Charles Darwin's Home

A few months ago

I visited Charles Darwin's home

You know when you learn so much

that you need to put the information

through a sieve to see what gives the biggest impression?

While walking in the footsteps of such an iconic scientist,

here's a few things I took away from my visit

1) Charles's father didn't want him to go on the Beagle voyage

out of parental fear of the unknown

(who can blame him?)

But look at what was accomplished by Mr Evolution

2) Charles had boundless curiosity,

including a passion for studying barnacles and earthworms
(who knew?)

While he was studying earthworms and plants at home,

his wife insisted she have a proper flower garden

that he had to leave alone

3) When Darwin received a particular Madagascar orchid from a friend,
Darwin predicted that there must be an unusual moth with a proboscis 14'' long to pollinate it

Sure enough, the Hawk Moth was discovered forty-one years later
- aka Xanthopan morganii praedicta ('praedicta' since Darwin predicted it) -
and is the sole pollinator of the orchid Agraecum sesquipedale

4) Darwin knew his theory of evolution would be very controversial

and kept his theory a secret 

until another naturalist formed the same idea

5) Darwin had 10 children 

and he was unwell much of the time

(possibly due to an illness he picked up on his travels)

Most of his children survived childhood 

and became quite successful in a variety of careers

(his grandmother was from the porcelain Wedgewood family)

I loved visiting Down House in Kent, where Darwin raised his family,

wrote, and conducted experiments and observations

Although I would not recommend it for younger children per se,

the inner child in you will connect with Darwin's youthful curiosity and energy
and appreciate his life story

- photos by me -

Visitor information: English Heritage

(an unsponsored post)

Yellow Country Lanes

Right now

you may get lucky and find yourself driving by a field of rapeseed
in England

Like anticipating each holiday,

I always look forward to seeing this crop

before it is harvested for its vegetable oil

(known as Canola in North America)

Here is what it looks like from an airplane

Hello, 'yellow brick road'...

The word 'rape' in rapeseed comes from the Latin word 'rapum' meaning turnip

Turnips are in the Brassica family, along with cabbage, Brussels sprouts, rapeseed,

and mustard (which resembles rapeseed)

While fragrance is not rapeseed's forte,
visually, it will knock your socks off when growing en masse

Although there is no indication as such,

I've wondered if English singer-songwriter Sting was thinking of rapeseed

when he sang 'when we walked in fields of gold'

Sting, feel free to drop me a line to confirm :)

- photos by me -

Factual tidbits: Wikipedia

A Little Garden Humor

Too cute not to share...

via Pinterest

Have a great weekend, y'all!

In Bloom

My camera was very busy last month for

we had three months of blooming crushed into just one month

due to the third coldest Spring on record

From camellias to primroses,
daffodils to tulips,

from rhododendrons to rapeseed fields,
bluebells to buttercups

- typically, each slowly savored -

Nature has been playing a game of 'catch up'...

providing an unusual display 

of overlapping blossoms

within the last 31 days

England is now humming with life
and has pretty much caught up with the season

The month of June enters
with its crazy long days of sunlight,
lavender and roses on the cusp of blooming

Ah, the adventures of living on a garden island...
Joy :)

- all photos by me -

Chelsea Flower Show 2013: Products & Ideas

This is the second year the Chelsea Flower Show

has housed the Artists Retreat Section

- one of my favorite areas -

Designers are invited to decorate a summerhouse,

creating inspirational hideaways

Swoon on, my friends...

The mowing path is so creative!

A quintessential English brand,

the Cath Kidston retreat

featured handmade paper roses

Let's take a peek inside the shack,
shall we?

Across the way, I met Rob Ryan in his workshop retreat

Genuinely, I have been a huge fan of his work for years

so it was a real thrill to meet him

With a background in print making,

Rob now is known for his papercut art (laser and by hand)

and poetry-like sayings that sweetly speak to the heart

Transferred onto ceramics and textiles,

you can find his products online and in some of the coolest stores

(including Liberty)

Grabbing things from his real workshop,

here's a limited look at his show retreat

A space that oozes creativity

Moving away from the Artisan Retreats,

I thought this was a clever peat-free compost alternative

made of wool and bracken from the Lake District

And how about an upside down lampshade
as a decorative potting sleeve?

or an old boot?

Ken Muir exhibit

Typically, 'coloured mythical creatures' are banned from the show,
but this year the ban was lifted for charity

I think gnomes are having a bit of a comeback,
for I spied a few at the show

Look at this cutie

University of Reading exhibit

The University of Reading
was promoting the concept of
'A New Millawnium' (clever)

With proper planting,
it is possible to have a full flowering, grass-free lawn
requiring mowing just 3x/year

Goodness me,
can you imagine, lawn gardening?!
My, how beautiful

Ideal for roundabouts and small yards with light foot traffic,
I can see how this could be possible
with nonaggressive clovers, yarrows, buttercups,
English Daisies, violets, and more

According to the university,
medieval paintings indicate lawns of the past were flowered
while grassy lawns were for jousting tournaments

Pippa Small's retreat

Alrighty, I think that pretty much covers it :)

I hope you found some inspiration over the last few days
through the series

It has been an absolute pleasure -
can't you just see me twirling in a meadow of flowers right now?!

'But yet still inside you there will never be a shortage 
to the amount of love that your heart can grow...
until it finally blossoms and its flowers cover the whole world'
-Rob Ryan

P.S. A few of you have asked about how to buy tickets in the future. I order my tickets online in December/January for the May show - they sell out each year but it varies as to when. RHS Members can purchase tickets for Tuesday (when flowers are looking their freshest), and the public can buy tickets for Wed - Sat. Buy tickets through the RHS website here.

- photos by me -

More 2013 Chelsea Flower Show Posts:

The Garden

Press Day!

Chelsea Flower Show 2013: The Gardens

So I quickly learned that on Press Day 

the international media

is mostly there for the celebrities

which was good news for me as

the garden designers were hanging around their installments, ready to chat :)

Birmingham City Council exhibit

So here were my top picks...

'A Hebridean Weaver's Garden'

To be set in the 1950's on the Outer Hebrides islands of Scotland,

this installment shows the traditional making of Harris Tweed

with hand dyed and hand spun wool

Notice the crooked tree you would see on the islands due to high winds?

I love the little brook and

the traditional blackhouse with its aerodynamic roof line and rocks to hold it down 

The original theme and attention to detail are magnificent

Another favorite was

'The Garden Of Magical Childhood'

Raise your hand if you'd like to see this in your backyard :)

So loving those wooden mushrooms and 

the little pond in the grass with hand painted wishes on rocks

- so sweet -

The garden depicts a tea party taking place under a tree house,

designed to encourage viewers to reflect on the preciousness of childhood

Unlike the Show Gardens section,

the Artisan Garden designers cannot excavate

so they placed a horse chestnut tree in the middle of the fort

and built the slope around it

The ivy growing up the tree house was planted first 

to give it time to grow and look more natural

I think any child would love to spend a few hours in this lovely spot

and this magical retreat looks like it has been there forever

(which is tricky with only 5 days to put it together)

As to the only flower requiring guards,

the Lady's Slipper orchid was hiding in the corner at

Le Jardin De Yorkshire

This beauty is a success story of scientists at Kew Gardens 

bringing this girl back from the brink of extinction

The orchid continues to be the rarest wildflower in Britain

and is being reintroduced in the north of England, including Yorkshire

Like the Chelsea Flower Show,

the Tour de France is celebrating its 100th year too

and teamed up with Welcome To Yorkshire

to promote the Tour de France riding through Yorkshire next summer

two guards protect orchid (see arrow)

Let's now go inside the Great Pavilion,

where I was particularly taken by the unusual hanging amaryllis display

by W.S. Warmenhoven (Holland)

Attached with metal cuffs and secured with wires,

these hollow amaryllis stems will be hand watered just one more time this week

from above

Wouldn't this be a fun idea for a wedding or garden fete?

And for something really different,

check out this red poppy from China

 - Meconopsis punicea -

which is related to the gorgeous and rare blue poppy

(seen in background)

But wait, there's more!

I'm just getting warmed up :)

Check out this carefully excavated apple tree

And as always, a stunning display of orchids

by Thailand's Nong Nooch Tropical Botanical Garden

Working with 50,000 orchids, lots of Oasis and wire 

this amazing display came together

with the help of fifteen people over five days

Nearby, 

Paignton Zoo showed their version of past and future gardening

A classic English garden on the left contrasts with an artificial biome on the right

At Paignton Zoo in Devon, crops are grown hydroponically (soil-free) onsite to feed the animals

Sounding futuristic, trays of crops are placed on conveyor belts to sunlight and feeding stations

But for me, here was the show-stopper...

This dress!!

Just look at the exquisite detail,

made from fresh flowers, foliage and ferns

So dreamy

Okay, I will let your floral heart have a rest

Such deliciousness, no?

I have one more Chelsea post coming your way soon

Don't miss it :)

- photos by me -

More 2013 Chelsea Flower Show posts:

Press Day!
Products & Ideas

Chelsea Flower Show 2013: Press Day!

In January I applied for a press pass

for the 2013 RHS Chelsea Flower Show

I had to submit previous Chelsea Flower Show articles I had written

(fortunately I had covered it for the last two years on my blog)

And my request was approved in March

It was an unforgettable day!

Here, pull up a chair :)

I bee-lined it to the Press Tent to collect the 'Photocall Schedule'

which listed where celebrities would be at appointed times for photo ops

It had me running around the grounds like a scavenger hunt - too fun!

First I saw Emilia Fox at Prince Harry's

B&Q Sentebale Forget-Me-Not Garden

then Dame Helen Mirren at the Burncoose stand in the Great Pavilion

followed by Ringo Starr opening the WaterAid Garden
with his wife Barbara Bach

I missed Helena Bonham Carter by a few minutes
at the 'As Nature Intended' garden

Lots of local celebrities were walking around

and a photographer would ask them if s/he could take their photo

My friend, Suzy, is my garden partner-in-crime 

She usually accompanies me on most of my gardening shoots

and we've always gone to the show together in the past

This year we were separated as I had a solo press pass,

and she worked the gala event at the show just a few hours after I'd left

Although Prince Harry didn't turn up for 'my' Press Day yesterday, 

he did show up at 'Suzy's' gala event last night

Garden designer Jinny Blom with Camilla, Prince Charles, Prince Harry
at B&Q Sentebale Forget-Me-Not Garden

The Queen looking lovely in lavender

Prince Harry teamed with B&Q to highlight his charity, Sentebale,

which cares for vulnerable children affected by HIV in Lesotho

(Prince Harry did his gap year in Lesotho)

Jinny Blom not only designed this garden,
but also designed the 'Healing Garden' with Prince Charles
for the Chelsea Flower Show in 2002

I can't wait to show you more gardens

Watch for my next post ;)

- photos 1-6 by me 
7 & 8 by Suzy Wood -

More 2013 Chelsea Flower Show Posts:

The Gardens
Products & Ideas