Potpourri Magazine

Q&A with Dutch designer, Carien Van Boxtel
How did you get into horticulture? I’ve been gardening and cutting flowers since I was four, as both my parents and grandparents were keen gardeners.  We had vegetables from our...
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Q&A with Maddy Bailey, house plant specialist
How did you get into horticulture? I inherited a deep love of plants from my mum. Since I was little, we'd plod around the garden together - she'd point out...
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Q&A with Neil Lucas, Knoll Gardens
Tell us about your route into horticulture? I worked for the civil service before deciding I wanted to be a gardener.  I helped tend the grounds of my parents’ hotels...
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Q&A with Sally Petitt, Head Gardener, Cambridge Botanic Gardens
What was your route into horticulture? I was planning to study architecture, but halfway through A-levels, I realised that what I really wanted was to be a gardener - I...
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Q&A with Luke Bartle, Head Gardener, Trentham Gardens
Tell us about your journey into horticulture?  My grandad was a big gardener and got me interested in gardening from an early age.   After leaving school at 16, I started...
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Q&A with Matthew Pottage, Wisley Curator
Tell us about journey into horticulture? I developed a love of gardening from my grandma, who had a passion for houseplants and gardening, and I was never happier than when...
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Q&A with Helen Barbour, Picton Garden
Tell us about journey into horticulture? I was virtually born on the potting bench, January baby and the Aster propagation started in February; from then my childhood revolved around the...
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Q&A with Nick Stewart, Head Gardener, Lambeth Palace (2022)
What was your journey into horticulture? After completing my degree, my first proper horticultural experience was gained working in the historic Parc de la Ciutadella in Barcelona, which convinced me...
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Q&A with Clive Nichols, garden photographer
Q&A with Clive Nichols, garden photographer Tell us about your route into garden photography? After studying human geography at Reading University I got a job as a head chef of...
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Q&A with John Anderson, Keeper of the Gardens of the Windsor Estate
Tell us about your career journey so far I was a student at Kew from 1988-1991, then went on to be Head Gardener at Mount Usher Gardens (Ireland), Inverewe Gardens...
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Q&A with Kate Burtonwood, HG Trinity College, Oxford
Tell us about what led you into horticulture and your career journey? I’m a career changer and spent years in an office wondering why I didn’t enjoy my job, despite...
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Q&A with Martin Duncan, Head Gardener, Arundel Castle
Tell us about your journey into horticulture/transferable skills.  I was brought up in Zimbabwe and spent a lot of my childhood outside.  My parents loved gardening and had a wonderful...
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Q&A with Tony Wiseman, Head Gardener at Penshurst Place, Kent
It’s a beautiful garden, what do you enjoy about it most? It’s a privilege to work in such beautiful private gardens and we’re lucky to have engaged, knowledgeable owners, who...
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Q&A with Ed Iken, Director of Wakehurst
Wakehurst is Kew's wild botanic garden in Sussex. Tell us about your route into horticulture? I grew up living and working on a big farm and there was always work...
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Q&A with Mark Dumbleton - Oudolf Field, Hauser & Wirth
Tell us about how you came to gardening as a career? My grandad was an apprentice at Kew and owned his own orchid nursery.  My dad was a gardener and...
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Q&A with Harry Hoblyn, HG Charleston
Charleston in East Sussex is the former home of Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant. Tell us about your journey into horticulture? After university, I taught English in Colombia and volunteered on a coffee farm...
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Q&A with Lottie Allen, HG Hidcote Manor
Tell us about your journey into horticulture? I knew I wanted to work outdoors (ironically, as these days I’m more often inside than out) and after working with a local...
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Q&A - Jodi Dickinson, HG, Barbara Hepworth Garden Museum
Tell us about your journey into horticulture. Growing up surfing the coastline of Cornwall nurtured my desire to be immersed in nature in my work, which naturally translated into horticulture, and I have...
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Q&A with Asa Gregers, Head Gardener at The Beth Chatto Gardens
What led you to The Beth Chatto Gardens? My grandparents and parents were keen gardeners and I always enjoyed working outside, but after doing lots of different jobs, it wasn’t...
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Q&A with Errol Fernandes, Head Gardener at London's Horniman Museum
Tell us about your route into horticulture?I initially studied fine art and earned my living from art for about ten years before training to become a psychotherapist.  But gardening and the...
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Q&A with herb expert, Jekka McVicar
Tell us about your journey into horticulture?  My love of herbs came from my mother, who was a wonderful cook and always cooked with fresh herbs and vegetables from her garden. ...
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