.