Join us to celebrate the launch of broadcaster and horticulturalist Rachel de Thame's new book, A Flower Garden for Pollinators, a beautiful guide illustrated with exquisite hand-painted watercolours by botanical artist, Lauren Lusk.
With bees, butterflies and other pollinators threatened by climate change and habit loss, it’s now more important than ever to support and nurture pollinators in your garden. In this practical and beautiful guide, expert horticulturalist and regular Gardeners’ World presenter Rachel de Thame shows you how to create a garden that provides an abundant resource of plants rich in nectar and pollen.
Arranged by season and illustrated with hand-painted watercolours and glorious photography, this book provides a captivating look at supporting nature. Whether you have a courtyard garden or a large country garden, A Flower Garden for Pollinators will tell you what to plant and when in order to attract and sustain a host of pollinators all year round.
Rachel and Lauren’s talk will be chaired by writer and BBC Gardeners’ World presenter, Arit Anderson.
Bios
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Rachel de Thame
Rachel de Thame
Rachel de Thame is a horticulturalist, broadcaster, designer and writer. A familiar face on our screens since 1999, Rachel is perhaps best known for presenting on BBC's flagship series Gardeners' World and the hugely popular series Countrywise for ITV1. Rachel's passion for plants and gardens emerged in early childhood and is now the cornerstone of a varied career.
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Arit Anderson
Arit Anderson
Arit Anderson studied garden design at Capel Manor College and rose quickly to success at RHS Chelsea 2013 winning the Fresh Talent category followed by a Gold Medal at RHS Hampton Court in 2016 for her own show garden which highlighted the need for renewable energy. She is a presenter for BBC Gardeners' World, hosts a popular podcast 'Growing Greener' and writes for national publications all of which enable her to open up the debate about the future of gardening in a changing climate to a wide audience.
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Lauren Lusk
Lauren Lusk
Lauren Lusk is a Botanical Artist and Designer.
She trained at Central Saint Martins, in Jewellery Design, and went on to work as a designer for Solange Azagury Partridge and Noor Fares.
However, Lauren felt increasingly drawn to exploring her passion for plants within her own work, and botanical and entomological art quickly became the core of Lauren’s future career. She works predominantly in watercolours on vellum; an ancient technique, which is painstaking and requires enormous attention to detail, but results in rich jewel-like paintings. Other works are on paper, sometimes incorporating graphite elements.
In 2022, Lauren was approached by publisher Quercus to produce a series of paintings of flowers and graphite drawings of insects for a book, A Flower Garden for Pollinators, written by her mother, Rachel de Thame, which is published in 2024.
Lauren’s work has been exhibited by the Society of Botanical Artists at the Mall Gallery and at the Unpolished Space gallery.
Lauren continues to create botanical and entomological paintings and drawings, often as private commissions. She is also currently developing an eponymous line of products, featuring her paintings and designs. Other recent commissions include paintings for Summerill and Bishop.
Lauren lives with her husband and four young sons in a village in rural Kent, where she is endlessly inspired by the flowers and insects in her garden.
Website: www.laurenluskbotanical.com
