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A selling exhibition at stately Chatsworth House in Derbyshire features this giant loveable baby. The exhibition, titled Beyond Limits, runs until early November. The baby's name is Planet and he was created by Mark Quinn, the sculptor whose pervious work, Alison Lapper Pregnant, created a stir when it was mounted on the fourth plinth at Trafalgar Square. His piece, Self, was a model of his head made of his own frozen blood. He also made a 'frozen garden' (pictures at Pruned).
From the Independent comes a story about an alien species of snail that have overrun part of England. Well, a very small part of England. The snails, called the Cliveden snails after the stately home where they were discovered apparently were introduced: "from an imported stone balustrade brought from Italy in the 1890s, to claim a piece of British territory up to the terrace of the house just 27m (88ft) away."
So no need to panic.
The San Francisco landscape designer is known for her healing gardens (at hospitals around the country). Her designs reflect a deep exploration of each garden's relationship to the people for whom it is intended and the surroundings in which it is found. Her site offers a portfolio of work without any editorializing (but you can read her philosophy there). This garden, described only as 'Narducci' features rusted steel panels set at angles on a gravel plain, surrounded by roses, creating a partial maze. A citrus tree is sunk into a hole in the ground. Somewhere there is a quince tree. Flat panels of turf and gravel are punctuated with light-textured trees. Is it desolate or soothing?
A banana slug in Sooke, BC, making short work of a potted dahlia. That was just the appetizer.
In June, I posted a picture of a new David Austin rose, Sir John Betjamin. I saw the almost-real thing at Hampton Court this year and took this photo. I say almost-real because it was in the display and not in my own garden. But I can't wait to try it. Look at all the shades of crimson, pink, cerise, and cherry on those little curvy scallop petals.
I wasn't at Chelsea this year, but if I had been there I'm sure this rose would have caught my eye. A new introduction from David Austin, Sir John Betjamin. Scrumptious.
Some things look cuter when they're chubby. Sadly, middle-aged women are not among them. But hedgehogs are. Read more about this big bundle of joy.
