Secret Garden Gatherings
Fiona Pickles is a floral visionary who brings an uncompromising approach to her work, be it her creative vision or her commitment to foam-free and sustainable florals. She delights in the gardenesque qualities, movement and personality of garden flowers, actively seeking out those with a gorgeous ‘path-lolling’ kink, enabling her to embrace the shapes and use of negative space that makes her work so distinctive. She teaches her art both from her Yorkshire cutting garden and at some of the most prestigious flower schools around the world. Fiona co-originated and co-hosts The Restless Creatives Podcast with fellow floral artists, Brigitte Girling and Lucy Hunter.
“Her work informs the way she tends her garden and the way she tends her garden informs her work, they are inexorably linked.”
We are excited to share that Fiona Pickles
has launched a new passion project called….
Secret Garden Gatherings
Words by Fiona Pickles
Photography of Verde Flowers Co. by Rebecca Jane Fraser
Excerpt from Fiona Pickles website:
The Secret Garden Gatherings is a brand new concept designed to offer amazing insights into public, private, and sometimes secret gardens. A selection of beautiful garden gatherings, a wonderful way to connect with like-minded people, blimey, haven’t we missed that? A time to not only experience beautiful gardens but also to share knowledge and slow down for a while.
Meet Fiona, mosey around the garden with her and the head gardener/grower; gain a wonderful insight into the behind the scenes bits that we all want to ask about. Fiona will then host a talk, sharing insights into different aspects of her process, inspiration, advice, and observations on all manner of things. A wonderful chance to ask anything you’ve always wanted to know.
Upcoming Gathering
The Verde Flower Co. Victorian Walled Garden
Excerpt from Fiona Pickles website:
Caroline, Roisin, & Becky from Verde and Fiona Pickles are excited to be hosting their first Secret Garden Gathering at Verde Flower Co. Walled Garden on Tuesday, July 6th, 2021. The Verde Flower Co. is a flower farm based in the northeast of England, growing sustainable, seasonal flowers in a Victorian walled garden, without the use of chemicals.
Caroline will guide you round the garden of polytunnels and beds of cut flowers, not forgetting the bee meadow, orchard, pick your own plot, and of course that stunning glasshouse! Her brains are there for you to pick and I’ll be on hand too to for any ‘designing’ questions. Caroline is a fabulous grower as well as a wonderful storyteller—believe me, you are in for a real treat. She will woo you with her words and amazing growing knowledge, and I’ll share advice on ways to find your own voice in this clammering world.
“The Verde Flower Co. developed from a knowledge that beautiful, scented and elegant flowers don’t need to be flown across the planet, but can be grown here, in Northern England, without the use of damaging chemicals and excess packaging. It’s simple. You just have to know how.”
Excerpt from Fiona Pickles website:
“Then we’ll sit together in the orchard (weather permitting) and I’ll guide you through some things you can do to find your own voice and create a business that works totally for YOU, before half an hour of just chatting, dog stroking, and mingling.
This is a truly magical and captivating space where they not only grow flowers but also focus heavily on the wildlife with beehives and newly laid ‘bird and bee corridors’. Please don’t expect a grand show garden of packed flower beds to wander round and ogle at, instead it’s a charmingly beautiful, working flower farm. The team are wrangling this previously neglected garden back to life and they are at the early stages of their journey so expect some weeds, bare soil, and mypex.
