I was horrified this morn, half way through September, to hear an ad on the radio for Christmas…read moreparties... the first Christmas ad of the season... good god, where did that last year go? Anyway as I mulled over all things festive I happened to be on Sandymount avenue and there are the gates to Enable Ireland and their great little garden centre where I have gotten our Christmas tree for the last 4 years. I wander in, and realise that there is more here than trees and plants; they have garden tools and pellets, compost and oddly enough a selection of posters saying things like you 'don't have to be crazy to work here' yada yada yada. They also have a display of Ballydongan pottery (nope, never heard of it either) jolly nice as it happens. The garden centre is part on Enable Ireland so when you shop there you are not only getting some very nice greenery (or dodgy plaques/posters) but your cash is doing some extra good.... which is nice.

...and one day i found myself really getting into the gardening thing…read more.. but alas, i needed supplies. SUPPLIES!!! and my searches all ended up in tiny TINY little places where i had to dig underneath things to find other things and generally didn't find many things i needed at all. so imagine my thrill at finding Avenue Garden Centre. not only is it larger than a cupboard, they have loads of things. they have an entire area dedicated to ginormous bags of compost. another area just for pots. short of flying back to the america and going to home depot, it's the best garden store i've found within throwing distance of city centre. yes, i'm sure there are more magical places out in the burbs, but please people, i don't have a car and i don't fancy hauling 50kg bags of compost around on the LUAS. i'm sure you can understand. i was able to get there on DART, find the things i needed (and then some) and hail a nice lady cabbie (i know, right?) to get it all back to the house for me. luckily, i also had Husband with me to do the heavy lifting. oh i should also mention that the staff was also extremely helpful and friendly. i didn't feel like a complete retard asking them for help. that's a bonus in my book :)

It blows my mind that this shop is still allowed to take orders and then do nothing basically…read morestealing from people to see who starts a chargeback with their credit card providers. At this point with all the negative reviews for years the credit card providers for this shop are just as guilty. How many chargebacks have to happen before a credit card company pulls its business from thieves.

Low grade horseshit. Fraudulently selling seeds that wont germinate while not responding to email…read moreor contact. Run away from this if you want quality seeds. I will contact my Credit card company to report this fraud.

My sister lives in Dublin and was recovering from a surgery. I called from NYC to place and order,…read moreand a beautiful bouquet was delivered less than two hours later. It really cheered her up and I was so grateful for the beautiful flowers and quick delivery.

I love the classic cafe-elegance of Blooming Amazing's Dawson St shop…read more The blooms are not cheap, but when you're in the market for something special that gives an occaision (or an apology) that little extra glam, this is the florist that helps make that happen. Stop in to pick up a few winter plantings or stems for the kitchen, or put in an order for your grande ballroom or corporate foyer, all of the above is their speciality.

Ordered 5 bouquets yesterday. The ladies on Mill st went over and above. Helped me to work with my…read morebudget and made the most beautiful arrangements.

I just love this place. It's so so so so gorgeous. Reminds me of something out of a Hugh Grant…read moremovie. Not sure why as I'm not actually a Hugh Grant fan, but it's that rom com kinda vibe, where you could imagine aul Hugh strolling through and picking up a bunch of haphazard but lovely flowers in his haphazard but likeable kinda way, just before walking head first into the woman of his dreams etc... Anyway. I digress. This place is gorgeous. Have I said that before?! Feck it I'll say it again. G.O.R.G.E.O.U.S. It's beautifully laid out - the flowers are displayed in such a way that it nearly looks like they've just been freshly picked outside and brought in straight away to the shop. It looks like a little meadow in there! The flowers themselves are all really unusual - if you're looking for some high end blooms that are different to the norm, this is your spot. The only thing I will say is that you will pay a bit of a premium for them. But to be honest, it's worth it! Lovely.

It's 4pm on a Saturday, I have just started putting up those book shelves that I promised I'd do…read morelast January and I realise I have no plaster board plugs... this is not an entirely fictional emergency!. So, I hammer down to sandymount hardware where the guy behind the counter of this really very small shop manages to find a selection of the above plugs, lifesaver... the shelves through no fault of the plugs, fell down 3 days later. The shop has just about everything you could possibly need from pot plants, fuel for the fire to clothes lines and of course, plasterboard plugs. A great shop to have on the door step and the guys behind the counter are always there with helpful advice.

I can't help myself, whenever I'm in Sandymount I've got to drop in to Murtagh's for a peek at the…read moreshelves. Sometimes it's just to see what they've brought in (compost pots AND toy trains?!), but always for Christmas. Every November Murtagh's converts from mild-mannered hardware store (home of garden chairs, stew pots, rubber washers and Bord Na Mona firelogs) to full-on Christmas (and hardware) bazaar. Really. Besides keys cut and bulbs fit, the cheery lads of Murtagh's are Christmas tree lumberjacks, lifters and occasional lashers of said trees to the roof of your Renault Clio without scratching the paint. Stop in any afternoon to pick the live spruce of your jingle dreams, they'll help with the rest. Most years there's also a good selection of fake trees inside -one year a very sweet little plastic number from straight off the display stand found a home, ornaments and all, in the living room of a very cheered future yelper. It's lovely to know these small businesses can thrive despite larger econo-woes. As long as they're open Murtagh's can be sure of a very loyal patronage, nails, twine and all.

The Yard did the flowers for our wedding (May 2024) and I cannot praise Una enough. I'm not…read moresomebody who would know the names of flowers; I just had a very basic idea of what I wanted. Una really listened and made brilliant suggestions. My bouquet was stunning and she made a very sweet mini bouquet to mirror it for my little girl. The groom, best man and the two fathers were really happy with their button-holes. The flowers for the tables and for dressing the venue were all really beautiful too. She even made two small, beautiful arrangements to dress the wedding cake, all at a reasonable price. Una was warm, friendly, calm and super-efficient and did all this at quite short notice without batting an eyelid. She was great; I highly recommend The Yard.

No joke, some of the maddest shit ever made from wood is contained within this building. I mean…read moreproper crazy, crazy on a stick even. Go in for a gander, you'll see at least one thing that makes no sense. I love it.

I have to confess, this store scares me a bit... you wander around by yourself, it's dark inside,…read moreand you're surrounded by ancient Indonesian tribal pieces and gigantic eagles carved out of dark wood. You could almost imagine it being the scene of the next big horror movie (one role I wouldn't ever hope to star in!) But don't get me wrong, this is an amazing store, filled with some awesome authentic pieces from around the world. If you have a few quid on you and you like the earthy look, head in here for some great finds. If it's a Balinese warrior's mask or some sculptures from Irian Jaya you're looking for, be sure to make Decor your first stop. They also have a wide range of canvas paintings going for around the 300 euro mark. Interesting for a bit of a gander, and just so you know, you can go upstairs, there's more on display up there!