Property News · October 22, 2016

Me and my garden: ‘My ultimate plot would have a muddy island for flamingos’


Arthur Parkinson, pottery gardener, Stoke-on-TrentAs a child, I was obsessed with ornamental birds and chickens. I would ask to go to Chatsworth House to see the Duchess of Devonshire’s poultry; and as a young teenager, I worked at a place called Newstead Abbey, which has peacocks. My love of colour and being outdoors led me into gardening. While I was learning the technical side at Kew Gardens, I started visiting my gardening idol, Sarah Raven, at Perch Hill Farm in Sussex. I was incredibly lucky to have three months house-sitting for her there. I learned to combine colours and forms in a container, using the floristry rule of a central heart or filler and a taller horizon.It is essentially container gardening on a grand scale here at the Emma Bridgewater ceramics factory. I’m working with concrete, so I can’t dig down. Instead, I go up with raised beds and dustbins, and fill them with flowers in sultry, stained-glass colours. We are the only pottery with a cut-flower garden. Continue reading…

Source : theguardian.com
Read more…Me and my garden: ‘My ultimate plot would have a muddy island for flamingos’

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