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One of London’s secret gardens – Marylebone High Street’s Memorial Garden of Rest
When you’re walking up Marylebone High Street towards Regents Park, it’s easy to ignore the little park on your left,…
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Come and sit on this bench with me here!
Many years ago, I set up a blog which featured all the benches I found with particularly moving plaques or…
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Daffodils by any other name
It’s sunny in England at the moment, and I am beginning to think it might be illegal to meet up…
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The Beauty of Ravilious’ Garden Pattern Collection
We went to the Towner Gallery in Eastbourne at the weekend – it was raining so not really garden visiting…
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The Green World of Brown – an exhibition
I’m very proud to have four poems about the English landscape gardener, Lancelot Brown, featured in the exhibition, the Green…
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Discovering St Paul’s Church: A Hidden Gem in London
St Paul’s Church, aka The Actors’ Church, Bedford St, London You may have seen the entrance to this church yourself.…
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The lost Botanical Garden of Siena
If you’re thinking, hmmm that photo above doesn’t look like a garden, you are quite right. But when we went…
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The world under our feet
Soil – an exhibition at Somerset House, London – until 13th April 2025 Going to Somerset House in London is…
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Exploring Balloonomania: Paris’s 18th Century Craze
I was lucky enough to spend lots of time in Paris last year, and fell in love with the Musee…
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Ripple: an artwork in the Kent landscape
The most beautiful bench, poetry and Samuel Palmer I was so pleased to be given the chance recently by the…
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Magic and mountains and cakes….
Once I stayed in a haunted house after a literary festival in Scotland. It was so haunted, in fact, that…
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Plants and love lessons
Maybe because it’s been too wet here in the UK to be out much in the garden, but I’ve been…
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The Quiet Enchanting on London’s Strand
Shhh… you’ll have to listen even harder at the moment to hear the artwork whispering to you outside King’s Strand…
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Buzzing in the Jardin du Luxembourg
Apparently the purest honey in France comes from Paris. Who knew? Well, the bees do, I guess, but they were…
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An autumn walk with some outdoors creative writing prompts
Getting inspiration from nature with creative writing prompts
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So how does a ‘virtual’ writer in residence work?
Last year I was lucky enough to be invited to be one of the writers in residence at the Alde…
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The power of a list – a creative writing exercise for gardeners
I don’t know about you but I’ve been loving the trees at the moment. I’m hungry for them – for…
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Creative writing exercises for gardeners – we’re on again!
I started doing prompts for creative writing particularly designed for gardeners a little while ago but then life took over.…
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Stepping insideThe Yellowhammer’s Nest
It’s National Poetry Day today – and for this, I wanted to take at least one of our words about…
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Creative Writing Wednesday – week 5. The smellograph…
this is a smellograph, the delicacy of rose surrendering to rain I went out into my garden this morning just…
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Creative writing exercise, week 4 – writing your own instructions
The late great Toni Morrison famously said, “If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been…
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Creative Writing exercise, week 3 – listening for inspiration
Shhh… what do you hear? A simple writing prompt for you today – just sit out in the garden (enjoying…
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Creative writing in the garden, Week 2
If last week’s prompt was all about memories, this second writing prompt is all about looking forward in time. Imagine…
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The risk of blossoming, and a little nyctinasty
I’ve been obsessed with plants that open and close recently (or more properly, nyctinasty). My new baby passion flower for…