The Pottery Gardener: Flowers and Hens at the Emma Bridgewater Factory

by Arthur Parkinson, Emma Bridgewater (Foreword)

The Emma Bridgewater factory in Stoke-on-Trent is a mecca for lovers of its iconic pottery, known nationally for its designs featuring florals and farmyard animals. Today, it is a thriving visitor attraction; but tucked within is a walled garden bursting with nectar-rich, jazzy-toned flowers and hen houses of rare-breed chickens. In this beautiful book, the site’s gardener, florist and poultry keeper Arthur Parkinson descriptively and visually shares his work. Inspired by his friend and idol, gardener and florist Sarah Raven, and childhood hen-keeping pen pal the late Dowager Duchess of Devonshire, Parkinson’s creation is one of resplendent flowers, platoon feather-legged hens, handwritten blackboards, flower arranging and wasteland foliage foraging carried out in one of the most unlikely places a garden could happen to exist: a working pottery. With seasonal tips on container planting in your own garden, plant profiles and helpful guides to keeping fowl and arranging home-grown flowers, The Pottery Gardener is sure to delight gardeners, hen fanciers and Bridgewater fans alike.

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction

224 pages, Hardcover

Published March 16, 2018

Reviews

[Daniel Myatt · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delight to read!

[Lindsey Preston · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love everything about this book. From Arthur’s back story of how he came to love gardening from spending time with his grandparents to his passion for keeping chickens. Every page has the most wonderful pictures of his planting ideas. He began as a protege of Sarah Raven before going to work for Emma Bridgewater. His transformation of the garden at the Emma Bridgewater factory is quite remarkable. A truly inspirational young gardener.

[Helen White · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely book about Arthur's growing love of gardening and poultry which leads him to the pottery factory garden. If you are interested in small gardens, courtyard gardens, containers, raised beds and cut flowers there is plenty in here. There's also a chapter on poultry (not for me). The photography is lovely.

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Colour, Hens, Cosmos and twig supports. The full package of a lovingly prepared photo spread and thoughtful garden descriptions. Vibrant country colour in all the lush tumbling plantings and practical tips. Way beyond a lovely keepsake for visitors to the historic pottery's very lovely gardens, this is a testament to a specific garden vision and its implementation. Love the garden. Love the book. Buy the hard cover if you can as it is a book you will want to keep around for a while.

[Nina .c · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful photos, informative and well written. Inspirational.

[Glenda Ingram · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exquisite. Heart warming. Inspirational.

[Dorinde · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most beautiful gardening books ever.

[Manuel Saldate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspirational! Loved!

[Irena McClain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Talented gardener and glorious photographs!

[L · Rating 5 out of 5]

A simply stunning, inspirational book about gardening in an urban setting in the UK. Delightful. I had to go buy tulip bulbs!

[Deb cambria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous