Anna Pavord
Gardening writer and correspondent for the Independent, Anna Pavord – also known as ‘The Tulip Lady’ – is author of the bestselling horticultural biography, The Tulip (2000) and Bulb (2009). Confessing to spending more on bulbs than clothes, Anna’s lifetime ambition is to grow all 6,000 listed species of bulbs… Needless to say, she’ll be bringing a vast amount of knowledge and enthusiasm to this year’s new Flower Festival area.
Anna’s first tulip memory, aged three, is of her brother shooting the heads off all the tulips in her parents’ border in Wales. Although she was an extremely good gardener, unfortunately he was also an extremely good shot. She now makes it a rule to plant two dozen new types of bulb each year, and says “Nothing marks the passage of the seasons so well as bulbs.”
Anna contributes to a number of magazines both in the US and the UK, and regularly fronts programmes for BBC Radio 3 and 4. She also chairs the Gardens Panel of the National Trust and sits on the Parks and Gardens Panel of English Heritage.
Her latest book, Searching for Order: The history of the alchemists, herbalists and philosophers who unlocked the secrets of the plant world (Bloomsbury, 2009) is an exhilarating history of how plants got their names – as well as giving a compelling insight into a world full of intrigue and intensely competitive egos.
“Pavord’s enthusiasm and knowledge shine through each entry, and her style is far from dry.”
Caroline Donald, the Sunday Times, on Bulb
“I simply adored Anna Pavord’s beautifully written, gloriously illustrated history of how brilliant men from the days of Aristotle attempted to classify the world’s plants.”
Jilly Cooper, Daily Telegraph Books of the Year
Links:
- Anna Pavord interviewed in the Telegraph
- Snakes, wasps and spiders: Anna Pavord writes about the residents of her garden:
Video:
Anna Pavord talks about her books:
