Fiona Cumberpatch, Freelance Journalist

13/11/2024

A whirlwind 24 hour trip to Holland to visit the HQ of Elho, makers of 100 per cent recycled (and recyclable) plant pots, planters and garden accessories. The production and distribution centres are in Tilburg, and, yes, it was a factory tour, but a fascinating one. The facility is largely powered by renewable energy including solar and an immense wind turbine which stands just outside the vast building. Inside, there are plants crammed everywhere, not just social spaces, but around the hot desk area, in the distribution centre, in the warehouse, the corridors, staircases and in the lecture theatre.
The company's products are made from a variety of materials: coffee waste, marine plastics, and even the plastic ties from French vineyards. The pots are thoughtfully designed, affordable and suitable for every space, including balconies and tiny gardens. I enjoyed seeing the process from the design studio to the machine mould pressing, packing and picking, and also meeting other journalists and influencers from France, Holland and Germany. Big thanks to Beth and Dani at Honest Communications UK for arranging the trip.
Garden Media Guild Page

14/08/2024

https://www.agriframes.co.uk/blogs/view-from-the-garden/interview-with-fiona-cumberpatch

I've been doing some work for Agriframes and they asked for an interview. It was strange to be on the receiving end of the questions!

About Fiona Fiona Cumberpatch is a successful journalist, garden lover and painter of flowers. Her articles have been featured in Kew magazine, Garden News, Modern Gardens and other publications, highlighting her interest in gardening and garden design. Throughout lockdown she embarked on the journe...

22/05/2024

From gospel choirs to gardening drag queens, serious environmental messages to flights of horticultural fancy, RHS Chelsea Flower Show is underway for 2024. Press preview and VIP day on Monday is always buzzing and I've written up my blog report on www.fionacumberpatch.com For more Chelsea content and reels, hop over to my instagram account I've now amassed over 13,900 followers (largely down to a viral reel of my own pocket-sized garden which has had 350,000 plays!).

18/03/2024

Press day at Hever Castle and Gardens Dazzling Daffodils week (Monday 18 to Sunday 24 March) in Kent. We were given a tour by head gardener Neil Miller and daffodil expert and bulb grower Johnny Walkers who provided some fascinating facts about the popular flowers. There are 80,000 daffodils at Hever, producing 250,000 blooms, including some very old varieties. These include a pre-1620 N.telamonius plenus - a double yellow which can be seen in the charming area known as Anne Boleyn’s Orchard. On display too, N.lobularis, whose golden petals inspired Wordsworth to write his famous poem.
Johnny and Neil are hosting two tours a day all week. It’s a wonderful way to learn more about the many different varieties of narcissi, along with growing tips.
Thanks to Vikki Rimmer, Johnny and Neil for a great day.

04/03/2024

This was a fascinating article to write. I visited the Haws watering can factory in Smethwick twice: on the first visit I made my own can, using hand operated machines which have not changed much in 100 years, and the second time around, I watched the process and interviewed the skilled team who produce watering cans in every shape and size. LandScape photographer Richard Faulks was with me to capture the experience.
Now I’m very busy writing about spring and summer gardens again, but this was a great feature to put together in winter. Available now in the April issue of Landscape.

02/01/2024

Happy New Year! On a damp, grey Monday, I'm thinking back over 2023, and the amazing gardeners and the colourful gardens that I have loved writing about for various magazines, including Garden News Garden Answers Kew Gardens and LandScape magazine. My UK travel writing took me to Norfolk, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire and beautiful Woodbridge in Suffolk, definitely a personal highlight. On the home front, my own tiny garden in a Lincolnshire market town is the subject of my monthly column in Modern Gardens.
Let's hope that 2024 will be full of more travels, flowers, flower shows, plants - and the incredible people who work with them.

31/10/2023

It is turning out to be a busy autumn, with plenty on the news stands for me this month. For LandScape, I've been to Southwell in Nottinghamshire to explore the minster, the so-called 'Cathedral in a village.' Infact, it is set in a beautiful and vibrant small town, with a thriving independent high street and a fascinating history. Next, it was off to Norfolk to visit a rural factory where a mother-and-daughter team make terracotta tiles from local clay. On to Kew Gardens for the members' magazine, where I was on the trail of rare and beautiful berries, and then Garden News took me to an unusual Kent garden, where neat and tidy is anathema to the nature-loving owner. Finally, it was home to my own small garden, and a column for Modern Gardens about planting tulips, something I'll be doing as soon as it stops raining and the temperature cools down. Lots more UK travel, heritage and garden writing planned for November. Have a great month!

08/09/2023

One of the best parts of my job as a freelance journalist is getting out and about to meet the people that I'm writing about. I missed it so much during Covid, but this year, I've been fortunate to visit some fascinating small manufacturers, the most recent being the team behind Haws Watering Cans in Smethwick, Birmingham. Any gardener will know that Haws watering cans are the best: the classic design has changed little since the company was founded in 1886, and they rarely wear out. In galvanised steel, or brass, I think they're things of beauty, too. Along with three other journalists, I visited the factory to see how they are made, and to produce my own. There are so many stages in production, and each can is hand made, using manually operated machines, some of which have been in place since the 1930s. It took almost a day for us to complete our watering cans, starting with flat sheets of metal and crafting each component - spout, handle etc. I loved the whole experience, and apart from getting too trigger happy with the spray painter, I managed to produce an (almost) flawless Rowley Ripple in graphite (personalised, no less) which will take pride of place on my potting bench.
Huge thanks to the very patient staff and the team who organised our visit.

21/06/2023

In this month’s column for Modern Gardens, I’m very excited about my new greenhouse. It might be a micro-structure, but I love it. Currently it is full of triffid-like tomatoes, mini-cucumbers, a spicy Japanese leaf called red shiso and zinnias that I’ve rescued from the snails.
Garden Media Guild Page

23/05/2023

Another great year at RHS Chelsea Flower Show. I fell in love with the iris-filled Nurture Landscapes Garden, considered moving into a fantasy greenhouse, listened to haunting Korean music and watched a couple get married in the main Avenue. The photos are filed and my blog is hot off the press at www.fionacumberpatch.com

30/03/2023

I suggested writing about magnolias to Kew magazine after a spring stroll through the gardens last year. It was a cold yet perfect sunny spring day and I was truly amazed by the sight of the collection of 250 trees in full blossom. I thought that some of the enormous, waxy flowers looked primeval, and, as it turns out, they are. Fossilised remains date back as far as 65 million years.
I’ve also written about English bluebells in this issue, and why it’s important to keep the invasive Spanish variety at bay.

25/01/2023

Last year, I went to meet Alan Shipp, custodian of the National Hyacinth Collection. It was an unseasonably warm day in March, and the sun was blazing as photographer Richard Faulks and I arrived at a fragrant field of colourful flowers tucked away by a farm track in the Fens. Alan, now in his early eighties, spends eight months of the year out here, alongside his collection which has been gathered from all over the world and includes some rarities, such as the world’s first double yellow hyacinth, ‘Ophir’ which cost £800 a bulb when it was first introduced in 1770. Friends and enthusiasts come to visit Alan and spend time with him in his barn and a converted cricket pavilion.
This was one of my favourite interviews of 2022, a chance to hear a real expert sharing his knowledge and the opportunity to research a fascinating piece of horticultural history. The article is in the March issue of LandScape magazine, on sale now. Photos by Richard Faulks.
Garden Media Guild Group

24/10/2022

Pleased to have both the cover stories in the Autumn issue of Kew magazine. Lots of research and interviews with Kew’s expert botanical horticulturists go into my regular features for this magazine. Garden Media Guild Group

17/03/2022

Spring is an extra-busy time when you write about plants and gardens. This week some of my recent features are out in Kew magazine, Modern Gardens and Garden News. Lovely issues, and grateful as always to the editors and features editors for the opportunity.

31/12/2021

Pleased to start 2022 with the cover story in The English Garden (February issue). I went to Houghton Hall’s Walled Garden in Norfolk to interview Richard and Rosie Ernst, head gardener and deputy head gardener respectively. This garden seamlessly blends traditional elements with modern sculpture and some contemporary planting. It’s one of my favourites. The brilliant photography accompanying the feature is by Annie Green-Armytage.

01/11/2021

Really excited to see my first feature in this magazine. Now busy researching two more for the spring issue.

23/09/2021

Lots happening with work at the moment. This month I have a long read about the history and heritage of King’s Lynn, Norfolk in LandScape magazine, my regular column in Modern Gardens, weekly features for www.gardeningetc.com and I was really proud to be asked to contribute regularly to Kew Gardens magazine. My first feature is in the autumn issue and it involved a lot of botanical research and a visit to Kew - one of my all time favourite places.

21/04/2021

Three on the newsstands this month. It’s definitely gardening season! And it is so good to be getting out and about to meet my interviewees again.