Archives for category: Nature

My friend Lisa was in South Africa recently to spend some time with her boyfriend’s family.

Her travel snaps are adorable and I particularly liked these two. The first is taken at Babylonstoren Garden and the second while on safari.

Lisa & NeilLisa & NeilLisa is a stylist living in New York and her boyfriend Neil is a photographer. You can see some of their work on together over at Hunger TV. Above photographs by Neil Francis Dawson.

I have now added the Babylonstoren Garden to my list of places to visit when I head to South Africa (hopefully) next year. You can stay in one of their adjoining guesthouses, use the spa, visit their delicatessen, eat at the restaurant or just wander the garden.

BabylonstorenBabylonstorenBabylonstorenBabylonstorenBabylonstorenBabylonstorenImages from the Babylonstoren blog.

I visited Morocco a few years back. We caught the ferry from Tarifa across the Strait of Gilbrator to Tangiers. The ocean is incredibly luminescent and the sun so strong. We only spent a day in Tangiers before heading to Essaouira, but I remember winding, steep, dusty streets looking out onto that incredible view of the Mediterranean. It’s a rough, mysterious, and beautiful town filled with creative expats including the world renowned garden designer Madison Cox.

TangiersTen or so years ago Cox bought a run down house perched on the cliffs of Tangiers. A lot of care and thought has gone into the renovation of the house and bringing alive of the garden. The one and a half acre garden is long and narrow and has a high white masonry wall on one side and cliff edge on the other. Within the garden he has a free standing library, swimming pool, guesthouse, chicken coop, stone paths, terraces, and flower and vegetable beds. It’s a relaxed design, and looks like a total pleasure to be amongst.

TangiersTangiers10well-cox-custom1Photographs by Oberto Gili for the NY Times.

My sister was also in Morocco a couple of weeks ago. Her pictures are lovely so I thought I’d include some here.

F1020031MoroccoF1070026F1000016F1010002F1070030F1030028F1030019F1020011F1020012F1020028Photographs by Olivia Kaplan and Pierre Voirin.

Miss Moss put me onto the great blog that is Old Chum. It’s actually a mix of old and new, but the images are always intriguing.

Old ChumOld ChumOld Chumtumblr_mj4a4whqN11qzyxjro1_1280Old ChumImage one: from Converted into Houses by Charles A. Fracchia & Jeremiah O. Bragstad, image two: Susan Worsham, images three & five: Ganna Walska, image four: La Clef de Verre by René Magritte.

Jardin des Fleurs is a Tokyo florist owned by floral artist Makoto Azuma and Shunsuke Shiinoki. Azuma creates incredibly unique floral sculptures for his clients along with weird and wonderful natural art installations.

Jardin des FleursJardin des FleursJardin des FleursThe two partners released a beautiful book last year titled Encylopedia of Flowers (2012). It’s a jungle of colour and texture and features over 2000 different species of flowers.

Encyclopedia of FlowersEncyclopedia of FlowersEncyclopedia of FlowersEncyclopedia of FlowersEncyclopedia of FlowersEncyclopedia of Flowers
The book is available through Lars Müeller Publishers for €58.

Check out their shop here and an interview with Azuma from The Glass Magazine here.

All photographs by Shunsuke Shiinoki.

And thanks to Alicia for putting me onto this amazing man!

Next month Derek Henderson launches his new project Darkness of Noon. Model Zippora Seven features in the book which also includes illustrations by Kelly Thompson. The images are super pretty and dreamlike.

Darkness of NoonDarkness of NoonDarkness of NoonDarkness of NoonDarkness of NoonDarkness of NoonDarkness of Noon

Pre order your copy here.

All photography by Derek Henderson. All illustrations by Kelly Thompson.

MicrocosmosMicrocosmos is a french nature documentary by filmmakers Claude Nuridsany and Marie Pérennou. It uses macroscopic photographic technique to explore the life of insects. Think of the Pixar film A Bugs Life but real life.

MicrocosmosThe film is narrated by Kristin Scott Thomas and Jacques Perrin, with a haunting soundtrack by Bruno Coulais. It is truly fascinating and if you have a night in this week be sure to watch it.

The whole film is up on YouTube. Check out Part 1 below and follow the links on their site to the rest of the film.

All images Microcosmos (1996)

Kokedama is a type of Japanese bonsai that sees the plant roots and soil held together with moss and string rather than a traditional pot. These guys are taking it a step further and hanging the gardens up in the air.

These floating gardens are a great idea for those living in smaller spaces, but they would bring a sweet quirkiness to any space.

Dutch botanist Fedor Van der Valk is the leader of the floating garden pack.

Floating GardenFloating GardenFloating GardenFloating GardenFloating GardenFloating GardenPhotographs String Gardens.

Some of Van der Valk’s designs were exhibited in 2010 as part of the Salon exhibition in Amsterdam.

Floating GardensPhotograph from Design Boom.

Good.Is have a great guide to making your own hanging garden, as demonstrated by Wilder Quarterly’s Taylor Patterson. Check it out here.

And to finish here is a super cute illustration of how to water your floating garden by Elsa Dray Farges.

Floating Garden

How nice would it be to build a little cabin in the woods. It doesn’t need to be big. All you need is a bed nook (or two or three), a little kitchen, a fire, running water and a nice comfortable spot to sun yourself outdoors. I imagine most of my time spent wandering through the surrounds, cutting flowers and branches, or reading in bed. Here are some of my favourites from the fabulous Cabin Porn.

Cabintumblr_maylcmHMe31qzwmsso1_1280CabinOLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERACabinCabinCabin Porn is curated by a group of friends who have been building a variety of their own cabins on 55 acres of land near Yulan, New York. Here are some photos of their personal project ‘Beaver Brook’.

Beaver BrookBeaver Brooktumblr_lwjj4g9uGd1qd8hvko1_1280tumblr_lwsmjafcnJ1qd8hvko1_1280tumblr_m677qf0ijd1qd8hvko1_1280tumblr_mbaisn3q961qd8hvko1_1280Beaver BrookAll photographs from Cabin Porn and Beaver Brook.