The English Gardening School looks forward to welcoming gardening enthusiasts to this exciting opportunity to hear from experts and enjoy a fun event leading into your Christmas celebrations.

Jo Thompson is one of the UK’s leading garden designers, celebrated for her romantic, painterly planting and instinctive, atmospheric approach to design. A multi-gold medal winner at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, she creates beautifully crafted, sustainable gardens that blend biodiversity, emotion, and a deep sense of place. Her projects span the UK and internationally, from English meadows to New York rooftops and coastal landscapes in Italy and Brazil, and include major public commissions such as the Winter Garden at RHS Rosemoor and the planting strategy for Highgate Cemetery.

Jo’s talk explores the design philosophy at the heart of her book The New Romantic Garden: how to bring atmosphere, personality, and ecological intelligence to gardens of every scale.

Rachel de Thame is a broadcaster, writer and gardener. A regular presenter on BBC Gardeners’ World and the Royal Horticultural Society Flower Show coverage, she is also the author of gardening books and a magazine columnist. Design projects include Chelsea Flower Show and the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant Royal Barge. Rachel curated the RHS London Rose Show and speaks at The Ashmolean Museum, The Garden Museum, Highgrove, Oxford Botanic Garden and The Royal Geographical Society.

Drawing from her book A Flower Garden for Pollinators Rachel will talk about the needs of the essential pollinators and other wildlife with whom we share our gardens.