Linking About: Hamnet’s herbs, moody winter gardens, and more
... including a case for considering some non-native plants.
Gardening — especially in the age of social media — is a constant lesson in what to do and what not to do. Lately, my feed has been flooded with video tutorials about how to start seeds outdoors in plastic bags or milk jugs over the winter (such as this one), and I appreciated this counter-perspective about the perils of (and alternative to) doing so in plastic. Also appreciated: this warning about the impacts of rock salt on soil, plants and wildlife, which I’d never thought to wonder about, having never gardened where it snows before, plus a few good ideas for what to use instead. Always be learning!
Useful warnings out of the way, here’s some inspiration for you—
• First, two incredibly beautiful winter garden scenes via Gardens Illustrated: this frosted silver birch in Norway and this Oudolf-designed senescence-scape in the UK
• Related, from the Gardenista archives: 9 Tips for a Moody Winter Garden with additional stunning winter garden pics and lots of good plant recs
• Stephen Orr has gone deep on the herbs in Hamnet: “I think this is the herbiest movie I’ve ever seen. Tinctures steep on sunny windowsills. Dried herb bundles hang from many of the rafters. Spent herbs are flung around the sickroom. The walls and beams of the family house are stenciled with plant motifs. The family gardens are overgrown with useful plants ...”
• While searching for an herbaceous publicity still from the movie, I found the one above in this interview with Hamnet’s costume designer, Malgosia Turzanska, on Focus Features’ site, in which she talks about how natural dyes played into her work (Sounds like I need to watch this this weekend)
• See also: 3 practical (i.e. non-medicinal) ways plants can improve your life
• This book looks incredible: Constant Bloom by Lucas Foglia
• I also loved this peek at Samin Nosrat’s Berkeley courtyard-kitchen garden from Gardenista (a little California dreaming ...)
• And lastly: a perfect and concise encapsulation of why native plants matter, particularly in winter. Followed by a beautiful, long rant full of common-sense points about when and why some well-behaved non-natives might also be important.
Happy reading!
