If you couldn't attend the 2nd Biophilic Design Conference earlier this week, you can catch up online until the 30th of November! Tickets available here www.tickettailor.com/events/journ...

Encouraged by a talk at the #biophilicdesignconference in London on 17th November, about how modern office lighting was affecting health, it struck me that it might be the reason why indoor plants don't seem to be thriving as well as they used to. A bit of research led to this: wp.me/pbDnBK-U8

Today, on International Men’s Day, we celebrate the men across our interior landscaping and horticultural community—those who design, install, create, maintain, and inspire greener, healthier spaces every day.

Everything about this is relatively quick and easy to implement, low (no) cost and can have real benefits to health, the environment and community connections between schools and businesses (supermarkets, especially). www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Bonfire night is supposed to be cold and crisp, with breath visible and all wrapped up in warm coats. Today was 17C. I cut the grass wearing shorts and noticed some gladioli coming into flower. There were also bumble bees. This is not normal for November in Kent

phs Greenleaf’s transformation of Pinsent Masons London HQ has earned the Gold Leaf Award – Design & Installation. The office now features refreshed interior and exterior planting, living walls setting a new standard for sustainable design in the capital. www.plantsatwork.org.uk/index.php/it...

We are constantly told by the media and authorities that these are both 'forest'. One is a complex, diverse native ecosystem, full of life. The other is an industrial monoculture deadzone. They could not be more different.

At first sight, you might imagine that this approach would never pass a risk assessment, but Finland isn't known for its recklessness (apart from, maybe, its rally drivers), so wouldn't it be wonderful to have this approach more widely adopted? www.theguardian.com/environment/... #biophilia #mud

Farage: epic grifter

We're thrilled to share the incredible transformation of Fresha HQ into a biophilic sanctuary, which earned @phsgroup a Gold Leaf Award www.plantsatwork.org.uk/index.php/it... #BiophilicDesign #InteriorLandscaping #GoldLeafAward #FreshaHQ #PHSGreenleaf #WorkspaceWellbeing

#biophilicdesign is usually about making buildings a 'bit more like nature'. I think we should start from the premise of making them a 'bit less UNlike nature'. Nature is where we perform best, because that is where we are biologically adapted to be.

This is very good. www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

Something to cheer you up on a wet and stormy day www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Gold Leaf winners: AmbiusUK for their work at easyJet offices — "Bringing the Spirit of Travel to the Workplace"! Read the story plantsatwork.org.uk/index.php/it... #LeafAwards #BiophilicDesign

Congratulations to @MitieGroup for transforming DWP’s new Blackpool HQ with 930 plant displays! 🌿 A true celebration of biophilic design. Read more: www.plantsatwork.org.uk/index.php/it... #LeafAwards2025 #GreenWorkspaces

The results are in! Congratulations to all our members recognised in the plants@work Leaf Awards 2025! Celebrating excellence in interior landscaping & biophilic design www.plantsatwork.org.uk/index.php/it... #LeafAwards #BiophilicDesign #InteriorLandscaping

It is the 17th October and my garden is still in bloom. Fuchsias are alive with bees and bedding plants refuse to die. The garden is colourful and lovely to look at (in places) but this is not normal. It has barely rained for months and there have been no frosts so far this autumn. (1/3)

I think this is a fantastic example of how biophilic design - in its true sense - can bring benefits to people www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

British.

This is a fascinating article. Well worth a read. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Very good! "don’t you dare offer me hummus”, which was annoying because I really like hummus ... If potential Reform voters knew I liked chickpeas and tahini, we’d end up with a ruling party willing to dehumanise refugees for short-term political ambition quicker than you can say ‘Shabana Mahmood.’

Autumn colours at @nationaltrust.org.uk Emmetts Garden, Kent yesterday were fabulous. My partner has just returned from a trip to New England and she said the colours there weren't as good as these

The way to the heart really is through the stomach. www.theguardian.com/food/2025/oc...

Dr. Jane Goodall filmed an interview with Netflix in March 2025 that she understood would only be released after her death.

Are interior plants really green? Interior landscapers often claim that putting #plants in buildings has a positive #sustainability benefit, but often use the wrong arguments to support those claims. wp.me/pbDnBK-ES (1/3)

My small grape vine has yielded a few nice bunches this year. I picked these this morning. The warm, sunny weather this summer has meant that they are really sweet. Last year's were so sour and inedible, so I'm quite happy. Variety is Black Hamburg

184 years earlier than predicted, London has met the legal limits for toxic NO2 for the first time. This historic milestone proves that bold action like expanding ULEZ works, protecting children’s health and giving millions cleaner air to breathe.

On the morning of Keir Starmer's conference speech here's a new post on an odd psychopathology in British politics - our main parties don't like the people who vote for them - the dreaded Professional Managerial Class. And so they are acting out like a divorced dad seeking cooler voters. 1/n

This made me laugh www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

www.theguardian.com/politics/liv... Jaw dropping nonsense.

I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again. Ignore the haters, London is the 🐐

Why doesn't this govt see the true colours of the far right? Is it because they can see past their rhetoric, but they agree with them, or because they're thick?

We're going to address their concerns WTF THEY DON'T HAVE ANY CONCERNS migration is down, speech is free and the ppl who screwed this country were booted out www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Maybe it's just me, but I'm not sure that 'fast track safety tests' and 'nuclear reactors' should be in the same sentence. www.theguardian.com/business/202...

A greener, healthier, more resilient London is taking root. The transformation of Grosvenor Square brings: 🌳 44 new trees 🌿 70,000 plants 🦆 Brand new wetlands I’m proud to announce £12m through my Green Roots Fund to revive and transform London’s green spaces.

Luke Johnson on the #Today programme on #BBC Radio 4 just now seems to be a deeply unpleasant individual. Apparently he is a director of @bromptonbicycle.bsky.social . I wonder what their employment practices are like. There are more civilised and constructive ways to disagree with people.

Today's Guardian Asked if people should be putting up flags on motorway gantries, Cooper replied: "Oh, put them up anywhere. I would put them up anywhere." When a strong gust of wind blows one of these flags off a bridge and onto the windscreen of a vehicle below. Will she take the blame?

This is a really good column and every Labour MP, minister, adviser, activist should read it. It crystalizes the frustration felt by so many. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Why on earth do the Tories want to keep people locked into high energy bills? And, come to that, why is the BBC citing Reform but saying nothing about climate science or renewable alternatives? Complete madness - except for the fossil fuel industry of course

This seems like a good idea. I wonder whether there are places in the UK where such an approach would work. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

I wish all the flag-flying, roundabout painting 'patriots' could articulate what exactly it is that they are proud of that needs such a display. All I ever read and hear is what, and who, they don't like.

The PNG Courier returns. open.substack.com/pub/mrhenrym...

Here's something to distract from the gloom: www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Just spotted here in South East London. Funny how all these growing acts of vandalism are never included in Nigel Farage's condemnations of "lawless Britain"

Reform UK, which has a grand total of four MPs, was just given an uninterrupted platform for an hour and a half on the BBC and Sky News channels, in order to talk about its plans for mass deportations When was the last time the Greens (with four MPs) or the Lib Dems (with 72) were given the same?

Dear flag raisers and roundabout painters in #Kent you do know that it is your council taxes that are going to have to be used to repair the damage, don't you? I bet Reform's local DOGE team are going to be thrilled about their budget being hit.

The flag botherers have been painting red crosses on the mini roundabouts in our area. I hope the Reform-led council will let us all know how much is going to have to be spent by Kent Highways to fix the problem. I'm sure it won't be cheap.

What issue does flag waving solve? Does it: a) reduce food prices? b) reduce energy costs? c) improve the NHS? d) raise wages? e) create better jobs? f) none of the above?

My willow tree has a lot of aphids on it. Also, lots of wasps. This brute also turned up. Enormous in comparison with the wasps. European Hornet. Probably feasting on the aphids and/or their honeydew.