Here in Ireland, they’re best grown under cover in a glasshouse, polytunnel or sunny porch, where they’re guaranteed protection from wind, rain and cool temperatures. Instead, adopt the no-dig approach by blanketing beds with a 5cm-8cm mulch of garden compost or well-rotted manure. Plant seed potatoesAn Irish spring wouldn’t be the same without the ritual of planting seed potatoes into rich, dark, friable, weed-free soil, enriched with generous amounts of well-rotted manure. Raw Gardening: Working with Nature in Your Garden, by Vicky Ind of the Individual Plants Nursery, on behalf of the Irish Garden Plant Society, at 11.30am, followed by RHSI Live with Oliver Schurmann of Mount Venus Nursery at 2.30pm. With stalls from many of Ireland’s best independent plant nurseries and plant growers, see rhsi.ie.

Source: The Irish Times March 07, 2026 18:01 UTC