THE MODERN MINT BLOG
Hypertufa High Jinks
The Chelsea Fringe is about all things gardening, but that doesn’t mean you always have to be outside. One of the online projects you can see at this years festival is ‘Hypertufa High Jinks’…
… ‘Hypertufa High Jinks’ is run by garden writer Ansel Oommen and science artist Cynthia Nguyen.
Follow Hetty the hypertufa elephant as she travels the ‘world’, magnifying the tiny spaces around us that often go unnoticed. So come down and take a closer look: that patch of weeds may as well be a jungle or that pebble, a treacherous mountain. You never know what stories lurk in the undergrowth when you let your imagination wander.
A brilliant idea!
Hetty’s adventures will be updated from New York City during the run of the festival (May 17th – June 8th.)
And don’t forget Modern Mint have their own online project “You Should Have Seen It Last Week…” if you crave even more online gardening fun… or it’s raining outside.
If it is raining outside… then get yourself a gardening book… we recommend…
Modern Topiary, the Book, at Garden Media Guild
My book about topiary, Modern Topiary, has been mentioned on the Garden Media Guild newsletter…. As the screenshot says, the book can be read for free online here. At the bottom of the screenshot, it looks like another Garden Media Guild member has a book out called ‘A Year In A Cottage Garden’…. so if that is where your garden heart lies, check that out too! And at the top of the screenshot, it looks like I was listening to Pelleas et Melisande, by Debussy. What a classy chap I am, listening to classical music as I reply to emails. …
Start of the Whitby Topiary Library
I have been offered a space here in the centre of Whitby, south-facing aspect, with some raised beds in, so that I can make a Topiary Library. In my head, a topiary library is a place to showcase the common (and then not so common) shapes you can make out of topiary. With classical topiary plants, as well as some more unusual pieces. This Topiary Library can act as a reference for people to learn more about pruning and clipping. The space is small but the aspect is great and the beds are deep enough to put some plants in. …
Delivery After Dark – From the Makers of The Amelia Project
Last week I spent most nights stood in cold water streams on the moors of North Yorkshire, helping to film a new project called Delivery After Dark from the makers of the Amelia Project. I worked on the Amelia Project back at the end of 2024, lending my terrible vocal talents to a small part in the episode Didius Julianus. But this project is something new – and exciting! – and thankfully only needed me to be filmed, rather than to actually say anything. But not only did I have to stand in cold moving water at midnight, I also …