Surprising Spry

Constance Spry pioneered a new approach to flower arranging. Rejecting a formal, static style Spry introduced kale and cabbage leaves into her bouquets and placed mixed wild flowers rather than hot house blooms in unusual containers.

Her innovative style is illustrated in a display Spry created in 1939 outside Coolings Gallery. Improvising in times of austerity, her arrangement transformed wartime sandbags into a distinctive floral display interspersed with urns filled with wild blooms. For the launch of Sue Shephard's biography, 'The Surprising Life of Constance Spry', the florists, Wild at Heart created an installation outside Potterton Books inspired by Spry's sandbags.

Signed copies of Sue Shephard's biography, 'The Surprising Life of Constance Spry' are available at Potterton Books, priced £18.99.

Potterton in bloom!

The shop floor is looking like our very own corner of the Chelsea Flower Show. From the backdrop of leather bound vintage gardening titles and botanical dictionaries, to the latest gardening titles blossoming in the window, the shop has a decidedly verdant atmosphere. The shelves have been freshly planted with the latest books from Dan Pearson and Ulf Nordfjell with Paula Pryke adding touches of colour. What’s more later in the week we’ll have our very own green shoots from the shop front with a floral installation inspired by Constance Spry.

The shop was buzzing last Thursday evening for the launch of Sue Snell’s beautiful photography book, The Garden at Charleston. Guests listened to Henrietta Garnett’s (the granddaughter of Vanessa Bell) childhood memories of the garden and sipped delicious iced tea supplied by Bellocq the tea atelier on the King’s Rd. Thanks to all who joined us for a great evening.
Sue’s hand-printed colour photographs of the Garden at Charleston are currently on display, prices from £48.

Tired of trailing round vintage shops and never finding what you want? Let Anne Tyrell’s Classic Fashion Patterns of the 20th Century satisfy even your most obscure sartorial demand.


So whether you’re in the market for a pale green 1902 style walking-skirt and bolero jacket or lusting after a 40s cherry red day dress to wear with court shoes, suede gloves and pearl earrings, this book might just be the answer. So free your inner flapper girl or teddy boy, get out your fabric stash, thread up your machine and get to work……..

Classic Fashion Patterns of the 20th Century is £20.00

The Garden at Charleston

Writing about her sister’s new house Charleston, Virginia Woolf described the ‘charming garden, with a pond and fruit trees and vegetables, all now rather run wild’. As well as redecorating the house in their unique style, Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant transformed the garden into an inspiring backdrop for their artistic lives. A riot of colour, the garden as much as the house provided a setting for the Bloomsbury group’s creative and literary activities.

Sue Snell, a leading documentary and botanical photographer captures the changing seasons in the Charleston garden in this beautiful book.


As part of our celebrations for the forthcoming Chelsea Flower Show this book will be launched at Potterton Books on Thursday 20th May between 6-8pm. Besides treating yourself to a signed copy you’ll also be able to purchase Snell’s the original photographs. As a special treat Bellocq, the tea atelier on the Kings Rd, have made an exclusive Bloomsbury inspired tea to be served during the evening. Sounds delicious!


Look forward to seeing you there!

dream gardens

Whether the garden of your dreams is a landscaped estate, a paved tulip filled courtyard or just the neighbour’s lawn glimpsed over the privet hedge, Barbara Baker’s Dream Gardens of England is sure to inspire.


Beautifully photographed throughout, the gardens range from spaces ordered with topiary and box hedging to wilder meadows and picturesque orchards.

Gardens are at once real places and sites of fantasy. Baker’s book prompts reflections on this relationship between fact and fiction and the nature of gardens as sites of imagination, planning, planting, and sheer hardwork.

Barbara Baker’s Dream gardens of England 100 Inspirational Gardens is available, priced £24.95