Royal gardens and sustainable style

The weather hasn’t been great this Summer, but the garden parties have carried on regardless. One of the most unique new events, still in full swing, is a super-duper 12-day festival of music, debate, food and fashion hosted by Prince Charles at Clarence House. His Garden Party to Make a Difference aims to promote sustainability and make our natural resources go further. The event is part of the Start initiative to help people across the UK take small steps towards a more sustainable lifestyle.



London’s royal palace gardens are all magnificent, however there’s only one that, in the words of its Director, Professor Stephen Hopper, is “a leader in plant science, conservation and plant-based solutions to global environmental challenges.” The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew is a World Heritage site, containing the most diverse botanical collections on earth.






I last visited Kew some decades ago on a school trip. With vague memories of the sticky Palm House, a Pagoda and aching legs, I decided a return visit was long overdue. Probably not the best idea to take my elderly father along too, but there’s a useful bus-cum-train service that travels around the whole site, which is 300 acres in total – and you can hop off and explore the many attractions at your leisure.








My favourite sights are still the glass palaces, with their marvellous crystal domes. The iconic Palm House was built in 1844-48 by Richard Turner to Decimus Burton’s designs, and is possibly the world’s most notable surviving Victorian glass and iron structure.



This is surrounded by characterful heraldic figures, sculpted from Portland Stone - replicas of the ones placed in Westminster Abbey for HM The Queen’s coronation.











To me, The Waterlily House is the most breathtakingly beautiful of all. Around 150 years ago, the giant waterlily (Victoria amazonica) was the great curiosity at Kew Gardens. The plants, grown from seed collected in Bolivia, had recently flowered for the first time in England, so a sepecially designed glasshouse was created for them by Richard Turner.





When it opened in 1852, this was the widest single span glasshouse in the world, with a pond large enough to support the lilies' 2 meter wide floating leaves. The original variety of giant waterlily can now be seen in the Princess of Wales Conservatory, where growing conditions are more favourable.







There’s so much to see at Kew Gardens …I could go on writing all day. However, I just wanted to show you a few of my favourite things. Which reminds me, if you like natural bath products made from pure botanical ingredients with health-giving properties, you’ll love the unique gift set of Our Favourite Things by Zarvis at ShopCurious.








This divinely scented, beautifully wrapped organic selection is the perfect life-enhancing gift for anyone, at any time of year. But you'll probably want to add this to your own Christmas present list.

Will you?

Quite contrary: Curious gardens and bustles

Bustles are curiously unique fashion features. You don’t see many these days, except at weddings, or occasionally as costumes in Victorian and Edwardian period dramas, or gothic horror films. However, the other day I was driving down the North End Road in London’s Fulham, when I spotted a young woman, with a pushchair, wearing a full length skirt with a large bustle. The immediate thought that came to mind was that she must be a fashion designer, or perhaps this is a curious new trend?










Bustles have appeared on catwalks over the past couple of decades – notably from the likes of Vivienne Westwood – but unless worn for a grand occasion, or by those with a penchant for neo-Victorian Steampunk style, they’ve been seen as little more than an avant garde stylistic diversion. Recently, more mainstream, toned down versions of the bustle have been popular sellers at outlets like All Saints and online, at ASOS.



They’re probably not so great for gardening in, but I wonder if we’ll start seeing the full length, Victorian style bustle skirt walking down the high street soon...

Do you?

Perennial Summer style

At this time of year, it’s nice to wind down and relax in the sun, but in the Caribbean the sun shines all year round, and the curiously slow pace of life is a major attraction for tourists.

Looking out over London’s cloudy grey skies, I’m dreaming of the lazy days I spent a few months ago at the charming Antiguan resort of Galley Bay – a beachside paradise that’s a haven of eco-friendly style, with smiling, helpful and warm-hearted staff.

One day, I was soaking up the sounds of the sea over lunch, when a fashion show suddenly popped up in front of me. How refreshing to see naturally beautiful models of all shapes and sizes wearing swimwear, sarongs and brightly coloured holiday fashions.

It’s hardly surprising that the Caribbeans are so big on colourful clothing, what with all the amazing colours of nature in and around their stunning tropical islands.
































Anyway, I thought it would be rather fun to show the Maggio sisters’ handcrafted recycled jewellery from ShopCurious alongside the outfits I saw on the uniquely Caribbean catwalk.



The hand painted earrings with scenes from Italian gardens are curiously complemetary - but for a pretty finishing touch you could also add a locally picked flower, worn as a corsage.








By the way, the dresses are from a boutique in Heritage Quay, St John’s, called ‘gingerlily’ that specializes in casually elegant clothing for women, using cool and comfortable fabrics like linen, cotton and silk. And the menswear is available at a store called Nautica.

















And, how about some floral holiday nails too?




















I’m not entirely sure about these as men’s accessories – perhaps this single blossom earring might work… What d’you think?













Do you?

Flowers, fashion and photography

This is not the Chelsea Flower Show, but the new flower inspired exhibition by seven world class photographers at the Diemar/Noble Gallery in London is well worth a visit.

There’s no doubt that flowery decoration is currently in vogue. However, dismiss from your mind the rails of frilled and floaty floral dresses currently filling our chain stores, and distinguished purely by their prosaic Polyester prettiness.

Aside from their innate beauty, flowers are often awarded allegorical significance by curious minded creative types, and are subject to all manner of intriguing artistic interpretations - as in the fascinating works on display in this show:





Photographer Lisa Creagh wanted to combine the handmade elements of detailed and painstakingly constructed handicrafts (like needlework, lace making, quilting and crochet) with the digital possibilities of twenty first century photographic software.




She sought not only to capture the moment, but to also reflect the ‘rich and elaborate patterns of decorative arts… associated with the seasons and cycles of birth and death’ in her ‘Instant Garden’ collection. One of her digitally stylized photographs (above) is based on the design of a floral Persian carpet, with softly lit flower petals, reminiscent of those in Dutch Still Life paintings.

Neeta Madahar photographed her friends alongside plants whose flowers have women’s names, such as Poppy, Orchid and Primrose. Photographs in her Flora collection are styled in the fashion of vintage Hollywood glamour images, with a little bit of a modern twist.













The sitters for the photos suggested the emotions they wished to convey through their portraits. However, a theme central to all is the rejection of conventional fashion models: the photos are a comment on the requirement for women to live up to fantasy ideals of the female form.



This curiously evocative composition (right) by Dora Maar reminds me of Audrey Hepburn, who was often photographed together with flowers. However, the unique oversized 1930s print on show at Diemar/Noble Photography is of Assia, Maar’s favourite model.

Maar herself, admired in the art world for her avant garde and surrealist imagery, is actually most famous for being the sitter, muse and partner of Pablo Picasso and, of course, ‘The Weeping Woman’.











28 Day Flower Diary by Kate Owens is a series of digital bouquets that mirror Victorian floral arrangements, which were used to express unspoken feelings. Owens wished to make visible the physical, sexual and emotional effects of the menstrual cycle. She wanted to contrast the uncontrollable forces of female nature with attempts to repress emotional urges through occupations such as floristry which, in the past, were seen as a way of keeping women occupied and out of trouble.




My, how times have changed! Nevertheless, expressing a love of all things floral is something that’s probably been a constant through the ages.

Anyway, if you’re a flower fancier, you should definitely check out the Italian garden inspired hand painted bangles that are newly available at ShopCurious – and do pop into the gallery to see these fabulous photos, and many more too.

Will you?

Nature's rare accessories

The tree of knowledge, eh? At Chelsea Flower Show a wicker sculpture (the sort of thing you might see festooned with tempting floral treats in a department store), formed the centerpiece of a ‘biodiversity display’. The aim: to seduce the public into doing anything and everything to encourage insects and birds to visit their gardens. However, only certain plants and flowers appeal to butterflies and bees... and possibly not the likes of this strangely inventive creation.

These days, all ‘great ideas’ seem to require celebrity endorsement. The tree of knowledge was no exception, with luvvies like Jeremy Irons and Greg Wise offering their penny’s worth. Mr Wise even penned a rather luvverly poem, imploring us to ‘be less tidy’, ‘let things rot’ and ‘embrace decay’. Cheers, Greg!





My favourite gardens are invariably where the wild things are. A stunning entry at the show was L’Occitane's Provencal garden with its luxurious lavender beds – great for bees… plus wonderfully gnarled olive trees and ruggedly unadulterated rocky terraces. M&G's traditional English garden was nice, and, I suppose, guaranteed to be a winner – being the show's official sponsor and all of that.





And Leeds City Council's garden, sponsored by Hesco Bastion, was awesomely overgrown, with the rather contrived addition of a model canal lock (I can’t imagine that was entirely cast from eco-friendly materials?)

Anyway, seeing these delightfully unkempt plots reminded me that the winged insect I haven’t seen much of in recent years (despite living by the river) is the dragonfly. Dragonflies apparently gobble up all manner of curious bugs, okay they eat some butterflies and bees too - but also mosquitoes, which could come in handy with global warming. They’re curiously colourful as well, and imbued with symbolism and cultural significance in many parts of the world.





At ShopCurious, we’ve been promoting the benefits of naturally beautiful things for ages, which is why we’ve got plenty of nature inspired jewellery and accessories on offer - this unique Art Nouveau style dragonfly brooch being the perfect example.

Knowledge may be a dangerous thing, but birds and bees are a safe bet any day. I reckon seeing a few more dragonflies might be good news for biodiversity too.

Do you?

Fountains and florals

What a marvellously sunny day it’s been. Very unexpected for the time of year and almost warm enough to swim Brideshead-style in a fountain. I’ve already mentioned the incredible Brihi-Riachi wedding that I attended in the South of France a few weeks ago, but I thought you might like to see the beautiful floral arrangements … and the fabulous display of fountains.

Villa Ephrussi overlooks the bay of Villefranche, but it’s on a headland giving spectacular views out across the water in two different directions. The website says that ‘nine heavenly gardens are adorned with patios, fountains, ponds, flowered and shaded paths.’ There was also a sculpture exhibition on at the time, by an artist called Nathalie Decoster. Her sculptures of man and nature depict ‘souls balancing on the edge of time’ and lead us to question the headlong rush of modern life and ‘focus anew on the essential values of life’.

We arrived in this picture of perfection with its large calm and still pools of candlelit water, to strains of a jazz saxophonist and the distant popping of champagne corks. As guests were still arriving, I managed to take a few snaps – but, when modern life allows, I’d rather like to return and take some time looking around the gardens properly.

I walked through the stylishly set tables with their designer floral decorations to the main house, where I popped in to visit the ladies powder room (shame the French still haven’t mastered the luxury loo) – and when I returned everyone was saying “you missed the fountains!”

A wonder of gushing and burbling water had spluttered into life in my absence and enormous arcs of refreshing water were now dancing before me.

Ross mistook this for champagne.

Influenced by Ms Decoster’s curious creations, I took a moment to reflect on ‘man’s unequal struggle with time’. Yes, this is a location far from the realities of everyday existence where one can easily escape into a place that ‘hovers somewhere between lightness and awareness’. Better zip back to frenzied, fast-paced London life and get on with some work so I can afford to spend another moment in horticulturalists’ heaven.

You might even be inspired by our stylish floral designer vintage fashion to buy something beautifully unique from ShopCurious and help towards my next trip.

Will you?

Chelsea's curiously changing climate

The other day I bumped into a girl who was struggling to carry a small potted olive tree to the lift. "The climate's changing," she explained, "and apparently olive trees are growing really well here now, so I've just got this for my balcony." I responded, "Yes, so long as you keep them out of any freezing cold north easterly winds - should be fine." And indeed, my rather large olive tree is thriving.

The Day of the Triffid?








Not only that, but during the course of the Chelsea Flower Show this week, an as yet unidentified plant (see above - I think it's a variety of yucca?) on my balcony has exploded into flower. At first I was amazed at the speed of the blooming, then rather amused at the curiously erotic eruption emerging ever higher from the splaying depths of the plant - and finally just stunned at the Triffid-like growth, if not a bit concerned that it might twist up through the window and eat me alive in the night.

If you're also a lover of naturally beautiful things, you might be interested in some of the curiosities on offer at ShopCurious. There are some unusual handmade stone ginkgo leaf coasters and placemats - and a couple of really unique raffia bags from the 1950s. One in verdant green with an ultra-stylish bamboo handle. The other in summery white, with blossoming flowers and pretty gold shells - reminds me of 'Mary Mary quite contrary... '
Are you?