Pavord, Anna 1940-

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PAVORD, Anna 1940-

PERSONAL: Born September 20, 1940, in Abergavenny, Wales; daughter of Arthur (a headmaster) and Christabel (a teacher; maiden name, Lewis) Pavord; married Trevor Ware (in marketing), June 18, 1966; children: Oenone, Vanessa, Tilly. Education: University of Leicester, B.A. (with honors), 1962. Politics: None. Religion: Pantheist. Hobbies and other interests: "I read Evelyn Waugh for pleasure, J. S. Mill for my soul. I walk with my husband and study landscape history and architecture."

ADDRESSES: Home—Old Rectory, Puncknowle, Dorchester, Dorset, England. Office—c/o The Independent, 1 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London E14 5AP, England. Agent—Caradoc King, A. P. Watt & Co., 20 John St., London WC1R 4HL, England.

CAREER: Lintas Ltd. (advertising agency), London, England, copywriter, 1962-63; BBC-TV, London, director, 1963-69; Gardens Illustrated, associate editor, 1993—; freelance journalist, author and broadcaster, 1969—.

WRITINGS:

Growing Things (juvenile gardening book), Macmillan (New York, NY), 1982.

Foliage, Pavilion (London, England), 1990.

The Flowering Year, Chatto & Windus (London, England), 1991.

Gardening Companion, Chatto & Windus (London, England), 1992.

The New Kitchen Garden, DK Publishing (New York, NY), 1996.

Tulip, Bloomsbury (New York, NY), 1999.

The Border Book, DK Publishing (New York, NY), 2000.

Plant Partners, DK Publishing (New York, NY), 2001.

Contributor to newspapers and writer and presenter of a ten-part television series entitled Flowering Passions, Channel 4 TV, 1991.

SIDELIGHTS: British author Anna Pavord has published a number of books pertaining to plants and gardening. A frequent contributor of gardening-related articles to magazines and newspapers, including Garden Illustrated and The Independent, Pavord resides in the English town of Dorset, which is in the borough of Dorchester.

Pavord reached a worldwide readership with her acclaimed 1999 book, Tulip, which was the result of her lifelong fondness for that particular flower. A good example of Pavord's work is her 2001 effort, Plant Partners, in which she presents what she feels are the sixty "star" plants, including perennials, bulbs, and annuals, which growers can feature in their gardens. Believing gardening to be an art form, Pavord explains how each of the plants can be combined with other plants to create symmetry and the perfect blend of color in any garden. In addition to providing general growing advice, Pavord includes a chapter at the end of the book that lists alternatives for various soil and light conditions. The book also contains colorful illustrations of each listed plant.

Several literary critics lauded Plant Partners, including Phillip Oliver of Library Journal, who felt it would be "a good addition to gardening collections." Pavord once told CA: "I write to keep our seventeenth-century house standing, a thirteenth-century dovecote in repair, my garden from becoming an impenetrable jungle, and my children educated."