Arthur Parkinson

• Friday

• The Living Room

• 15:30

Arthur Parkinson is a writer, illustrator and gardener from Nottinghamshire. He is known for rearing rare-breed chickens and having an enduring passion for connection to nature and the countryside. He has organically grown his social media audience and can be found as part of the online teaching classes of Create Academy. His second book, The Flower Yard, was a Sunday Times Bestseller, while before this, he wrote about the garden he grew within the grounds of the Emma Bridgewater Factory. Today, he grows dahlias and rears his hens on rented land in the Cotswolds. Chickens have been the subject of his latest books: Chicken Boy and The Hen Party.

Arthur will be speaking on ‘Colours of the flower yard, a year of pots and pickings from the garden’. He shares his gardening year in this photograph-album talk of gardens he has known and grown, mostly through being passionate about the potential of pots in sizes small and large. Talking about his favourite varieties of plants – be they bulbs, annuals, perennials, shrubs or roses – and how they grow together to create flamboyant, sanctuary spaces of flowers that are full of colour, perfume and nature. He will share his practical advice along the way too.