Modern heroes of horticulture - Fiona Cumberpatch
Was Fiona Cumberpatch destined to become a gardener and garden writer? With parents living ‘The Good Life’ in their traditional Cambridgeshire cottage during the 1970’s, and grandparents maintaining their classic English garden, Fiona fondly remembers “dahlias, pristine dahlias on either side, a little tiny wild area at the bottom with his workshop, then across the road an allotment, which is one of those kind where all the cabbage leaves are intact.” She doesn’t remember ever visiting a garden centre - everyone was so generous with sharing plants there was no need. Decades later her mother, now in her 90’s, will point to a plant she was given 45 years ago and know exactly who shared the cutting or division.
Fiona was always a lover of writing and studied post-grad journalism at City University following completion of her English degree in Sheffield. It was here in Sheffield that she had her first taste of hands-on journalism working on the student newspaper. Women’s magazines provided her first taste of professional work where her writing covered a diverse range of subjects from interior design to celebrity interviews. “I started off as a generalist and then realised what I really loved writing about, and that’s what I’ve ended up doing” she says.
Looking for more flexibility and independence in her work, Fiona quickly turned freelance and has been busy ever since. With a young family she found work editing a regional magazine, writing about heritage and history which led her down the path, literally, to garden writing. Living near Peterborough, the home of Bauer Media, she was approached to write for Landscape Magazine. Very quickly her talent was spotted and she was approached by Garden News which in turn led to her becoming launch editor for Modern Gardens in 2016, a post she held for 15 months. She still writes for the magazine to this day with her monthly piece ‘Fiona’s Patch’ where she talks about her exploits in her small 12 x 5m garden. “It's like a diary. I try to be very positive. It's about inspiring people with small spaces. You can still have roses, you can still have cottage garden flowers, even vegetables in pots“.
It’s this garden that first attracted the BBC. Having been spotted on Instagram, a small film crew visited and a quick two minute ‘audition’ followed. Fiona suspected that would be the last she would hear from them - “the garden was so small and how could there possibly be enough to talk about”? A few weeks later a call confirmed that a crew of four would be visiting to film a seven minute piece. It aired in the new 2025 series of Gardener’s World. A wonderful piece of historic footage was also included. Fiona’s brother had recently digitised some old family cine film and it showed their great-grandfather, wearing a trilby, a jacket, and a pipe firmly clenched in his mouth, tending to his chrysanthemums. Well respected as an amateur grower he was a supplier to numerous head gardeners of the district. “He was an amazing painter as well," says Fiona, “He had eight children. He worked in a shoe factory as a finisher. But he had this whole other life, which was growing these champion chrysanthemums.”
Fiona is a lover of social media and has a thriving account on Instagram as well as her website where she has the freedom to write on any aspect of gardening through her blog. Lockdown enabled Fiona to develop her plant illustration skills which she uses in a number of her articles. The pandemic also gave her the opportunity to write a novel, as yet unpublished, revelling in the characters and group of allotments they worked in. (We know just how interesting that can be!)
With 2025 now well underway Fiona has embarked on giving talks to garden clubs and horticultural societies.
Was Fiona Cumberpatch destined to become a gardener and garden writer? With gardening in her blood from childhood, and a passion that reaches back several generations, her career choice is surely not a coincidence - perhaps more of a family inheritance?
Fiona can be found at Fiona Cumberpatch – Online portfolio and blog and on Instagram as @fionacumberpatch
