Award-winning floral designer talks flower festivals and climbing plants
The Cornwall Garden Society’s (CGS) November lectures will be given by Pip Bensley, who is an award-winning floral designer with three Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Chelsea Flower Show Gold medals to her name. She is also an accredited judge for the National Association of Flower Arranging Societies (NAFAS) and an RHS Floral Judge who casts her expert eye to determine the winning nurseries and florists in the Great Pavilion at Chelsea.
Pip remembers clearly all the flowers in her childhood garden and how her grandfather taught her to care for them.
It took her a few years to realise that they could provide a career for her.
A neglected garden on the banks of the Fal Estuary in Cornwall provided a trigger. The best possible grounding in a Cornish nursery kicked off a long career.
Three years as landscape architect to a billionaire financier at his Berkshire manor house widened Pip’s horizons. Over 27 years, she then worked her way up from Plant Area Assistant to Plant Buyer at Hillier Nurseries, where she also edited its Gardening Club magazine and authored The Hillier Gardener’s Guide to Climbers and Wall Plants.
The Road to Winchester Flower Festival will be her subject on Tuesday 14th November at 7.30pm at The Alverton in Truro – whilst Climbers will be her topic on Wednesday 15th November at 2.30pm at St Mellion International Resort in Saltash.
These lectures are free for CGS members. Non-members are welcome to attend to find out more about the Society and donations are gratefully received.
The CGS is a charity that exists to encourage and improve the science, art and practice of horticulture in all its branches; share knowledge about gardening and Cornwall’s rich garden heritage, and conserve the county’s natural environment. The Society is affiliated to the RHS and has enjoyed the patronage of HRH The former Prince of Wales.
To become a member of the CGS, please visit www.cornwallgardensociety.org.uk/join/
You can also follow @CwllGardenSoc on X and @CornwallGardenSociety on Instagram, or like www.facebook.com/cornwallgardensociety
