Have you ever wondered how the plants sitting on a garden centre bench are actually created? During my visit to Danziger in Israel, Lab Manager Osnat gave me all the answers! From tiny shards of plants to voluptuous flowering garden specimens, here’s the journey of Petunia ‘Queen of Hearts’. 1. Obtaining the material In Danziger,…
Category: ADVENTURES
You’ll want to try Gazoz after reading this
During my trip to Israel, I visited Cafe Levinsky 41, where owner Benny Briga has made a living from creating his own, healthy version of Gazoz, a well-known soda drink. I tried a glass, and I was so enamoured with it that I wanted to pick his brain about his creative process, his ethos and…
Explore South China Botanic Garden with me
Last Friday I took myself off on another little day trip. This time, me and taxi driver Jack went to the South China Botanic Garden, on the recommendation of one of my followers. It was quite a smooth ride, less than an hour to the city of Guangzhou. Even though I was being a bit…
A walk around Shenzhen Botanical Garden
When you’ve spent a while in a city, you need a dose of green. And yes, there are city parks and constructed gardens all around in Shenzhen, but I was yearning for “real nature”, aching to see actual wild flowers. I’d heard of Shenzhen Botanical Garden, but wasn’t sure if it was worth a visit….
Top 10 plants from my Israel trip with Danziger
When it comes to plants and plant breeding, I like to spend most of my time in the kitchen. I’m the same at parties, to be honest! But, what I mean is, I like to spend time where they develop new forms of bedding and patio plants, but while I’m there I do like to get…
9 inspiring gardening take-homes from Canada
Travel is one of the best ways to gain knowledge and inspiration. From cultures, to food, to people, there’s always something new waiting at the end of a plane journey – even new gardening styles! I travelled to Canada earlier this month. In a country where the weather is so extreme, you wouldn’t think…
What is Barakura style gardening?
Forget everything you know about planting. This is “Barakura style”! In shorthand, this is horticultural freedom, this is flower arranging but with REAL plants! The Barakura style gives immediate enjoyment, and is designed as a container installation! You’ll be mixing the plants of your wildest dreams, in a density that gives impact from day one….
Behind the scenes of a Chinese flower shop
Whilst I’ve been spending time in Shenzhen, China, I’ve been buying lots of house plants for our apartment. One of the spots that I’ve been coming back to time and time again is a small shop in the expat area called iFlower. I was very lucky to get the chance to interview Julie, who set…
Five things we’ve learned from Flower Trials 2019
If I learned one thing at this year’s Flower Trials, it’s that I’ll never get tired of going to this wonderful, creative, colourful event! However, I fortunately learned far more than that! Flower Trials 2019, held across three regions in The Netherlands and Germany, uncovered lots of exciting trends that are about to take the…
What’s happening at Flower Trials 2019?
The annual Flower Trials (11th-14th June 2019), held in Holland and Germany each year, is attended by buyers and retailers from all over the world, looking for what’s hot in plants. A little bit like Fashion Week, this event determines the big trends going forward – and it’s all rather exciting! At this year’s event,…
Big Begonias in great China
What’s the furthest you would travel to see a plant? Well, how about 4500 miles! Yes, that’s right, I flew all the way to China to see the largest plantation of Begonia BIG. And here’s the story behind my trip! I have admired the breeding company Benary for a long time. They have brought some…
The best of the men’s World Naked Gardening Day 2019 photos
Are you ready for another World Naked Gardening Day 2019 photo round-up? I’ve been on my phone all day, looking at the #WorldNakedGardeningDay hashtag. I’m super impressed at the standard of photos this year – plant geeks and gardening enthusiasts all over the world are getting in on the action, and taking it a step…