He's a blooming talent
Country Life UK|April 22, 2020
A rising star of the gardening world on chicken-friendly gardening and admirable women
Arthur Parkinson
He's a blooming talent

WHEN he’s not posting portraits of his beloved bantams or the glorious abundance of jewel-coloured, wildlife-attracting annuals, half-hardies and bulbs that he grows in metal troughs and dolly tubs at home in a tiny courtyard in Hucknall, Nottinghamshire, Arthur Parkinson treats his 19,000 Instagram followers to selfies wearing a head-dress he has made from hydrangeas or giant dahlias, or clutching a hen.

His posts are accompanied by captions that are full of information and engaging opinions about gardening for wildlife (hens included—they’re very good at weeding between paving cracks). Last year, an appearance on BBC Gardeners’ World whetted his appetite for presenting and, this year, he will, hopefully, be making his first garden for the RHS Hampton Court Flower Show, postponed to September from July. The stage is set for Mr Parkinson to step into the limelight.

‘Arthur has a seam of spectacular flamboyance, which I absolutely adore,’ says the flower grower Sarah Raven, with whom he works on a regular basis. He’s not only a handsome face, however, but a talented gardener, too: ‘He is an intensely creative person and has a genius for making a flower border feel as rich and intense and integrated as any arrangement in a vase,’ says Miss Raven. ‘It’s an exceptionally difficult skill, which is a product of great instinctive understanding, with a lot of hard work and knowledge of how plants behave.’

We meet on a bleak winter’s day at Perch Hill in East Sussex, Miss Raven’s home and business hub, as Mr Parkinson is here to help with a photoshoot.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة April 22, 2020 من Country Life UK.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة April 22, 2020 من Country Life UK.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من COUNTRY LIFE UK مشاهدة الكل
Happiness in small things
Country Life UK

Happiness in small things

Putting life into perspective and forces of nature in farming

time-read
3 mins  |
September 11, 2024
Colour vision
Country Life UK

Colour vision

In an eye-baffling arrangement of geometric shapes, a sinister-looking clown and a little girl, Test Card F is one of television’s most enduring images, says Rob Crossan

time-read
3 mins  |
September 11, 2024
'Without fever there is no creation'
Country Life UK

'Without fever there is no creation'

Three of the top 10 operas performed worldwide are by the emotionally volatile Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, who died a century ago. Henrietta Bredin explains how his colourful life influenced his melodramatic plot lines

time-read
4 mins  |
September 11, 2024
The colour revolution
Country Life UK

The colour revolution

Toxic, dull or fast-fading pigments had long made it tricky for artists to paint verdant scenes, but the 19th century ushered in a viridescent explosion of waterlili

time-read
6 mins  |
September 11, 2024
Bullace for you
Country Life UK

Bullace for you

The distinction between plums, damsons and bullaces is sweetly subtle, boiling down to flavour and aesthetics, but don’t eat the stones, warns John Wright

time-read
3 mins  |
September 11, 2024
Lights, camera, action!
Country Life UK

Lights, camera, action!

Three remarkable country houses, two of which have links to the film industry, the other the setting for a top-class croquet tournament, are anything but ordinary

time-read
5 mins  |
September 11, 2024
I was on fire for you, where did you go?
Country Life UK

I was on fire for you, where did you go?

In Iceland, a land with no monks or monkeys, our correspondent attempts to master the art of fishing light’ for Salmo salar, by stroking the creases and dimples of the Midfjardara river like the features of a loved one

time-read
5 mins  |
September 11, 2024
Bravery bevond belief
Country Life UK

Bravery bevond belief

A teenager on his gap year who saved a boy and his father from being savaged by a crocodile is one of a host of heroic acts celebrated in a book to mark the 250th anniversary of the Royal Humane Society, says its author Rupert Uloth

time-read
4 mins  |
September 11, 2024
Let's get to the bottom of this
Country Life UK

Let's get to the bottom of this

Discovering a well on your property can be viewed as a blessing or a curse, but all's well that ends well, says Deborah Nicholls-Lee, as she examines the benefits of a personal water supply

time-read
5 mins  |
September 11, 2024
Sing on, sweet bird
Country Life UK

Sing on, sweet bird

An essential component of our emotional relationship with the landscape, the mellifluous song of a thrush shapes the very foundation of human happiness, notes Mark Cocker, as he takes a closer look at this diverse family of birds

time-read
6 mins  |
September 11, 2024