Introduction
The Limerick Garden Plants Group is celebrating ten years of activity, promoting, educating and entertaining the people of Limerick with horticultural and gardening advice. Prior to our existence there was little that fostered gardening interest apart from a number of flower clubs, essentially dealing with flower arranging. Limerick for a good number of years, was, horticulturaly speaking, according to its Viking name, a ‘barren place’; although in the early 19th century, the ‘Hanging Gardens of Limerick’ William Roche’s unique interpretation of the vertical garden, were so renowned as to bring visitors from afar to view them. The last ten years however, have seen a new flowering and a flourishing of interest in matters horticultural – in no small measure, due to the activities of the LGPG.
In 1998 a small number of people interested in forming the group, met in Nell Allott’s house in Ballingarry, Co. Limerick, to discuss what the purpose and value of such an association would be; and to ascertain whether or not there would be sufficient interest amongst the wider public. Our uncertainty was quickly answered when we launched the Limerick Garden Plants Group later in the year. The membership rapidly rose to over one hundred or so, where it has hovered ever since. The reason for such a healthy figure, particularly now – when I hear of gardening groups all over the country either struggling to attract members or closing down – it is without doubt due to the energy, commitment and dedication of a small group of people who form the LGPG committee and who in the large part were the original group who met in Ballingarry. I congratulate them all for their achievements on this special occasion and offer them a huge thank you for their sterling work over the period.
On this, our tenth anniversary, we decided that to mark the occasion we would produce a publication made up of articles from some of our visiting speakers over the decade. Some of the articles are written specifically for this book; either based on their lectures to us or on some other topic. Others are reproduced with the author’s permission, from other earlier publications. To them all, I would like to offer a very sincere word of thanks. All were asked to meet impossibly tight deadlines and their responses were most generous.
A very special thank you must also go to former Limerick man Dr. Peter Wyse Jackson, the Director of the National Botanic Gardens in  Glasnevin, for very kindly agreeing not only to provide us with an article but also agreeing to write the foreword to the book.
Last but not least I would like to thank all those people and organisations who agreed to sponsor the publication of the book. Whether their contribution was small or large, it is most gratefully received. Without their help this archival record of the first ten years of the Limerick Garden Plants Group would not have happened.
Jim Dennison
Honorary Chairman
Limerick Garden Plants Group
September 2008