The Company founder Susan Williams-Ellis first discovered her inspiration for the Portmeirion Botanic Garden range of ceramics following a visit to an antiquarian bookshop with her husband, Euan Cooper-Willis. Stumbling upon a book of hand-coloured botanical garden floral illustrations, called 'The Universal Botanical, Medical and Agricultural Dictionary' by Thomas Green. Susan decided that the bright, eye-catching images would provide the basis for an innovative collection of dinnerware and cookware.

British transfer printers did not possess the technology necessary to reproduce realistic, high quality artwork. For this reason, during the 1960's, Susan always had to produce simplified or abstract designs for her pottery decorations. However, in 1970 a representative of a German printer offered to proof one or two of her sketches, and when the results came in, she was amazed to find every detail of her colour and brush work faithfully reproduced. Inspired by her idea for Botanic Garden and the successful combination of individual floral illustrations on white ceramic shapes led to Susan to source yet more books, such as that by nineteenth century illustrator William Clarke in "The Moral of Flowers" by Mrs Hay. Butterfly motifs and a green leaf border were added to complete the composition while the name, "Botanic Garden", was given to the collection by Susan, saying, "This is the only way that anyone can account for such a mixture of plants and butterflies all living together." Today we can still see this mixture of plants by visitiing one of Britains many Botanical Gardens, a selection of which are listed at the foot of the page.

Now over 30 years since its inception, Botanic Garden, continues to sit perfectly within homes all over the world. Considered a design classic, the mix and match collection features over thirty different flowers with new motifs and shapes added every year.

As Botanic Garden developed, new motifs were introduced, and for these Susan sought new flowers. After seeing how much people liked all CIark's pictures, she purchased more volumes illustrated by him. Two such were Morris's 'Flora Conspicua' and three volumes of 'Medical Botany' by Stephenson and Churchill. From these came five flowers such as the 'Peony' and the 'Christmas Rose'.

The crocus and snowdrop motif (pictured right) came from an 1830's text called 'The Romance of Nature' illustrated by Louisa Twamley. With the many changes to the motifs over the years many flowers have come and gone. Some though have stood the test of time, and are still vibrant and classic corner-stones of the collection today. Daisy, Rhododendron, Heartsease, Speedwell, Forget me not and Convolvulus remain firm favourites.

Motifs have changed to reflect the changing tastes in interior designs and as the colours used in our homes change so has the colour emphasis in the collection. This willingness to change and evolve has kept Portmeirion as one of the leading ceramics manufacturers in the UK for over three decades.

Variations on a Theme

Portmeirion Variations was introduced to offer a more highly decorated pattern based on the flowers from Portmeirion Botanic Garden. It used a new border and a smaller main motif flower. Designed to be collected either as a stand alone pattern or to be integrated into Portmeirions Botanic Garden it never quite managed to have the same appeal as the original. Although now retired, Portmeirion have considered reintoducing the pattern although no final decission has yet been made. If you are interested in pieces from the Variations range we are happy to check availability for you. Please e-mail us with your requirements.
E-Mail Variations

Flowers Of The Month

A new addition to the Botanic Garden Range is the Flowers Of The Month Collection. Each month is represented by a flower which blooms in that particular month. The collection includes Teacups and Saucers, Heart Shaped Trinket boxes, Round Trinket Boxes and Photo Frames.

To view and shop for the Flowers Of The Month Collection please use the link below
Shop for Flowers Of The Month Collection
To learn more about the collection please visit our
Information on Flowers Of The Month Collection

Grow Your Own flowers

If you have ben inspired by the motifs in the Botanic Garden Collection why noy try growing some of the plants in your own garden. On our Links Page we have included some links to the best web sites who specialise in British Flowers.
Visit Fruit and Flower Nurseries Links

Botanical Gardens in the UK

If you enjoy the flowers in Portmeirion Botanical Garden then why not visit the real thing. Below are links to some of the best Botanical Gardens around the country where you will be guaranteed a wonderful day out.
Visit Botanical Gardens Links