I’ve been reading another dangerous book. After the recent temptation of Naomi Slade’s Lilies, The Flower Yard by Arthur Parkinson has led me down his “path of pots” and I’m smitten.
Of course, with his container planting centred around my gardening addictions of tulips, sweet peas and dahlias, it was always going to appeal but this is so much more than a few bulbs or plants in a pot.
I was given a copy of the book in return for a fair review.
Flamboyant, richly textured and, we discover, carefully planned, his displays are both joyous and inspirational.
It’s a style of gardening borne out of necessity. The garden behind the family’s town centre terrace his mum’s domain, so Arthur is confined to the front path but that has not limited his ambition.
With my favourite three the seasonal stars, the show is supported by a varied mix of crocus, iris, alliums, poppies, eremurus, lilies, cosmos, sunflowers and even pumpkins.
Wallflowers, cardoon, annual grasses and vegetables, like purple-leaved kale, give depth and texture to the planting.
Colours are chosen to create a “Venetian-toned garden”, white is banned and “I get irritated by pastels,” he tells us. A generous helping of photos throughout the book reinforce his ideas.
The Flower Yard unpicks not only the ethos behind this ‘garden’ but how to go about it from the size of pots required – “Big is essential for scale and ease of care” – to compost, drainage, and how to guard against squirrels.
We’re given an insight into the way he meticulously plans his annual show, cutting up nursery catalogues to check colour combinations.
The aim is to make “living vases of growing flower arrangements” and plants are arranged naturally: “The tallest dahlia is not planted in the middle of a large dolly tub, but on the edge, and nothing is make to look unnatural.”
Key to success is to regularly cut flowers as this will encourage stronger plants and more blooms. There’s advice on vases, flower combinations and winter decorations, including making a foraged Christmas wreath.
Whether he be railing against the “coffin gardens” of so many urban plots, or describing his garden’s “orgy of a floral rainbow”, what comes through every page is his passion for creating “mini Edens”.
“Stop moaning and grow flowers,” he urges. The book shows this is possible in even the smallest space.
The Flower Yard by Arthur Parkinson is published by Kyle Books with an RRP of £22. You can buy it here for £15.00. (If you buy via this link, I receive a small commission. The price you pay is not affected.)
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This chap, I’m sure, was featured on GW a few years ago. I admired his style now as then, great to see younger people getting the gardening bug.
Yes, it was him on Gardeners’ World. Really impressive to see what can be achieved in a small space in just containers.
Thank you for recommending this book. It duly arrived from Amazon and I haven’t been able to sit down (with a cuppa) without picking it up to read. It’s addictive. Such enticing narrative and tempting photos.
Although I have a fairly large garden, I also have rather a lot of pots to fill. I now have two (more) dahlias, red with black leaves surrounded with red pelargoniums and marigolds 😎 trying to emulate Arthur’s colour palette with plants I have available – and a long seed list for next year.
I did warn you it was a dangerous book! I also have a long list of seeds – I’m very tempted by the cosmos.