Jenny Bache
Bontanical Illustrator
Jenny Bache has been drawing plants since childhood, often spending long hours exploring the woods behind her home. Although she trained as a teacher, raised four children, taught primary-aged children with special educational needs, and continues to lead a parent-and-child playgroup at her local church, her passion for illustrating plants and fungi has remained a constant thread throughout her life.
For Jenny, a walk is an act of discovery—an invitation to notice what others might pass by. She is captivated by the architecture of plants and fungi, finding joy in painting the twists and turns of clematis stems, matching the vivid colours of fly agaric fungi, and following the shifting character of chestnut trees through the seasons.
Her desire to share botanical knowledge has led her to run a botanical painting class from her eco-studio in West Kirby, where she delights in seeing her students’ progress and growing confidence.
Jenny’s recent project, documenting the wild plants that are re-inhabiting Grange Hill in West Kirby after a wildfire, will be exhibited at the RHS Botanical Art and Photography Show in June 2026.
As part of her three-year diploma at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Jenny studied, drew and painted six plant species found along the shore between West Kirby and Hoylake, within the SSSI at Red Rocks. Her work includes both familiar coastal plants and a very rare horsetail, and she was awarded a distinction for the collection. A painting of an Indonesian ginger has also been included in RBGE’s Florilegium.
Recently, Jenny has begun expanding her practice to include butterflies and birds. The landscape of Hilbre Island continues to call to her, and she suspects her box of acrylics may soon reappear. Having already completed two botanical studies just across the water at Red Rocks and on Grange Hill, turning her attention to Hilbre feels like a natural next step. She looks forward to documenting the island’s wild plants as they move through the seasons.
