JULY AND AUGUST EVENTS ~ NATIONAL BOTANIC GARDENS OF IRELAND, GLASNEVIN

Transcription

1 JULY AND AUGUST EVENTS ~ NATIONAL BOTANIC GARDENS OF IRELAND, GLASNEVIN * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * JULY Daily Guided Walk: Bloomin' Summer Walking through the Gardens in summertime when it is in full bloom is an unforgettable experience. Join us for a guided tour viewing the Herbaceous Borders, Annual Bedding displays, the Rose Garden, and much more. Times: Daily. Monday - Saturday 11.30am and 3.00pm, 2 per person. Sundays 12.00pm and 2.30pm - Free. Thursday 19th June Sunday 20 th July Sylva Exhibition An exhibition to celebrate the 350 th anniversary of the publication of John Evelyn s Sylva - A Discourse on Forest Trees. Featuring remarkable drawings of trees, by Sarah Simblet from the New Sylva (Bloomsbury, 2014), a new book written with Gabriel Hemery that brings Evelyn s classic discourse up-to-date. Daily in the Gallery space, Education and Visitor Centre Wednesday 18 th June Sunday 20 th July Ceramics Exhibition The Ceramics Ireland open submission exhibition features the work of 60 makers from the four corners of the country. A diverse range of ceramic work is on show including functional, decorative, wall panels and sculptural forms. Pieces by established makers including Geoffrey Healy and Helena Brennan are displayed alongside emerging makers Catherine Buck and Francesca Walshe. There is something to interest everyone in this gathering of over 180 pieces. Daily in the Gallery space, Education and Visitor Centre Saturday 12th July Budding Botanists - Flower Pressing Workshop Kids! Get great tips from the experts and you too can be a plant collector. Join us on an expedition through the Gardens, identifying and collecting suitable plants for pressing before constructing your own flower press and starting your very own mini herbarium of dried plants. Time: 3.00pm. Meet at the Education & Visitor Centre. Admission Free. Booking Essential.

2 Tuesday 15th, Wednesday 16th, and Thursday 17th July Workshop: Photography for Beginners Workshop by Eamon O'Daly of the Outdoor Studio This 3 day workshop will cover all the basics of Digital Photography, how to understand your camera and how to take better and more creative photographs. There will be a good balance between indoor tuition and outdoor photo-shoot opportunities, with an emphasis on landscape and nature photography. Cost: 100. Book online at For further information eamon@skerriesphotography.com or call (01) Saturday 19 th Sunday 20 th July RHSI Annual Sweet Pea Exhibition The Gardens are delighted to host the Royal Horticultural Society of Ireland s Annual Sweet Pea show. This is your opportunity to see a display of Sweet Pea grown on cordons by the leading growers in the country. On Saturday morning over a dozen growers will arrive in the Teak House to transform it into a Sweet Pea Wonderland before the plants are judged, and from midday all are welcome to view the prizewinning sweet peas. From 12.00pm in the Teak House Monday 21 st Friday 25 th July Children's Art Week Join artist Niamh Synnott for our first ever Children's Art Week! Children will be encouraged through fun art activities to observe, engage in and be inspired by their surroundings. They will be guided through an exploration of pattern in nature, form and texture in the natural world, and flowers in bloom amongst other themes. Kids can try their hand using a variety of mediums and materials such as mono and block prints, batik, plein-air painting, and construction using art-straws. There are two separate time-slots for children aged 4-7 and children aged Time: 4-7 year olds from 11.00am-12.30pm, and 8-12 year olds from 2.00pm-4.00pm. Meet at the Education & Visitor Centre. Cost: 50 for the week or 12 per single session. Saturday 26th July and Sunday 27th July Festival of Curiosity: Curious Film at the National Botanic Gardens For all budding young minds, prepare to be wowed by some of the most vivid and innovative short films from around the globe exploring science, curiosity and exploration. Join us in Ireland's only inflatable cinema for an eclectic programme of short films, inspiring wonder in the natural world and scientific discovery. Time: 12pm onwards, last show at Organised with UCD Science Expression in partnership with The Festival of Curiosity

3 Saturday 26th July Children's Event: Pond dipping A fun event exploring the weird and wonderful diversity of insects and mini-beasts living in and around the pond at the Botanic Gardens. This workshop is suitable for age 8 upwards. Time: 11.00am. Meet at the Education and Visitor Centre. Admission Free, Booking Essential. Organised with the Dublin Naturalists' Field Club Sunday 27th July Guided Walk: Scent-sational - A story of perfume and pollinators A heady tour of the most fragrant summer flowers including a brief history of perfume, from the rose to the oak-moss lichen, which is valued in perfumery as a fixative base. Plants do not produce their scent just for our pleasure - from enticing pollinators to chemical warning signals, join us to find out how plants use scent to exploit animals to their advantage. Time: 2.30pm. Meet at the Education and Visitor Centre AUGUST Daily Guided Walk: Bloomin' Summer Walking through the Gardens in summertime when it is in full bloom is an unforgettable experience. Join us for a guided tour viewing the Herbaceous Borders, Annual Bedding displays, the Rose Garden, and much more. Times: Daily. Monday - Saturday 11.30am and 3.00pm, 2 per person. Sundays 12.00pm and 2.30pm, Free Friday 8 th Tuesday 26 th August Kilmacurragh - Through the Artist's Eye The National Botanic Gardens Kilmacurragh, located in east County Wicklow is the centrepiece of an eighteenth-century estate. It is famous for its towering rhododendrons, and wildflower meadows. At present it is enjoying a major phase of replanting and rejuvenation, using ecological planting with drifts of plants from China to Chile. This exhibition shows the work of six leading artists working in a variety of styles who have been inspired by the gardens and plant collections of Kilmacurragh marks the centenary of the outbreak of the Great War which had a significant impact on the fate of the family and staff of the Kilmacurragh estate as many members of the family, tenants and staff lost their lives on the European battlefields. Daily in the Gallery space, Education and Visitor Centre

4 Saturday 9th August Budding Botanists - Flower Pressing Workshop Kids! Get great tips from the experts and you too can be a plant collector. Join us on an expedition through the Gardens, identifying and collecting suitable plants for pressing before constructing your own flower press and starting your very own dried plant collection. Time: 3.00pm. Meet at the Education & Visitor Centre. Admission Free. Booking Essential. Friday 15th August Discussion and Book Launch: Ireland's Generous Nature with Peter Wyse-Jackson Dr. Peter Wyse-Jackson's Ireland's Generous Nature is the first ever comprehensive account of the historical and present-day uses of wild plants species in Ireland. This lively and scholarly book shows how plants have been used in virtually every aspect of human life in Ireland: food, clothes, medicine, construction, drinks, veterinary medicine, human health and beauty, and even death. The book is richly illustrated with photographs, as well as botanical paintings by Irish artist Lydia Shackleton ( ). Its blend of scientific and historic facts with myths, superstition and tales offers an unrivalled account of the rich heritage of Irish plants. Dr. Peter Wyse-Jackson is President of the Missouri Botanical Gardens in St Louis and a former Director of the National Botanic Gardens of Ireland. Time: 7.00pm, Education and Visitor Centre. Admission Free, Booking Essential. Saturday 23 rd Sunday 31 st August HERITAGE WEEK 2014 FAMILY GENERATIONS EXPLORING HERITAGE TOGETHER. Saturday 23rd August Medieval Lathe Demonstration with Eoin Donnelly Eoin Donnelly, green-wood worker and forester, will be demonstrating the process of turning green-wood (fresh timber) on a foot operated pole-lathe. He uses traditional tools and devices that have been used for hundreds of years to produce everyday items. Eoin will be demonstrating his craft in Kilmacurragh on Sunday. See our Kilmacurragh section for further details. Time: From 12.00pm onwards Saturday 23 rd August Guided Walk: Ireland s Natural Heritage A journey through Ireland s wild plants, from woodland and bog to the Burren and beyond... Time: 3.00pm. Meet at the Education and Visitor Centre

5 Sunday 24 th August Concert Traditional Irish music in the Gardens with Mick O Brien and family The O Briens are highly regarded in traditional music circles as both performers and teachers. Mick, Fidelma, Aoife, Ciara and Cormac have a rousing repertoire of Irish music and play a variety of instruments from uilleann pipes to banjo, long whistle and violin. Time: From 2.30pm onwards Sunday 24 th August Guided Walk: The Roots of the World Plants and Evidence of the Past Plants alive in the Gardens today provide a link to the distant past, from the "living fossil" Ginkgo biloba, to one of the longest cultivated food-crops, rice. Other plants tell us about the movements of the Earth's crust millions of years ago and of the diet and social habits of our distant ancestors. As part of this tour we will visit the newly built replica Viking House and Garden. Time: 2.30pm. Meet at the Education & Visitor Centre Tuesday 26 th August Guided Walk: Heritage Trees What makes a tree into a heritage tree? Join us to discover some of the amazing native and non-native trees growing in the Gardens and find out some interesting facts about trees (from biodiversity to folklore to economic). This walk will be suitable for family groups. Time: 3.00pm. Meet at the Education and Visitor Centre Wednesday 27 th & Saturday 30 th Heritage Week Tour: Sharing Heritage Across the Generations Calling all grandparents, grandkids and all those in between! In celebration of the 20th anniversary of the UN International Year of the Family join us for a special family walk through the gardens exploring our natural heritage. Time 3.00pm. Meet at the Education & Visitor Centre Saturday 23 rd Sunday 31 st August The Vikings The Viking House is Open! Come inside and find out what plant materials they used for building, crafts and food, and what they grew in their gardens. From 11.00am. Daily at the Viking House

6 Sunday 31 st August At Home With The Vikings Meet Director Matthew Jebb and discover how the Vikings lived and gardened a thousand years ago. Discover the plants they used to build their homes and to clothe and feed themselves. Time 2.00, 2.30, 3.00, 3.30, 4.00pm at the Viking House. Tours last 30 minutes. Maximum 20 per tour, booking essential * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

7