This book was a collaborative effort in so many ways, and I am hugely indebted to the visionary people who created many of these beautiful containers. You all do a wonderful job, and I sincerely hope you keep doing it for many years to come. Thank you for giving us a glimpse.
First and foremost, I would like to thank Vicky Orchard and everybody at Kyle Books for giving me the opportunity to write this and turning my words into something I am hugely proud of. Second, to Rachel Warne, the most enormous thank you. Your photographs have brought this book to life and are more beautiful than I could have imagined. It was such a pleasure to work with you. Thank you also to Helen Bratby for the contemporary but beautifully tasteful design.
I would like to thank Ian Harris at Dawlish Gardens Trust. You have been a huge inspiration to me in my gardening work over the last few years, and if one day I have brought half the happiness to half as many people as you have, I will consider my time well spent. Thank you as well, and to Karen, for letting us take photos at DGT and giving me time off to write the book!
Thank you, Steve Briers. For everything. Your house made a stunning backdrop to the photographs, and a garden (and often a house) filled with potted plants isn’t always easy to live with! So thank you for your support and patience.
A big thank you must also go to Steve Edney, once again, for your generosity in giving us free rein at The Salutation as well as to Louise Dowell for letting us invade your own garden. What a beautiful space.
Thank you to Fergus Garrett for allowing us to photograph the spectacular displays at Great Dixter. They were an inspiration.
I would also like to thank Ken White at Frosts Landscapes for the fantastic locations around London, as well as Colin Evans, for being such a great guide and ever so patient!
To Martin Woods (mwgardendesign.co.uk) for showing us and letting us photograph your beautiful garden (a must-see for anyone interested in containers!) Thank you also to Shelley Hugh-Jones. Your designs were stunning, and you were so helpful. Thank you to Claude Lester (vertigo.co.uk). Your potted roof terrace and green wall was fantastic. Thank you also to Francesca and Leandros at Langlea Garden Design. Also to Lahla Smart at Lahla Studios (lahlastudio.com) for the stunning magnetic pots. Thank you Mike Wateres at EZ Power steering UK (EZpowersteering.co.uk) for the visual feast of red and blue, and Tricia Kirkby at Garstone Garden Ornaments, Teignmouth, for letting us photograph one of my favorite living walls and the only historic car-trunk living wall I know of! A big thank you for your advice about bedding plants and for the photographs to MJ and LP Disney and Olde Barn Gardens holiday cottages, Dawlish. Thank you to Toby’s reclamation in Exminster. I would like to say a special thank you to Chris Britton at High Garden Nurseries, Kenton, for the beautiful plants. I hope they enjoyed their holiday by the sea . . . Thank you also to Sophie de Bouvier at Branching Out Antiques, Wingham, Kent, and Gardens Illustrated and to The Original Hut company; The Hub, Bodiam, Kent, for letting us feature photos of your lovely containers.
Thank you, Dad, for lending me your beloved bonsai and driving us around the Kent and Sussex countryside in the rain. Thank you also to Bid and Mum for hunting out reclaimed containers (though I suspect you enjoyed it!).
Finally, a huge thank you to Libby (Olivia Rhodes), Michael Hibberd, Michael Punnet, Brian Mills, Holly Maries, and Laura Hunt for letting me invade your house and garden and build things—making a huge mess! You were all so welcoming and incredibly understanding.
Without all of your help, this book could not have happened, so thank you all so very much.