Caherhurley Nursery

Caherhurley Nursery Herbaceous plants that add a splash of colour to your garden. 100% home-grown, 100% Irish. Certified organic. Grown outdoors on a windy mountain slope.

Open every day from 10am to 5pm. Visit us at: V94 K3E3 Some of the advantages of our range of plants are:

1.Only the strongest and best varieties are selected by us for growing at our nursery. We found that many plant varieties available in Ireland are just unsuitable for our climate: In some cases frost can kill them, but often dampness in winters causes a lot of trouble. Then there’s the problem of poor performing plants that looked so good when purchased. Many varieties don’t flower as abundantly as they would in other, less weather-battered, more protected parts of Europe. We thought we ought to try to do something about this by offering varieties that can cope with the more challenging Irish situation.

2.By growing our plants in the harsh conditions of our windy mountain slope, without any protection from glasshouses or polytunnels, we give them a far better chance to survive challenging circumstances anywhere. They are much better adapted to the extremes of the Irish climate than the few-months-hardened-off polytunnel-grown plants out of the modern fast-crop mass-production nurseries (often situated in sheltered areas) which have been ‘hardened off’ for only a few months. Our plants were outside all their young lives.

3.Our plants are grown to certified organic standards (IOFGA licence 4308) without chemicals or artificial fertilisers. They are grown slowly into compact, strong, fresh and healthy looking plants, waiting to burst out into something wonderful in your garden. Most of our plants have been growing a year longer than is usual in nurseries. This results in many growing shoots per plant. Buying certified Organic plants is the only way to ensure they are not treated with chemicals that are harmful for bees, other insects, wildlife and the wider environment.

4.Our range of plants is beyond the usual. They are different from common everyday plants: we mainly grow plants with a natural appearance. We like real, true beauty. Not all popular, newly introduced plants are as good as promised by their commercial developers and in many cases old, almost forgotten varieties perform better.

5.You can split some of our plants into 2 to 4 pieces to plant out in your garden, straight away as you purchase them. These plants have lots of growing shoots since they have been growing in our nursery for a year longer than most other plants offered in Ireland. This means more plants for your money.

Today, we had a visit from a lovely lady from Co Cork, Asmahan of drombeg_gardens. Asmahan is a passionate gardener. We...
25/10/2026

Today, we had a visit from a lovely lady from Co Cork, Asmahan of drombeg_gardens. Asmahan is a passionate gardener. We're honoured by her enthusiasm for our selection of unusual plants. Two wheelbarrows of Caherhurley plants are on their way to their new home. It's great to know they get much tender love and care. Because we put so much effort and time into growing good plants, we get attached to them. So it's good to know they will get a good life in Co. Cork.

Caherhurley Nursery might be Ireland's best kept secret, but Asmahan found us. She first heard about us through the interview with Hayley in our nursery by Andrew Davidson of Quickcrop. Fair play to Andrew and Hayley. You can see the video of the interview here:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZrg0CtO9Ql/?rpxt=MXdiZXNsdDRmOGlndg==

CAHERHURLEY NURSERY IS FULLY OPEN every day, including weekends and weekdays, 10.00 am to 5.00 pm. We have over 50 years of experience in growing unusual varieties of plants and how to use them in a garden. All our varieties are extremely hardy and climate-change-resilient. The Eircode of our nursery is V94K3E3. You're welcome.

Here, we just finished delivering 54 crates with Caherhurley Nursery's native irish pollinator plants at the Woodford B...
23/10/2026

Here, we just finished delivering 54 crates with Caherhurley Nursery's native irish pollinator plants at the Woodford Bay Fringe Planting Project. This is a community initiative in Woodford, Co. Galway, realised by the Woodford Development Group. It's great to see local volunteers creating a natural looking sustainable area with hardy native irish herbaceous perennial plants. These herbaceous plants are essential for our ecosystem. Woodford gets it right: creating a sustainable ecosystem is more than just ticking the box of planting native trees: herbaceous plants are essential for pollinators. Without pollinators, we won't have an ecosystem.

Since the number of plants was too high to fit in the volunteers' cars, we offered to bring them. In this time of the year, with growing being finished, it wasn't a problem. While we were there, we advised where to place the different varieties of plants. Since the soil along the bay has different degrees of holding moisture, it was essential to get the right varieties in the right place. We wanted the result looking natural. We were happy to contribute our expertise, knowledge, and help for free in this case. At Caherhurley, we still put honour in our work: the result has to be right. For community project managers who have trust in Caherhurley Nursery, we go a long way. Literally here, because we brought the 54 crates of plants with 2 wheelbarrows over the total length of 70 metres along the Bay.

Fair play to Woodford the community, creating something great here. We were happy to help you with your project, and we appreciate your trust in Caherhurley.

I was happy getting the help of a friend helping unloading the plants. I can't lift crates with plants anymore. Actually, the only thing I did myself was pointing out with my walking sticks where the plants should be placed. 😉.

CAHERHURLEY NURSERY IS FULLY OPEN every day, including weekends and weekdays, 10.00 am to 5.00 pm. We have over 50 years of experience in growing unusual varieties of plants and how to use them in a garden. All our varieties are extremely hardy and climate-change-resilient. The Eircode of our nursery is V94K3E3. You're welcome.

We had a wonderful time visiting Mary Fallon's Mary Fallon this morning. We were welcomed very warmly. Mary's garden i...
21/10/2026

We had a wonderful time visiting Mary Fallon's Mary Fallon this morning. We were welcomed very warmly. Mary's garden is a hidden gem . It's a real plantswoman's garden with hundreds of very unusual varieties of shrubs. Mary is passionate about plants. Mary had potted 6 cuttings of a shrub that we had lost: Physocarpus opulifolius 'Dart's Gold', a variety we used to grow 40 years ago in The Netherlands. Mary is very helpful in getting back varieties we lost over the years by donating us cuttings and seeds.
It's hartwarming to see Mary helping us to grow our range of plants. It saves me years of searching and travelling, and I don't know how much time is left for me. A big thank you to you, Mary.

Check out Mary's garden, and click on the link at the top of this post. Mary will soon open her garden for visitors by appointment. It's well worth visiting, highly recommended.

CAHERHURLEY NURSERY IS FULLY OPEN every day, including weekends and weekdays, 10.00 am to 5.00 pm. We have over 50 years of experience in growing unusual varieties of plants and how to use them in a garden. All our varieties are extremely hardy and climate-change-resilient. The Eircode of our nursery is V94K3E3. You're welcome.

Here's an unsolicited advice for anyone who's considering starting a plant nursery. We have 50 years of experience. Expe...
18/10/2026

Here's an unsolicited advice for anyone who's considering starting a plant nursery. We have 50 years of experience. Experience in how NOT to do things. 😉. We made every mistake in the book. Horticulture students may learn from this.

This is a summary of what I tell groups of horticultural students visiting our nursery.

You have to have some qualities:
1. A passion for plants.
2. A talent to organise things.
3. A drive to get things finished.
4. A drive to focus on your nursery exclusively. Nothing else matters. There's no time for other things, except for family life. There's no time to go to pub. There are no summer holidays. There's no time for socialising with friends. Your social life is in your nursery, where you're engaging with your customers/ visitors.
5. You have to find a partner in life who can cope with all of this.
6. You need to develop social skills for connecting and engaging with gardeners and for establishing a network.

Other requirements:
1. You need to own about 2 acres of land facing a roadside.

2. You or your partner have to own a minimum of €50.000 cash or get a loan from the parents. That's for costs setting up your nursery. Banks are not interested in lending you money. They know that the first 6 years, you will make no money or even work at a loss, and most nurseries fail within the first 6 years anyway. Grands are by far not enough for a set up of a viable nursery, as your nursery has to start with a 'critical mass', for impact: a vast number of varieties of plants. Otherwise, today's gardeners will not take the effort to come and visit you. Starting small isn't an option. It's doomed to fail.

3. As your income of the nursery will be negative for the first 6 years, you need a partner in life with an income from a 'real job4'

4. Be prepared for setbacks. Financially and emotionally. Only a tough person with stamina and willpower will survive.

5. Your range of plants has to stand out. There are too many general available plants. Gardeners wants to see something else.

6. You have to develop a 'w**ding refex'. Whenever wherever you see a w**d, your reflex commands you unconsciously to pull it out. Otherwise your nursery will be lost: w**ds will have taken over your nursery within a year, by selfseeding.

The picture shows our daughter Mies Stam Mies Albrecht, long ago in our nursery in The Netherlands. Mies is a qualified botanist now.

18/10/2026

2 Biodiversity project orders.

We see plenty of attractive haws on our Crataegus harbisonii this year. They measure up to 1.5cm diameter.Crataegus harb...
17/10/2026

We see plenty of attractive haws on our Crataegus harbisonii this year. They measure up to 1.5cm diameter.
Crataegus harbisonii is one of the rarest woody plants in the United States. Long ago, it was found growing somewhere around Nashville. Now, it grows only in a few places. I added a picture of the flowers I took in May. We don't have this rare Crataegus available for sale yet, but we're working on propagation. Caherhurley is a nursery where plants still get time to grow. I love growing unusual perennial plants, but I also have a passion for growing shrubs, and in particular for growing woody plants originating from North America, in climate zones similar to ours, or species that can adapt easily to our climate. There is a wealth of very interesting shrubs and small trees out there, worth having in gardens. Of course, it's quite a challenge to me to propagate them, on top of everything else demanding my attention, but I'm determined to try it. I'm blessed to have a lot of help from our enthusiastic young trainees who actually get a lot of things done in our nursery.

CAHERHURLEY NURSERY IS FULLY OPEN every day, including weekends and weekdays, 10.00 am to 5.00 pm. We have over 50 years of experience in growing unusual varieties of plants and how to use them in a garden. All our varieties are extremely hardy and climate-change-resilient. The Eircode of our nursery is V94K3E3. You're welcome.

A big thank you to our friend Ada Rose Mancusi in America for bringing this song to my attention again. It's was one of my all-time favourites when I was young.

https://www.caherhurleynursery.com/

15/10/2026

Now!

CAHERHURLEY NURSERY IS FULLY OPEN every day, including weekends and weekdays, 10.00 am to 5.00 pm. We have over 50 years of experience in growing unusual varieties of plants and how to use them in a garden. All our varieties are extremely hardy and climate-change-resilient. The Eircode of our nursery is V94K3E3. You're welcome.

Persicaria campanulata, from seeds collected in Sikkim. It's now that this unique variety shows his excellence in full. ...
14/10/2026

Persicaria campanulata, from seeds collected in Sikkim.

It's now that this unique variety shows his excellence in full. Now that the nights are getting colder, the pink colour becomes stronger. This selection has a far more vibrant flower colour than the normal species.

I would like to advise you to put these fast expanding plants in an open area where they can cover a lot of space. Each plant will easily cover a square metre in one year. Rough areas are ideal for these plants. They will thrive and make a great display.

This is the description our daughter Mies made:
Persicaria campanulatum, ex Sikkim.
120cm, clear pink, July-Oct. This plant likes a moist soil in the sun or in partial shade.

For who's interested: Caherhurley has a section with plants that will fill a large space in a year's time. This is ideal for everyone with a small budget and a lot of empty space. Caherhurley Nursery looks after everyone.

CAHERHURLEY NURSERY IS FULLY OPEN every day, including weekends and weekdays, 10.00 am to 5.00 pm. We have over 50 years of experience in growing unusual varieties of plants and how to use them in a garden. All our varieties are extremely hardy and climate-change-resilient. The Eircode of our nursery is V94K3E3. You're welcome.

13/10/2026

How to get a grip on a future with fewer w**ds next year.

Anne from Co. Kildare gathered plants for her new woodland area yesterday. I was happy to see this included 5 different ...
11/10/2026

Anne from Co. Kildare gathered plants for her new woodland area yesterday. I was happy to see this included 5 different varieties of my favourite early flowering woodland anemones. Planting groups of 3 of each variety is a good gardening practice. 18 months ago, Anne purchased a vast amount of Caherhurley plants, which are thriving now in her Co. Kildare garden. She' s very happy about Caherhurley Nursery still continues growing unusual plants for Ireland. Soon Anne will come for another area that needs 100 plants or more, she's happy to avail of Caherhurley's free design service. Anne brought us a jar of her delicious honey 🍯 produced by her own bees. This really made our day. You see, it's not only about plants at Caherhurley. Thank you, Anne.

For available woodland anemones, please see our website. Plants are listed in alphabetical order. Caherhurley's section in our nursery with woodland plants has extended recently. The vast number of new and unusual varieties reflects our passion for woodland plants.

CAHERHURLEY NURSERY IS FULLY OPEN every day, including weekends and weekdays, 10.00 am to 5.00 pm. We have over 50 years of experience in growing unusual varieties of plants and how to use them in a garden. All our varieties are extremely hardy and climate-change-resilient. The Eircode of our nursery is V94K3E3. You're welcome.

Address

Caherhurley
Bodyke
V94K3E3

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 5pm
Tuesday 10am - 5pm
Wednesday 10am - 5pm
Thursday 10am - 5pm
Friday 10am - 5pm
Saturday 10am - 5pm
Sunday 10am - 5pm

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