Category: Environment

Frank Banfield Park

Is it fair that a critic forms an opinion of a restaurant, a play or an opera based on one visit? Probably not but conscientious restaurant reviewers (I’m thinking of Nick Lander in WeekendFT) make multiple visits before delivering judgement. Today I am going to form an opinion based on visits over more than thirty… Continue reading Frank Banfield Park

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We Three Trees of Orient Are

Parrotia persica (commonly called Persian ironwood) is a deciduous tree in the family Hamamelidaceae, closely related to the witch-hazel genus Hamamelis. It is native to northern Iran and southern Azerbaijan (where it is called Dəmirağac) and it is endemic in the Alborz mountains. (Wiki) It was Urban Tree of the Year in 2014.

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Robin Lane Box

Robin Lane Fox’s latest column in FTWeekend is required reading if you live in the UK and cherish your box. RLF gave his son box plants for his garden in west London and in August this year Cydalima perspectalis did not decimate them, it 100%ed them when he was away on holiday with his family… Continue reading Robin Lane Box

Palm Oil

This is what WWF says: Palm oil is the most widely consumed vegetable oil on the planet, and it is in about half of all packaged products sold in the supermarket. While palm oil is the most efficient source of vegetable oil, its rapid expansion threatens some of the planet’s most important and sensitive habitats. 

Blue Sky Drinking

I find a Bloody Mary a great mental stimulant. Top Tip is to start with the small bits: lemon juice, Tabasco, Lea & Perrins, pepper, best not to add celery salt as the tomato juice has plenty of that. Then chuck in the ice, vodka and tomato juice – eureka!

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Cydalima perspectalis

Everything in the garden has been looking good. The new planter has been delivered and some English lavender planted. (Tasteful repro-Adams or cement kitsch?) In the back garden the agapanthus has put on a good show and I was metaphorically hunkered down on my horticultural haunches. Then disaster struck; cydalima perspectalis.

Monetary Union

My first impression of James Agate’s diaries was that they are a bit dry but as I get to know the recurring characters I am enjoying Ego 2 enormously. Now I want to tell you about four things that happened last weekend.

Building on Gozo

The buildings on Gozo are mostly built in warm, honey-coloured limestone. They often have elaborately carved balconies, columns and pediments although many were only built in the 1980s and 90s. Perhaps this is because there are strict planning laws and to retain Gozo’s reputation as a heritage island? Where does this limestone come from?