Preparations are ramping up for Ireland’s premier gardening and outdoor living festival, Bord Bia Bloom, and Met Éireann is excited to be exhibiting its own Show Garden at this year’s event.
Bord Bia Bloom banner
As part of a series of events to mark Met Éireann’s 90th anniversary, the exhibit will commemorate and celebrate the past, present and future of the national meteorological service, while showcasing Ireland’s scientific leadership in weather, observations and climate.
Created by Paul Dunne of Paul Dunne Landscaping and Padraic Woods of Shapes Garden Design, the garden will feature a native birch woodland, seasonal meadow, and wetland to symbolise Ireland’s natural environment and resilience, alongside an oversized umbrella installation to represent Ireland’s rainfall.
A digitally rendered image of the how the Met Éireann Show Garden will look at Bord Bia Bloom 2026
At the heart of the space will be a Stevenson screen and other historic and modern weather instruments, with live data feeds, which aim to pay tribute to those who have done and continue to monitor, interpret, and communicate Ireland’s weather and atmosphere.
Meteorologists will be delivering live daily weather forecasts from the garden itself, while Met Éireann colleagues will be running a marquee, from which they will offer expert engagement, educational displays and an interactive green screen for visitors to get their own taste of weather presenting.
Met Éireann 90th Anniversary logo
As well as marking the 90th anniversary, Met Éireann’s participation in this year’s event hopes to engage the public on weather observations and climate change, while inspiring the next generation of climate and observational scientists.
Celebrating its own 20th edition, Bord Bia Bloom 2026 will take place at the Phoenix Park from Thursday, May 28th, to bank holiday Monday, June 1st, with over 100,000 visitors expected through the gates over the course of the five days.
Met Éireann’s will be one of 20 Show Gardens featured at this year’s event, with each of the final exhibits coming as the culmination of countless hours of design, planning, sourcing of materials and manual labour, and subject to strict festival criteria.
A panel of experienced judges will cast their expert eyes over the gardens in the process of bestowing a series of much sought-after awards.
Work gets underway at the site of the Met Éireann Show Garden at the Phoenix Park ahead of Bord Bia Bloom 2026
As well as the show gardens, the event will also feature live cooking demonstrations, food stalls, music and entertainment, kids’ activities, exhibitions of botanical and floral art and pop-up gardens, and much more.
For tickets and other relevant information, check out the Bord Bia Bloom website.
About the Designers
Through his Kildare-based business Paul Dunne Landscaping, experienced landscape designer Paul Dunne provides a full design and build service, working closely with clients to create bespoke outdoor spaces tailored to their lifestyle. Paul previously won a sliver medal at Bord Bia Bloom 2017 for his the Marie Keating Foundation on its ‘Get Men Talking’ garden.
Paul frequently collaborates with fellow landscape designer and founder of Shapes Garden Design in Dublin, Padraic Woods, who has a background in design, architectural drafting, horticulture, and land surveying. Also no stranger to Bloom, Padraic was recognised at the 2010 edition for his work on the ‘Sharing the Load’ show garden, which sought to champion mental health awareness.