The Flower Yard

The Times Best Gardening Books of the Year 2021 'The Flower Yard is simply gorgeous. Inspirational, sumptuous and packed with refreshingly down-to-earth advice. I love this book.' Nigel Slater 'The Kew-trained king of the small-space garden.' Guardian Arthur Parkinson's town garden is like a path of pots, a tiny, exposed stage on bricks. Despite its small size, a flower-filled jungle in Venetian tones is grown here each year, in defiance of urbanisation. The plants act like drapes, closing gently as their growth engulfs the front door, from either side of the path, to the buzz of precious bees. This is gardening done entirely in pots, yet on a grand scale that will inspire anyone who wants their doorstep or patio to be a glamorous and lively canvas that nurtures them visually and mentally. From jewel scatterings of crocus, flocks of parrot tulips and scented sweet peas to galaxies of single dahlias, towering giraffes of amaryllises grown inside for winter and endless vases of cut blooms through the seasons. With his bantam hens at his feet, Arthur shares his life, knowledge, flair and influences for planting creatively, all of which combine to create a space that's rich in ever-changing colour and life.

A stunning gardening book full of inspiration, tips and advice

Explore 60 flowers, bloom by bloom, in stunning portraiture with lush macrophotography that showcases the details of each flower, and learn how to arrange flowers with different styles, tips, and techniques. Intimate portraits of each flower include quick-reference profiles with tips for choosing the best blooms, care for cut stems, arranging recommendations, colors, shapes, and even growing tips to transform the home, from yard to tabletop. Study a multitude of blooms, from the amaryllis in spring, snapdragon in summer, and dahlia in fall to tropical wonders such as orchids and African lilies. The Flower Book spotlights 30 sample floral arrangements that show how to design and build custom floral arrangements using featured blooms. Plus, a step-by-step techniques section walks beginners through the basics of foliage and fillers, bouquets, and arrangements to make this book as practical as it is beautiful. A perfect gift for anyone who loves flowers, The Flower Book celebrates all the wonderful qualities of flowers—their sheer beauty, infinite variety, and power to evoke admiration—bloom by exquisite bloom.

Every garden, large or small, in a town or in the country, even one formed completely by pots, can be a living dance of lavish colours, glorious scents and pollen-rich flowers alive to the sound of bird song and the buzz of bees. In Planting a Paradise, Arthur Parkinson, bestselling author of The Flower Yard, focuses on what to grow through the seasons with an array of planting ideas and recommended varieties to inspire the experienced and novice gardener alike. From his newly found love of muscari, narcissi and seeding grasses, to circuses of dahlias, luscious herbs, figs and crab apples, the result is not only a stunning living harvest but also an oasis for wildlife at a time when we need this style of gardening more than ever. Praise for The Flower Yard: 'Simply gorgeous' - Nigel Slater 'The Kew-trained king of the small-space garden' - Guardian

This lushly photographed idea book proves that it is possible to create a glamorous outdoor space of ever-changing color, teeming with life, in the smallest of spaces, whether a patio, terrace, or front porch. This inspirational guide demonstrates how a glorious outdoor space is possible, even with only a small patio and a few pots. Featuring detailed photos and text by Parkinson who has been named a rising gardening star by Architectural Digest, this new book is the key to success with container gardening. Parkinson shows how to create a veritable paradise in pots with aspirational season-by-season ideas that are easy to replicate in any situation. The emphasis is on creating a small haven for birds, butterflies, and other wildlife—from flowers for pollinators to small fruiting shrubs that provide winter sustenance for birds. Even an upturned pot can create a welcoming space for a mosquito-eating frog. The book is filled with planting and propagating advice, tips on improving soil, seasonal tasks, and suggested planting ideas that include both flowering and edible plants for a vibrant backyard oasis. This is container gardening at its most romantic and stylish.

An inspirational companion to The Flower Yard, a Sunday Times bestseller, arranged seasonally, with tips, hints and advice on growing flamboyant flowers sustainably in containers. "Simply gorgeous" - Nigel Slater on The Flower Yard "The Kew-trained king of the small-space garden" - the Guardian on The Flower Yard Sumptuous, beautiful and packed with refreshingly down-to- earth advice, Arthur Parkinson's new book focuses on dramatic but easy-to-grow floral plants that will turn your garden into a perfumed, sustainable paradise, teeming with wildlife and alive with the sound of songbirds. Arranged seasonally, it includes sowing tips and propagating hints, plus advice on planning and keeping track of what is happening in your garden. There is focus on floral plants that are easier-to-grow (but still dramatic), and plants that encourage diversity and wildlife -info, for example, on how to properly feed and attract garden birds for the best aphid control (so no pesticides) and how to create his much Instagram liked dolly tub container pond. Arthur also looks at drought-tolerant flowering herbs for sun baked patios and balconies, striking perennial shrubs for winter structure, seeds that can simply be scattered about directly and grown with reasonable neglect to ferns for shady doorstep pots and scented leaf pelargoniums that then become winter houseplants as well as returning to his stalwart glamour flowers that are nectar rich-single dahlias, roses and sweet peas. This is gardening both for the good of ourselves and the planet.

The Flower Book explores 60 flowers, bloom-by-bloom in stunning portraiture. Lush macrophotography allows readers to see the details of each featured flower up close, from the amaryllis in spring, snapdragon in summer, and dahlia in fall to tropical wonders such as orchids and more. Intimate portraits of each flower include quick-reference profiles with tips for choosing the best blooms, care for cut stems, arranging recommendations, colors, shapes, and even growing tips to transform the home, from yard to tabletop. Gorgeous photographs throughout spotlight 30 sample floral arrangements that show how to design and build custom floral arrangements using featured blooms. Plus, a step-by-step techniques section walks beginners through the basics of foliage and fillers, bouquets, and arrangements to make this book as practical as it is beautiful. The Flower Book celebrates all the wonderful qualities of flowers-their sheer beauty, infinite variety, and power to evoke admiration-bloom by exquisite bloom.

Much has been written on the traditions of elite gardens but little attention has been directed to the gardens of more humble and popular cultures that reflect regional, localized, ethnic, personal, or folk creations. These articles reflect growing interest in a range of cultural artifacts that demonstrate how culture influences surroundings.