Old School Garden

Recent studies show how important feeling part of nature is to our physical and mental health. I have personally found this to be quite true and think that a connection with nature makes us healthier and happier people. I always feel better or rejuvenated after spending some time out in nature. Here are my top 5 […]

via 5 Reasons Why Nature is good for you — Janaline’s world journey

Port wine used to be sold in austere black bottles with somber labels. Adriano Ramos Pinto, a maverick entrepreneur who entered the port wine trade in 1880, changed all that. He wrapped port wine with sensuous images, elegant packaging, and clever marketing. One of Ramos Pinto’s publicity coups took place in 1922. Two pilots, Gago Coutinho […]

via Celebrating the passage of time at Ramos Pinto — Salt of Portugal

News of my Churchill Fellowship study tour on child-friendly urban planning, taking in Antwerp, Ghent, Rotterdam, Oslo and Freiburg.

via Studying child-friendly cities, Northern European style — Rethinking Childhood

If, like me, you dig up your dahlias and store them overwinter – or have bought some new tubers – now is the time to get them potted up and growing-on. Stored dahlias should be removed from whatever you have stored them in (I use newspaper lined crates of spent compost) cleaned and tidied, checked…

via Preparing to be Dazzled by Dahlias — The Enduring Gardener

The February garden is dominated by the usual seasonal stalwarts, the snowdrops, the witch hazels and, now gradually coming on board, the hellebores. There are too many of each to list the top ten but above are a selection of hellebores, still not yet at their best (‘Double Lime’, ‘White Spotted Lady’ and ‘Harvington Double […]

via Never a Dull Moment: Top Blooms for February — Rambling in the Garden

Raphael Sanzio (1483-1520), simply known as “Raphael” to the world, was an Italian High Renaissance painter and architect. Wikipedia beautifully said, “Together with Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, he forms the traditional trinity of great masters of (the High Renaissance) period.” His art is notable because of its: Clarity of form Ease of composition Expression…

via Artist Raphael Sanzio: “Prince of Painters” — Outside The Lines

When Margaret Nettlefold planned the garden at Winterbourne, daughter Valerie revealed that her mother ‘lived with gardening books for a year or so’. Here, the influence of Gertrude Jekyll is inescapable. Winterbourne is filled with Jekyllian detail inspired by her 1899 classic Wood and Garden. Each month, we follow in Margaret’s footsteps to see how the…

via Now and Then: February — Winterbourne House and Garden

In the last couple of years I have come to appreciate street art. I now go out of my way to see street art and even go on street art walking tours if they are offered. There are so many reasons why people love street art and why it is becoming more popular or important […]

via Reasons Why Street Art is Important — Janaline’s world journey

https://videopress.com/embed/uKUufhzg?hd=0&autoPlay=0&permalink=0&loop=0

Around 1600, the Tokugawa family became the dominant power in feudal Japan. The Emperor was essentially a figurehead. The Tokugawas moved the administrative capital from Kyoto to Edo (Tokyo), while the Imperial Court remained in Kyoto. Nijo Castle, completed in 1628, was built as the Kyoto residence for the head of the Tokugawa family – […]

via Kyoto’s Nijo Castle — gardeninacity

More flower picture indulgence for you all, with thanks to super photographer, Charles Hawes. (and me) (you can play at guessing which is which.) Not from Veddw this time, but from a trip to Ashwood Nurseries. We took a Trip with the Garden Media Group. Working with hellebores.. First stop – the stock! Just…

via Hellebores this time! — Veddw