‘I started with a small flowerbed at the front door, and just became obsessed’

A Castlerahan’s woman’s obsession with gardening which began with a single flowerbed 15 years ago has blossomed into the stunning ‘Poppy Garden’, which recently opened to the public.

Ealma Purcell took up gardening as an escape in the evenings when her children were young and was soon devoted to her new hobby, constantly adding new plants and developing new ideas.

A quirky garden nestled in the foothills of the stunning Loughcrew Cairns in Oldcastle, ‘The Poppy Garden’ has a maze of paths through varied plantings, with a different aspect around every corner, and beautiful views up to the mountain.

Its crazy design is the result of stay-at-home mammy Ealma’s garden obsession over the past 15 years, developing a unique style that brings together exuberant and colourful planting with up-cycling, mad ideas, salvage yard finds and whimsical touches. Ealma is also well known to many from her role as PRO for her local Oldcastle GAA club.

“I started gardening 15 years ago when my first child, JP was little,” says Ealma. “It’s a long day at home alone with small kids, and when my husband Packie would get home from work in the evenings, I would escape to the garden. I started with a small flowerbed at the front door, and just became obsessed very quickly. We planted lots of trees soon after that, and it’s amazing how big some of them have gotten in that time.”

Ealma explained that every year new flowerbeds were added or made bigger, as more and more of the one-acre site was dedicated to flowers.

“The best way to learn anything is by doing it, and I’ve killed so many plants and made every mistake possible! I think we are always optimists, but that generally ends in disaster where tender plants and cold snaps are concerned! But you just have to appreciate the lads who do well, or self-seed and spread around. As a Cavan woman I really love those plants!”

Ealma is originally from Castlerahan. A daughter of Jim and Bridie Farrelly, she said she had no interest in gardening until 15 years ago.

“I did my degree in journalism, and worked in magazines in Dublin for 10 years, before moving back to Oldcastle with my husband Packie, having children and making that first flowerbed.

“Literally all my free time went into the garden for years,” she says. “Then in 2016 I got a call from Dermot Monaghan asking me to do Juvenile Secretary for Oldcastle GFC. His little white lie was that it just involved a few emails! I ended up doing that, and PRO and Scór Officer too, so all that and gardening at the same time has been hard, but I love the club work just for the social aspect and meeting so many people.

“We were very lucky in the club to get Leader funding a few years back when we were developing a new pitch at Millbrook, for a biodiversity garden on the outskirts of it. We planted thousands of trees, shrubs and perennials, and it is now beautiful addition to our club. The walking track brings you right through the planting and it’s just getting better every year. Every club should try to do some planting if they have the space for it.”

Ealma finally decided to open her own garden this year, feeling that it was up to standard. Many of her visitors had been following her gardening journey on her instagram page and facebook pages - ‘The Poppy Garden’ with one of her followers coming all the way from Clare to see her stunning garden.

“I love visiting other open gardens on a day out, and when I finally thought that mine was good enough, I just went for it. People have spent an hour to two hours looking round the garden, and then they can have a tea or coffee and cake on our patio area.

“And of course, you can’t leave a garden without buying a plant or pot! So I’ve tried to make it the perfect day out for myself, hoping others will like the same. I’ve been open for five weekends now, and it has been better than I ever imagined. People have come from Wicklow, Kildare, Clare and Fermanagh so far, as well as loads of local people. For folk coming from further away, you can make a lovely day of it in Oldcastle, which also boasts the stately Loughcrew Gardens, Summerbank Nursery, and of course the stunning Loughcrew Cairns, an experience not to be missed, with some of the nicest scenery in Ireland, and the town has some great cafes.

“I’m really enjoying it so far, chatting to people who like gardens is great. There’s a danger I may become my own best customer for plants though,” she laughed.

“My only regret is that I didn’t do it sooner. My mammy Bridie loved gardening, and my uncle Noel Howlin in Wexford was a great plantsman. Sadly, they both passed away recently, and we miss them every day. I’d love for them to be here to see the garden finally open. But hopefully they are looking down from above.”