THE MODERN MINT BLOG
Essex Wildlife Trust
One thing we’ve learned is that people in horticulture really are welcoming and keen to share their knowledge. And some people have a wealth of knowledge…
Essex Wildlife Trust ran a wildflower id and survey skills course earlier this week, with local botanist and fern fanatic Tim Pyner. The day was spent wandering through the nature reserve at Leigh-on-Sea noting down what plants could be found, the results then being submitted to Plantlife in order to map the spread of species – and find out what has left and what has arrived!
Tim was completely self-taught. He said, “I went out on weekends and studied plants. I would learn by spending twelve months just looking at grasses, getting to know them. Then in the winter when nothing was growing I would study mosses and lichens.”
In October Tim will visit Japan to study ferns in the mountains. What an adventure that will be, for this self-confessed pteridomaniac… but before he goes, in September he will be taking another wildflower id course. We recommend you go and listen well, to learn all you can from Tim Pyner, the fern fanatic.
Recommended Reading:
British Wild Flowers: A photographic guide to every common species (Collins Complete Guide)
And for any other fernophiles…
Buxus the Norfolk Terrier In Modern Topiary Book
This is Buxus, our Norfolk Terrier, who I acknowledge in the acknowledgments of the book of Modern Topiary. The book of Modern Topiary can be read, for free, here. There you go. Buxus the dog on ‘doorstep duty’ at a friend’s house in Edinburgh. For those asking what he looked like!
What People Think Of Modern Topiary, The Book
Yesterday I put out the book – Modern Topiary – that I have spent the last six years writing. Download for free a pdf of Modern Topiary here. And what seems amazing to me, is that not only have people actually been reading it, but then responding to it. So below are a number of comments I have been sent from those who read it last night, and this morning…. “Brilliant read, exactly the right amount of info to take in and digest.” Rachel, a gardener “Just finished reading – absolutely brilliant!” Camilla (she shared with me lots she highlighted) …
Modern Topiary Book
Over the last six years I have been writing a book. It is called Modern Topiary and I have finally finished it, and now made it available for people to read. This is the blurb on the back…. This is the topiary book I wish I had when I began trying to clip plants into a shape others would consider beautiful. Split into two parts – the craft and then the art of topiary – I have tried to share everything I know. It’s not a long book. I hope this gives you the foundation for good technique, alongside ideas …