Passionate plant enthusiasts are always the first visitors to Bord Bia Bloom, and I do pop in on the first day of the festival for work purposes to appreciate the show gardens at their best – but it’s the relaxed atmosphere of the Monday afternoon that I enjoy most.

That’s because while the plants may be the attraction, it’s the people that really make the event. And by the time Monday comes, everyone may be tired – but they are also on a bit of a high acknowledging that all the months of hard work and planning has paid off.

I met Neven Maguire as he finished up his last cookery demo and the final sitting at his on-site restaurant for the weekend – Taste of Bloom – and he was both elated and relieved. Over the course of the festival, with two sittings on each day, Neven and the team served 2,500 diners. My family and I dined at the last sitting of the five days, and the quality and standard of service was as good as if it were the first. MacNean House is a fine dining affair, but at Bloom I couldn’t help but get a bit messy with the sticky lamb skewers, which were served on coriander flatbread with a creamy za’tar sauce. I scooped it all up, drizzling some savoury satay sauce on top and I didn’t care who saw me. My husband’s lifelong distaste for trifle was forever changed after trying Pat Clarke’s strawberry and lemon trifle with créme Chantilly. It screamed of summer, a strawberry and cream classic, that was elevated for the occasion. And while my chocolate mousse with salted caramel and candied pecan was decadent and delicious, I must admit I had a little food envy.

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Right across the site, people were relaxed and relieved. While Tommy Bowe will always draw a crowd because of his warm personality and rugby success, his clothing and shoe stand was heaving with people making purchases; every second visitor seemed to have a bucket of Keogh’s crisps, so it was apt to tease Tom Keogh about his hard working team keeping things ticking over at base, as he perused the show gardens with his wife Eimear; and one of our favourite people to visit is Benji Bennett and his wife Jackie, as my little girl builds on her collection of Adam’s Cloud books.

As vendors packed up – which is always a great time to bag a bargain at Bloom – conversations moved to the future of the show gardens. The gardens may have enjoyed their days in the sun in the Phoenix Park but many will go on to have blooming futures. The gold medal-winning Fingal County Council Garden will be relocated to Brackenstown Walled Garden near Swords, where the historic site is being restored and a new community gardening group is being established. Many visitors will remember the ‘Shared Roots, Common Shade’ stand, sponsored by the European Commission – as this was the garden you could wander through. Cork will be its next home, where it will become a publicly accessible garden for local communities. And the ‘Nature in Balance’ organic farming garden, designed by Linda McKeown, will also be redistributed to charity, schools and community gardens.

Bord Bia didn’t have a straightforward start to the year with the controversy surrounding Larry Murrin, and there were quite a few comments about the rise in ticket price, (some priced at €39) – but that didn’t seem to dampen the atmosphere at the 20th year of Bord Bia Bloom.