The plant factory: is micropropagation a force for good?

In the lab:micropropagation was originally developed for crop research but has since benefited gardeners
 Photo: Getty Images/Science Photo Libra








As a 20-year-old, working in a lowly post in vegetable research, I was in a
small team that used...
The plant factory: is micropropagation a force for good?

The best gardens to visit in January 2015

Winter walks: a couple chill out with a bracing stroll at Kew
 Photo: Eden Breitz / Alamy








The adults are stuffed with stuffing, the children are jumped up on chocolate.
Getting out of the house is desirable – in some cases an urgent necessity...
The best gardens to visit in January 2015

Alys Fowler: a barrier to keep the wind at bay

The wind likes to garden. It delights in whipping a bush into a shape, sweeping autumn leaves into corners, toppling those with lofty desires and desiccating the tender. It can be kind, too, bringing soft breezes that cool the sweltering and clear the air. But we notice the wind mostly when...
Alys Fowler: a barrier to keep the wind at bay

How can I go green in 2015? | Lucy Siegle

Trends need not be fickle engines of pure consumerism. We have them in ethical living, too you know. 2015 is all about self-reliance. More dynamic than the downshifting trend (work fewer hours, move to the countryside, keep bees), self-reliance is about actively claiming ownership of our lives...
How can I go green in 2015? | Lucy Siegle

Alys Fowler: bromeliads

I fell in love with bromeliads, the pineapple family, at the same time I discovered the Brazilian psychedelic rock band Os Mutantes, the musician Caetano Veloso and the Tropicália art movement. I ended up sharing a flat with Kew’s resident bromeliad expert, Marcelo Sellaro, and my...
Alys Fowler: bromeliads

Gardens: planting a tree

It was a good move to start planting trees the first winter we arrived here. Just four years in and the young whips of 2010 are already trees we can walk among in the blossom wood. Their branches were hung heavy with berries this autumn and the birds came. The new orchard has also fruited for...
Gardens: planting a tree

Thames garden bridge plan gets green light from London mayor

A garden bridge over the Thames has been approved by the mayor of London but doubts remain over who will meet its substantial annual running costs.
The bridge has attracted criticism for the £60m of public money it will cost to build, despite initially being privately financed. It will...
Thames garden bridge plan gets green light from London mayor