REMEMBERING KORALEY

The passing of our dear friend and colleague, Koraley Northen has promoted a huge response from those who knew and worked with her over the years. In all honesty, we struggled with how best to remember her within these pages; so here are some words from her close friends, pictures she captured of them and even some of Koraley herself. Thanks everyone for sharing your kind words. And apologies; I have removed several exclamation marks: Koraley couldn't stand them.

“My first impression of Koraley was terrifying. I never thought I could live up to her exacting standards. I soon realised she was my biggest supporter, she remained supportive to the very end. I am delighted to call her my friend, I miss her dearly.”

Annette MCCoy, Former GLDA administrator and close friend “

Having known Koraley for over twenty years there are not enough words to describe her, but to me, she was always, kind, fearless, formidable, flirty, ageless and always a girl. Xx she will be missed.''

Carol Marks, Bord Bia

KORALEY WITH PETER STAM (SUPPLIED BY PETER STAM) “There were only those rare moments you could help the perfectionist that Koraley was. She contacted me when she got a new smartphone in 2015. She needed to be convinced about the usefulness of WhatsApp. I helped her set it up on her phone and we exchanged quickly stories and photographs. She found this one dating back to 2002. The annual GLDA Seminar dinner where we always made a point sharing a table, enjoying each other’s company while exchanging stories and gossip of the day. We had the same enjoyable time this year back in February at the GLDA dinner in spite of Koraley knowing she was on borrowed time, which she kept very private. While struggling with her decision, you do have to respect it as good friends do, but I will miss her terribly. Koraley was very special” Peter Stam, Garden Designer and Nurseryman

While exhibiting this, my first attempt at a show garden in the 2004 Garden Heaven Show, a sprightly petite lady popped up 'Out of the Blue' (garden's title) and asked to take my picture. On striking a pose (as you do), I remarked how the image might need some 'doctoring' later, which sent both Koraley and myself into kinks of laughter, captured here with her true professional's eye. Thank you Koraley for that moment and for the many memorable moments we shared over the years. Rest easy now lovely lady. Gary Foran, Garden Designer and GLDA member

“Koraley was unusual in that she had no background in Irish horticulture and yet she cared deeply about the profession and the people. She was happy behind her camera but she never hid behind it. she was never the dispassionate photographer. She wanted the best for us all and she was never shy about letting me know. She championed, encouraged and supported any of us who had an opportunity to make a contribution. She was discreet and positive and constructive. She made a massive contribution to our sector and I will always be grateful and flattered that she favoured me with her insights and enthusiasm”. Gary Graham, Bord Bia Marketing Manager

“I think it is fair to say that without Koraley at the helm of the administration at the inauguration of the GLDA it might well not have got off the ground. When Chairperson to know she was at you back at all times was invaluable. Then there were the "secret" Christmas dinners of a handful of early lady members started by Koraley which would entail much ribaldry and recalling various adventures over the years, all of which will remain buried in the dinner table.” Susan Maxwell, Garden Designer and GLDA founding member AN EARLY GLDA COUNCIL MEETING. CIRCA 2000 BACK ROW: GABRIEL SANIO, SUSAN MAXWELL, LOUISE BURNS, NEVILLE MOONEY, GERRY DALY, KORALEY,, PETER STAM. FRONT ROW: ANGELA BINCHY, ANDREW GLEN-CRAIGE, LISA MURPHY, SALLY KELLY

KORALEY AND DAVID SHORTALL AT KORALEY’S RETIREMENT FROM THE GLDA IN 2012 PHOTO: VINCENT MCMONAGLE “In the early Days of the GLDA Seminar, circa 1998, I remember getting a call from Koraley at 6am on the morning of the seminar. The Seminar was sold out, so Koraley had made a list of reserve delegates, who would get a seat if somebody pulled out. This was very typical of Koraley to be so intimidatingly organised that one always felt tardy. She also came to see all the show gardens I ever created and went as far as walking me around them so she could give me some ‘constructive comment’. Her desire to improve everything I did was matched with the best encouragement one can have, That is, to come back to me over and over again with more jobs.”

When we were getting married I asked Koraley to be our photographer. As expected, she delivered in her organised professional way, but when sending on the finished photographs and awaiting our approval I could see how extraordinarily important it was to her that we were happy with her work. I owe a huge debt of learning to Koraley and I will miss her as a dear friend too. David Shortall, Garden Designer and GLDA member

We met in Unitherm Ltd Pearse St, about 1980 /1. The company manufactured and distributed Fly Killers, Electrostatic Air Cleaners, and Ionizers. I bought a security company from Koraley and Don, well really it was a cardboard box with circuit boards and a few plastic boxes, I paid them £1200 pounds, within two weeks I had assembled and sold the existing stock, re-stocked and came out with a profit of £2000. That cardboard box has raised a family paid for two holidays a year, seen us through three recessions, and hopefully will be our pension. This was the beginning of a lifelong friendship, through thick and thin, too long a list to itemise. when Koraley started with the GLDA I gave her a copy of Microsoft Works which came back to haunt me, because when Annette took over, Koraley was still using it. We attended Ballsbridge college at night on Photography Courses, we used to wind each other up...if she would teach me how to take headshots, I would teach her how to shoot gardens. She had a very quirky sense of humour, We shared a love for good coffee and great Photography (of course we were masters of both). Her parting has left a huge void in my life.

Vincent McMonagle, Close friend and colleague

“Koraley was the kindest of friends. Apart from her meticulous work for, and taking the lion's share of, preparing Compass when I was editor, Koraley helped me with a host of projects outside the GLDA, generously giving of her time and energy for scant reward. We ate quite frequently at each other's houses. Winter or summer, rain or shine, her gardens, front and back, judiciously planted and balanced, were truly gardens for all seasons; her pride and joy and a delight for any visitor. Our conversation, naturally enough, would range over gardening and photography most often; she was much more inclined to focus on you than herself, one reason I think for her popularity, she loved people. She zealously safeguarded her privacy, showed no evidence of self-pity as well she might have done for she had her share of sadness; and absolutely no inclination to boast or parade her achievements. Occasionally Koraley would open up about days gone by, her young days in Canada included. She had an engaging, understated sense of humour and from the start of our friendship, we found common ground in what amused us. A memorable custom she established was putting on an annual cordon bleu lunch for me - she was a most superb cook - which took place every New Year's eve until ill health overtook her. Happy days and happy memories, I shall miss her.” Gordon T. Ledbetter, Garden Designer and GLDA member and enthusiasm

“Is that the Dun Laoghaire office? This is Herbert Park calling. I’m looking for the Grammar Department. Or sometimes it was the Punctuation Department, the Photoshop Department, or even the Gossip Department. Every week or month (and in latter years, less frequently) Koraley and I would be on the phone, making believe that we were part of a global corporation devoted to documenting gardens and horticulture in one way or another. The joke was never discussed, it was just a delightful absurdity between us. We had a collegial and warm relationship, holed up in our respective offices, she in the Herbert Park branch and I in the Dun Laoghaire branch. We both did a lot of the same things: visiting shows and gardens, attending lectures, taking photographs for publication. We both spent more time at desks than we wanted, and were happy to shoot the breeze for a few minutes with a fellow toiler. Mostly, I was writing and she was cleaning up other people’s writing. “I’m tearing my hair out here, Jane! This person needs to go back to school.” And she would laugh her special, wheezy, cackle laugh. Then, we’d thrash out the punctuation problem or the nomenclatural knot. A quick gossip or chat, and she’d be gone, back to her painstaking and careful job of making someone else’s work perfect.

Koraley was generous and benevolent. She was invariably at Chelsea Flower Show or Bloom a day or more ahead of me, and she would brief me so that I could save the amount of time that she had just spent sifting through everything. She was considerate to all in her huge circle of friends and acquaintances: everyone has a kind Koraley story. I have a hundred more from our twenty years of friendship. I think of her every day: her gracious spirit, her beautiful smile and her perfectly arched, movie-star eyebrows.”

PHOTO: KORALEY NORTHEN

Jane Powers, June 2019

Koraley was a good friend, loyal, always helpful, acerbic (with time wasters) and persuasive. When I had problems getting money due me from some well off clients Koraley took over the debt collection. She was so good that one well known rich client wrote to me from New York please call your terrier off, she phoned me seven times in one day. His cheque arrived. We had a great dinner and fun over that. Angela Jupe, Garden designer, plantswoman and GLDA founding member

AS KORALEY WILL BE BEST REMEMBERED

TOP ROW: PETER STAM (PHOTO BY KORALEY NORTHEN); AS KORALEY WILL BE BEST REMEMBERED MIDDLE ROW: KORALEY AT BLOOM (PHOTO BY BARRY LUPTON); LAKEVIEW GARDEN, CO CAVAN, RARE AND SPECIAL PLANT FAIR, MAY 2002, KILDARE GROWERS TRADE SHOW, JULY 2005 — WITH “COW” — SHE GOT SUCH A LAUGH OUT OF THIS. SUCH A PITY THERE WAS NO COWBOY HAT. (PHOTOS BY JANE POWERS); KORALEY WITH SUSAN MAXWELL (PHOTO BY VINCENT MCMONAGLE) BOTTOM ROW: AN EARLY GLDA TOUR WITH ELIZABETH MORGAN, ANDREW GLENN CRAIGE, PETER STAM AND KORALEY; ANGELA BINCHY & DAVID SHORTALL (PHOTOS BY KORALEY NORTHEN)