Sophie Essex is a freelance garden writer with a passion for horticulture and environmental conservation. With a BSc in Botany/Plant Biology from the University of Plymouth, she further honed her expertise through a Masters of Science in Biodiversity and Taxonomy of Plants from The University of Edinburgh.

Sophie has also worked as a professional gardener and landscaper, showcasing her practical skills by transforming outdoor spaces. Her commitment to fieldwork is further evident in her acquisition of a Certificate in Field Botany from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, and over the years, she has interned at the Eden Project, Cornwall, the National Trust for Scotland and the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Find more information about Sophie over at LinkedIn.

Since the first seed catalogue was published in 1855, Thompson & Morgan has grown to become one of the UK’s largest Mail Order Seed and Plant companies. Through the publication of our catalogues and the operation of our award-winning website, Thompson & Morgan is able to provide home gardeners with the very best quality products money can buy.

I’m proud to say that I have been a passionate gardener for more than 20 years. Working as a landscape architect got me constantly improving my knowledge and skills, to meet all the modern design standards. My hobbies include writing blogs, volunteering at an animal shelter, and meditating.

Julia Thatcher is a journalist who has dedicated to sustainable horticulture and organic gardening once she got married and moved to a rural area to join her husband. The environmental awareness is strong in this one as much as her love for organic smoothies.

Wisteria trees, billowing roses and lavender framing the meandering stone pathway, and beautiful ivy growing up the walls of the house – It was nanny Davis’s overflowing cottage garden that created the plant lover I am today. I’ve come a long way from helping her pick those graffiti-petaled beauties for her glass vase in the old days. Working as a consulting horticulturist, today I have the opportunity to put my sharpened floral arranging and designing techniques to great use, transforming people’s gardens and patios into spaces of their dreams.

Plants and gardens have always been a big part of my life. I can remember helping my Dad to prick out seedlings, even before I could see over the top of the potting bench. As an adult, I trained at Writtle College where I received my degree, BSc. (Hons) Horticulture. After working in a specialist plantsman’s nursery, and later, as a consulting arboriculturalist, I joined Thompson & Morgan in 2008. Initially looking after the grounds and coordinating the plant trials, I now support the web team offering horticultural advice online. I have a keen interest in drought resistant plants and a passion for perennials, particularly hardy Geraniums. I previously stood as regional secretary for the International Plant Propagation Society which gave me lots of opportunities to see what other horticulturalists were up to in their nurseries and gardens.