Offaly garden designer wins gold medal at Bloom 2025

An Offaly resident has been awarded a regional gold medal in the 'Show Garden' category at Bord Bia Bloom 2025.

French native, Louise Checa, won the Citroën Downsizers’ Garden accolade for best planting in a medium sized garden.

A total of 19 medals, including eight gold medals, were awarded to show gardens in advance of the five day event opening to the public this morning (Thursday, May 29).

Commenting on the standard of this year’s designs, Chief Garden Judge, Andrew Wilson said the range of ideas and creativity continues to grow.

“Each year we come to Bloom the quality of the show gardens steps up an extra notch. The judging panel has been delighted by the range of ideas, the creativity, and the quality of the gardens this year.

"It’s especially great to see sustainable ideas at the fore. We are seeing this with recycling, the choice of planting, and the reuse and repurposing of materials throughout the gardens. Visitors to Bloom will have a ball visiting the show gardens and are guaranteed to get some great ideas to take home," Mr Wilson said.