The Flower Yard - Arthur Parkinson

The Flower Yard - Growing Flamboyant Flowers In Containers.

'The Flower Yard is simply gorgeous. Inspirational, sumptuous and packed with refreshingly down-to-earth advice. I love this book.' Nigel Slater

Yes, so do we! Anyone who has discovered Arthur on Instagram well knows his enthusiasm for beautiful bold flowers, gardening in pots, and chickens. It's infectious and wonderful, as is this book, which shows anyone who thinks they're constrained by a small garden or even a balcony garden, that anything is possible.

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.