Lovely article on the Biodiversity Heritage Library, one of the great online resources, now sadly at risk: www.theguardian.com/environment/...

“In his view, the medal is not a forgery. A forgery implies that there is a genuine medal. As the genuine philology medal does not exist, his medal cannot be a forgery".

'Every single bramley apple ever eaten can be traced back to the tree, which was planted from a pip by a young girl, Mary Ann Brailsford, in the early 19th century.' www.theguardian.com/culture/2026...

Just stumbled on this extraordinary tragicomic image. Dancing on the grave of a giant redwood, 4 July 1853. 'Upon this stump ... thirty-two persons were engaged in dancing four sets of cotillions at one time', J. M. Hutchings, Scenes of Wonder and Curiosity in California, 1862.

Only a few more days to catch the Garden Museum's wonderful Seeds of Exchange exhibition about botanical art and the plant trade in 18th-century Canton (Guangzhou) and London (closes 10 May). Check out this delightful 1790s painting of a florist on his smoking break.

Steve McQueen’s new project on the plants of Grenada: ‘I wanted to see what the Arawaks, the Caribs, the Europeans, the Africans, the migrant Chinese and Indian workers would have seen within the one constant thing which would have brought attention to their gaze, a thing of beauty’

Preserved for 200 years, these watercolour illustrations used by Darwin’s mentor, John Henslow, have been featured for the first time in today’s Guardian. And they will soon be used again as teaching materials in the Garden’s new Certificate in Botany course. Find out more: https://shorturl.at/SxCej

Puzzle Binding! Tricky! These are almost as rare as hen's teeth, and we just... Had One??? And, it includes HOW Many Books? (Five from Germany c. 1601 and a blank one at last count...) #Vexierbuch #DosADos @newberrylibrary.bsky.social (Case C 823 .966)

The research guide on Environmental History that I wrote for The National Archives, UK is now live! Includes research advice and resources on colonial environments, pollution, agriculture, and animal histories. Available here: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-yo... #envhist #envhum

Researching eighteenth-century garden labour. Apparently all the work is done by charming putti!

Enjoying account of a 1784 Royal Society meeting by French geologist, Faujas de Saint-Fond. Members were 'pretty much enlivened' after a dinner with vast quantities of drink. Joseph Banks presided in a 'colossal' ugly chair at a table covered by a huge red velvet cushion ('one cannot tell why').

Great to see recent posts on 'Tree Cultures' issue of Plant Perspectives. Delighted that importance of Heather Craddock's essay is noted (and nice summary of my own!) @hcraddock.bsky.social @treeseeker.bsky.social @planthums-uk.bsky.social @whitehorsepress.bsky.social herbariumworld.wordpress.com

The London Mayor's Office recently announced a scheme to reintroduce storks to London. From 1890 storks formed one of the attractions of Kew Gardens:'their quaint appearance and philosophical habits make them rather in keeping with a botanical garden' (Journal of the Kew Guild, 1902).

New seminars on Instructing Colonial Natural History 🌿 We can look forward to papers by Yunting Gu, Adriana Craciun and @nulybranch.bsky.social. For more info see instructingnaturalhistory.com (more info will be added). #skystorians #museums #collecting #histsci #envhist

Come listen to this talk by Dr Heather Craddock, my brilliant former PhD student. It's next Tues Jan 27, 10-11.30 GMT.

#KEW in #JAMAICA by @hcraddock.bsky.social - 2nd talk in #Gardens-Trust #online seminar series #Empires, #Plants & #Gardening' Jan 27 10-11:30 GMT More info & booking: eventbrite.co.uk/e/empires-pl... @kewgardens.bsky.social @UkNatArchives

A real pleasure to talk to Ian Brown from Toronto about the vital renovation of Kew's Palm House in The Globe and Mail @rbgkew.bsky.social

Charming open-the-flap cover of 1950 guide to Kew. The wintery scene in the Palm House transforms to summer and a view of the Pagoda when the door opens. Truly, a garden for all seasons!

This looks great! The wonderful Vinita Damodaran speaking on Tuesday, Feb 10 at 5:30 pm (GMT). www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/decolonisi...

An excellent resource:

If anyone needs cheering up, here are three jolly dancing gardeners. Edward Bawden's illustration from Robert Herring's wonderful Adam and Evelyn at Kew (1930).

Great thread from Sadiah Qureshi with some excellent suggestions for historical starter packs.

Delighted to see this recent article in the @smithsonianmag.bsky.social by @donnalferguson.bsky.social on some of the research outputs for the Naming Species in the South Pacific project: www.smithsonianmag.com/history/newl... With thanks to our collaborators, @nhmlibraryarchives.bsky.social

Thank you for this lovely obituary, Andrew. John supervised my DPhil. However witty and acerbic as a reviewer, he was gentleness itself with his students. He had the gift of appearing interested in whatever you had to say. I’m very grateful for his support and cherish the memory of his wry smile.

We are incredibly sad to learn of the death of John Carey, whose last three books we were proud to publish at Yale. One of our greatest literary critics, John was a strong advocate for poetry and making it accessible. He was diligent and superb at what he did, but always with a sense of fun.

Thanks for this lovely tribute to the great John Carey, he meant so much to so many of us.

What a fantastic article and brilliant idea! George Monbiot on ‘soilsmology’ and the birth of the Earth Rover Program: //www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/dec/05/agriculture-revolution-soil-farming-earth-rover-program?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Thrilled to see Ruthless reviewed in the FT by Linda Colley, and to be placed among the FT's books of the week too! 😊 www.ft.com/content/67c1...

The Chinese fan palm and cobra lily by Vishnuprasad from Henry Noltie’s Flora Indica, a masterpiece of botanical-art-historical detective work. The book accompanies a stunning exhibition at Kew Gardens. @rbgkew.bsky.social @willdalrymple.bsky.social @sathnam.bsky.social @eicathomefinn.bsky.social

The village women turned astro-ambassadors. A good news story from Ladakh: www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

Great piece on using historic archives to chart biodiversity loss - and a nice piece of (literal) field work! www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Huge thanks to the team at @plantperspectives.bsky.social @whitehorsepress.bsky.social and @sarahwhpress.bsky.social for creating such stunning designs for our special #arborealhumanities issue! Check out all the beautifully crafted papers, poetry and reviews at whp-journals.co.uk/PP/issue/vie...

It's here!!! 200 pages of #research articles, #narrative #nonfiction, #poetry & #reviews - all on #trees! Many thanks to @whitehorsepress.bsky.social, @treeseeker.bsky.social & all our contributors url.uk.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/9ZIoCojPZH...

‘One of the most superbly beautiful of trees ... worth crossing the globe to see’. For more on thawka-gyi or 'Pride of Burma', see the latest issue of Plant Perspectives. Open access: www.whp-journals.co.uk/PP/article/v...

What is the most beautiful flowering tree in the world? Find out in my essay for Plant Perspectives, ed. by the wonderful Caroline Cornish and Christina Hourigan. Also features a brilliant essay on ackee by Heather Craddock, @planthums-uk.bsky.social @treeseeker.bsky.social @hcraddock.bsky.social

For a welcome change, here’s a good news environmental story: www.theguardian.com/environment/...

This is sad news indeed. Peter was extremely generous and encouraging to me when I was starting out on my career. He was very open to interdisciplinary research when that was quite unusual.

You're right, Sathnam! The glass was originally pale green – a shade determined by the chemist Robert Hunt through a bizarre series of experiments involving the extracted juices of palm leaves!

Still thinking about when me & @victorianmasc.bsky.social came up with Romantic poetry inspired sweets yesterday:

So I guess today's the day to remind anyone interested in the history of Kew's Palm House to take a look at my book, Palace of Palms! bsky.app/profile/rbgk... www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

How was smell weaponised in settler colonial processes of scoping and transforming landscapes inhabited by indigenous people? Meg Parsons and Karen Fisher on the use of the eucalyptus tree by Pākehā settlers on Māori swamp-land: www.historyworkshop....

Really enjoyed working on this great project! The Kew Record Book is now freely available online. It's a unique document in the history of botany and horticulture, recording incoming and out going plants at Kew Gardens 1793-1809. blog.biodiversitylibrary.org/2023/05/trav...

Fantastic news! Many congratulations to Caroline Cornish on receiving the SHNH President’s Award for promoting and improving accessibility, inclusivity and diversity to the study of the history of natural history: shnh.org.uk/news/announc... @planthums-uk.bsky.social

Well, this is interesting. The UK-Kenya exhibition at the 2025 Venice Biennale reimagines the Palm House at Kew Gardens as a timber structure. The decorative panels are made of sustainable materials. 'Vena Cava' by Mae-ling Lokko and Gustavo Crembil venicebiennale.britishcouncil.org/geology-brit...

Just writing a paper about this pair, Thomas Dawodu and Ferdinand Leigh, the first Africans to train at Kew Gardens. Come hear their remarkable story at Gardens & Empires conference, British Library, June 27-8, & online: events.bl.uk/events/garde... @sathnam.bsky.social @eicathomefinn.bsky.social ‬

Unearthed: The Power of Gardening is now open! 🌱 Discover botanical treasures, medieval manuscripts, contemporary artworks and the stories of the remarkable people and plants that shape our gardens today. Book now: bit.ly/BLUnearthed Members go free

Very excited about two Kew Gardens exhibitions on empire & botanical art this October: – Flora Indica: recovering lost histories of Indian botanical art, curated by Henry Noltie & Sita Reddy. – New work by The Singh Twins: Botanical Tales & Seeds of Empire. www.kew.org/about-us/pre...

#GARDENS & #EMPIRES - booking open! International conference @britishlibrary.bsky.social 27-28 June Convened by #BL, @rbgkew.bsky.social & @englishheritage.bsky.social Speakers include @advollyr.bsky.social @sathnam.bsky.social & @corinnefowler.bsky.social Booking: events.bl.uk/events/garde...

Built in 1576 in a field in Shoreditch, the Theatre was London's first purpose-built playhouse and #Shakespeare's first theatre. This timeline, from Daniel Swift’s book The Dream Factory charts the Theatre’s history: yalebooks.co.uk/shakespeares... #ShakespeareDay #shakespearebirthday #TheatreSky