THE MODERN MINT BLOG
Do We Need Pandas is witty and light enough in style that the depressing information you are given does not prevent you from reading it… or making notes with a marker pen… or even lifting your head from the pages and telling anyone within earshot, “oh gosh did you know…”
The Joy To Be Found In ‘Do We Need Pandas’
Did you know something like this?
“…only one strategy has any long-term hope of getting every endangered species off the sick list: to conserve the fabric of whole eco-systems, and let the rare species look after themselves.”
Or his completely logical argument to help preserve (currently) untouched wilderness…
“Great works of art should be protected and conserved, and I find it hard to see why wild nature should not be cherished for much the same reasons. No-one argues that we can afford to lose the odd Matisse because there are still some left.”
We have long been fans of Ken Thompson because you always come away from reading him with more knowledge about the world.
He is constantly asking questions and challenging current conventions. This is important! Not every new idea is worthy of spreading through the horticultural world, but there are many outdated practises. So if you want to get your teeth into something new, start with Ken Thompson’s books… they will delight and teach in equal measure!
These are the best 3 to buy!
The Amelia Project – Episode 88: Didius Julianus
Friends of mine write a sitcom podcast called The Amelia Project (I wrote about this years ago, when they started it….!) December 2024 I had some fun playing the tiny part of Fornio in episode 88 – Didius Julianus. I have not listened to the episode yet, as I am clearly not an actor… and the thought of listening to my dulcet tones for the few minutes I’m in it just… makes me feel ill. But the recording and being in the studio was great fun, the real actors were hilarious and the script is brilliant – not just funny, …
Waltham Place Topiary Workshop 2026
With the European Boxwood and Topiary Society, I run two workshops each year at Waltham Place, one of my favourite gardens. The next topiary workshop there will be on Friday September 4th 2026. Details and how to book yet to be announced, but get in touch with them now to get on the waiting list, as last year we had double the amount of people wanting a place than we had space for. The Waltham Place website is here – topiary workshop 2026. See the teaching page for how else I can help you with the topiary in your garden …
Box Hill – Novella by Adam Mars-Jones
I picked this book up back in 2020 because of the title – Box Hill – fabulous, I thought, a book about boxwood. I’ll peruse this for its respective thoughts on the plant I clip most when I make topiary. I didn’t read the blurb on the back. Didn’t know the author (although I knew the publisher, Fitzcarraldo Editions, as I love many of the essays they have published… so trusted the author would be worth spending time with.) By page 2 I realised this novel wasn’t quite what I had expected. I started the book at 10pm, after getting …