Arthur Parkinson
Next up in our Christmas interview series we have our good friend, the charming chicken boy Arthur Parkinson. A horticulturist, writer and container gardening expert, Arthur has been named one of the most influential young UK gardeners by Architectural Digest.
Arthur is also a talented florist with a penchant for growing flamboyant blooms and raising chickens. After studying horticulture at the Royal Botanical Gardens of Kew, Arthur went to work for Sarah Raven at her farm in East Sussex to pursue his passion for growing cut flowers. He later became head gardener for Emma Bridgewater, which inspired his first book, The Pottery Gardener.
Arthur’s green fingered talents and lyrically expressed love of nature is second only to his dry sense of humour and adorable good looks. His Christmas interview is full of charm and homespun flare, some great tips here too.
Arthur, how will you be bringing nature indoors this Christmas?
I love getting my Allium Schubertii heads out! These are the most wonderous of all the alliums to pick and dry for Christmas. They are true jellyfish fireworks. If you see any of them still for sale in any last bulb discounts then do buy them and plant them with lots of grit outside somewhere sunny, immediately! I either have them dried as single stems in a heavy vase, or, if I have done a sort of trellis of silver birch branches, then they get festooned into this with warm copper wire fairy lights and all the Christmas decorations. Or they make the best ‘star’ for the top of the Christmas tree.
I don’t think you need to over do things really, light is so important at this time of year, it makes a big difference to the mind. Nature gives the best gifts for Christmas decorating, but as gardeners and florists, we have to know to store it earlier in the year. I quite like how in late June you are stashing honesty and alliums away for Christmas.
What are your favourite Christmas traditions?
I’m very relaxed when it comes to Christmas, I guess the biggest tradition for many of us is the travelling and arrival, I’m loving Jennifer Saunders in the Burberry advert – "good luck with your goose" she goes, getting out of the taxi. I love the dinner. I like to order it in, a treat from an expensive food shop that I’d never do otherwise. This year it’s all coming from Pipers Farm which is a great choice because they support a number of genuinely small family farms with countryside stewardship ethics and a focus on rare and traditional breeds. It arrives frozen, brussels, red cabbage, the lot all wrapped in lovely insulating wool that you can then use to line plant pots with.
I do the ordering of it and I like to get as much of it prepared as is possible! I don’t want an hour of washing up after. I had a childhood of that awful Christmas Eve supermarket food shop Tesco and Safeway stress the day before, never, ever again. You know I really miss the old fashioned supermarket check out, seeing what bags for life everyone’s got, I hate automatic tills.
Don’t be put off by it arriving frozen, people are so bloody snobbish. You want to get up at 5am to cut up carrots then go for it, I’ll be in my dressing gown like most winter mornings until 9ish.
My Grandma Sheila at 93 still makes the best trifle, so I do a shop for the bits she needs two days before, as it all needs to soak and set well. Good jam Swiss roll, raspberry jelly, tinned peaches, frozen raspberries, double cream, decent custard (I might try and make our own custard this year thinking about that, but I doubt it). And yes we do sprinkle it with hundreds and thousands, no almonds and no pomegranate seeds please.
I think my mums made a Christmas cake this year which will be beautiful – I nearly bought one in Fortnum's the other day due to the tin really, it had blackbirds on. My mum, Jill, makes the best mince pies due to her nimble fingers and cold hands which is needed for the pastry. I can’t do pastry to save my life, I’m awful at cooking, I just put rosemary into everything, the beef and potatoes.
We then just become zombies in front of the telly. I’ll probably have to DVD an episode of Jam and Jerusalem or the Royale Family. Endless chocolate comas.
You've been invited to a Christmas dinner party, tell us what you might take with you as a thank you gift.
Depends how generous I’m feeling! If it’s someone who hasn’t got hens then some freshly laid eggs, people love a mix of colours - browns, blues and whites, but winter laid eggs are slim pickings now the daylight hours are short. Good, real and local honey from people I know who keep bees, because the stuff in supermarkets is almost all sugar syrup and proper honey is so needed for all these colds! I might take them some tulip bulbs which can be happily planted during the month of January. A bunch of garden herbs rosemary, sage and bay, nice Christmas kitchen jug props people like that, keep it cheap but good, heartfelt and original!
What is your most favoured Christmas present?
I’m going to be really boring, I really appreciate good socks and any good cosy clothing, but no Christmas jumpers please.
If you could choose just one thing from the JamJar Edit collection, what would it be and why?
I love this antique ciggy press by JamJar, it’s wonderful to upcycle something old so elegantly and with such lovely results. I don’t like to see the test tubes used for floristry in metal racks in comparison, this is a beautiful character to get out in celebration as the delicate flowers of the seasons unfold, especially for tumbling tendrils of sweet peas and honey suckle, but before them it’s beautiful for the upright and nodding snakeshead fritillaries, otherwise called Guineafowl or chequer board flowers.
We must support these companies, I love JamJar's small bespoke range, it’s so cheering – I also hugely recommend the beautiful thin wax birthday candles, so old fashioned and old world glamorous.
Cigar Press Vase by JamJar Edit, £135
Lead image of Arthur with his chicken by Spencer Matthew, Still Moving Media.
Give the Gift of Learning
Learn all about how to transform small spaces into green, vibrant retreats with Arthur's online Create Academy course: Grow a Spectacular Garden in Pots
