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Irish take two prizes at Chelsea Flower Show (Irish Times)

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Paula Cambell meets Miss Daisy (Leinster Leader)

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By Michael Kelly & Gemma Tipton

June 2, 2007

If you catch people doing lengths of a pond at Bloom this weekend, don’t be tempted to call the Garda – they’re doing nothing illegal. The pond in question, a natural swimming pool, is part of Elma Fenton’s show garden for the event.

Fenton, who is from Monasterevin, in Co. Kildare, studies horticulture at the now defunct College of Horticulture at An Grianán in Termonfeckin, Co. Louth, then specialised in landscape architecture. “When I qualified I travelled quite a bit in Europe, Australia and America, and I was heavily influenced by the different design techniques I saw there. I always felt I wanted something more than horticulture, and I was very interested in architecture. There wasn’t a lot of work for horticulturist at the time in Ireland, so I enrolled in the University of Greenwich and studied landscape architecture.”

Having graduated for a second time, Fenton worked as a freelance designer in the UK before returning to Kildare at the turn of millennium, Since the she built up a substantial design consultancy, dividing her time between private clients and high-profile one-off projects, such as the show garden at Bloom. “The beauty with the private clients is that there is such a quick turnaround, so the work comes to fruition much quicker. That’s why I still enjoy the private work so much.