A Year Full of Pots

Book excerpt: 'Stunning pictures and packed full of really good advice and inspiration' – Monty Don --------------- Pots are everywhere in Sarah Raven's garden at Perch Hill. Every corner comes to life with their colour and vibrancy. A Year Full of Pots overbrims with year-round inspiration, planting ideas and expert advice from Sarah Raven, the Sunday Times bestselling author of A Year Full of Flowers and A Year Full of Veg. Accessible and rewarding, growing flowers in pots is a simple and enjoyable way to enhance any space, from small city plots to huge gardens. Get the pots right and your garden will take on a cheerful energy of its own. They are the bubbles in the champagne, the cherries on the cake; the final flourish in making a garden beautiful. And with pots, there is one iron rule: more is more. Discover practical design tips that will really enhance your containers. Use ingenious tricks when combining flower colours such as choosing a BRIDE (the star of the show), a BRIDESMAID (similar to the bride but smaller and less conspicuous) and a GATECRASHER (the colour contrast, which brings the whole thing to life). Learn all about the types of forms and plant structures – THRILLER, FILLER, PILLAR and SPILLER – and how to put them to best use. And take on the simplest of ideas, such as raising flower pots on to a wall or table so you see more of them, for instant impact. Following the seasons, A Year Full of Pots shows you how to make your own evolving tapestry of colour through long-lasting container combinations. All the flowers and planting schemes Sarah has tried and tested over the decades are in here, plus the design principles that will work for you at any scale, whether you have one pot or a garden full of them. 'An archipelago of inspirational potted paradises awaits on every page of this beautiful but also hugely helpful book' – Arthur Parkinson