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RHS Wisley's Old Laboratory opens its doors

RHS Garden Wisley, near Woking in Surrey, is world renowned and now visitors can step back in time and walk in the footsteps of RHS scientists and students from yesteryear.

Long considered the home of gardening science, the Old Laboratory has been restored and is bringing to life a rich history of horticultural experimentation and exploration with immersive displays and interactive exhibits. Explore a series of rooms, each set within a time in history, to discover how the work conducted here helped shape how we garden today.

Mark Rylance stars in Spirit of Place

Spirit of Place, written and directed by Jack Cooper Stimpson, is a meditation on identity and follows two young protagonists as they spend time in and around inner-city wetlands. Through chance encounters and curious discoveries they begin to learn about themselves and their relationship with the natural world.

Golfing event in China bans single use plastic bottles

The 2023 Volvo China Open golf tournament held at the Shenzhen Hidden Grace Golf Club went ahead for the first time in its 27 year history without selling any single-use plastic bottles of water.  

Around 17 Bluewater water dispensing stations were installed across the venue to provide complementary drinking water to players, tens of thousands of fans and staff. Harnessing Bluewater’s SuperiorOsmosisTM technology, the stations served purified water free of known contaminants, including toxic metals and chemicals.

Ceramic baubles for Christmas

Try your hand at building a cob studio

If you hanker after a garden shed or outside room with a difference, why not consider building your own this summer - the lockdown isn't going to be a thing of the past for a fair ol' while yet? The ancient building technique known as cob is, according to Kate Edwards of Norfolk-based Edwards Cob Building, so easy that anyone can learn to do it. In four days. That's how long the Edwards' training courses are. Which to those of us who are not practical won't sound anywhere near long enough. 

Dress up your home with orchids

Orchids are endlessly fascinating with their complex sculptural blooms and variegated colour. They're exquisite exotic works of art, yet they have a minimalism about them - which explains why so many contemporary interior designers love them. They have great presence yet they're not overpowering. (And yes, ok, they may not always prove the easiest plant to keep in fine fettle, but more on that later.)

Wool month 2023

It's easy to overlook wool when the weather's been so warm.

Dulwich Artists' Open House

Planted 2023

World Bee Day 2023

We all know bees are responsible for pollinating many of the world's food crops, yet they continue to face numerous threats including habitat loss, disease, pesticide use that overall nightmare for all of us, climate change.

According to a United Nations report, over 40 per cent of insect pollinators, including bees, are at risk of extinction in the next two decades.

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