Guest Blog: Carole Annett – Planters, Provenance and People

Carole Annett

Carole has been immersed in the world of beautiful houses and interiors for the last 20 years, as retail editor at House & Garden magazine and more recently with Country & Town House.

She moved to the Surrey countryside 10 years ago, bought some wellies and was finally able to indulge in all the florals and linens she had been eyeing up for years – not to mention garden furniture and planters.

Carole has two dogs, Prince George, a stroppy lurcher who shares a birthday with his namesake and Eddie, a gorgeous, greedy black Lab.

Mum’s pots and planters were an early inspiration

Until I owned my own house, garden pots and planters were the kind of thing I enjoyed seeing in someone else’s garden or the pages of a magazine.

My mum had pots everywhere – stone urns and planters, for herbs and flowers.  She was always tending and dead-heading and picking herbs for soups and such like.

I am not a gardener but I think an outdoor space looks bare without a pot.  The first property I owned had a tiny garden and I created a corner area with pots and geraniums. I like colourful, blousy flowers that don’t need much attention.

Pictured: Haddonstone Croyland Vase

Sentimental stone lurchers

After moving from city to countryside, a bigger garden, and my first stone purchases travelled with me, weather-beaten and aged a bit – much like me.

The first Christmas in our new country abode, I bought my husband two big stone dogs as a gift.  We had promised each other that a move out of London meant a real pooch was on the cards but it was a busy time so immovable pets would have to do. They came from a local antique shop and, similar to a lurcher in size, they sit guard at the top of the garden steps, in full view from the kitchen, a permanent part of our household.

It’s odd when you realise stone has sentimental value.

Time to introduce a new stone addition

My grandparents had a bird bath in the front of their house, once a blacksmith’s cottage in a Leicestershire village.  I remember eating breakfast at the big table by the window – white toast with butter and Rose’s lime marmalade – watching the birds go about their visiting ritual as I went about mine.

It now sits in my sister’s garden in Warwickshire.  I am now thinking of a bird bath for our garden.

It’s time I had one in my family – I just hope the lurchers approve!

Pictured: Haddonstone Baluster Bird Bath

Country & Town House

Country & Town House launched in 2007 as the only monthly luxury magazine targeted to those who enjoy the very best of both country and city living.

Celebrating the best of British living and luxury, it covers the finest houses, interiors, arts and events, food and travel, fashion and style, as well as relevant features and interviews.

Contributors include Lucia van der Post, Alice B-B, Fiona Duncan, Jeremy Taylor, Avril Groom, Daisy Finer, James Delingpole, Charlotte Metcalf, Juliet Kinsman, Annabel Davidson, Mary Lussiana, Adam Edwards and Stephen Bayley.

Great British Brands

Country & Town House publishes Great British Brands, a unique showcase of 150 of the greatest names in British luxury, from beauty, fashion, jewellery, art and design, to engineering, country sports, property and architecture. 

Published by Julia Carrick OBE and edited by Lucia van der Post, one of the best known names in luxury, it  features the fascinating stories behind brands from Asprey to Aston Martin and Barbour to Boodles – as well as exciting new brands to watch. 

Haddonstone was delighted to be chosen to feature in the 2020 edition of Great British Brands.