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

Undersea rewilding initiative to restore a kelp forest in West Sussex is celebrating amazing results for marine biodiversity. Rewilding is needed just as much at sea as on land. www.bbc.com/news/article...

“This tree survived 200 million years on this planet, and the biggest threat to them is climate change we are causing now.” (Dan Luscombe, Bedgebury National Pinetum and Forest) 🌲🌡️🌲🔥🌲 🌏 e360.yale.edu/features/pla...

'The case of the Madagascar periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus) not only demonstrates the value of knowledge held by Indigenous and local communities, but also illustrates how this expertise has often been exploited.'

This article by @natashawalter.bsky.social is genuinely essential reporting and reading. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/f...

This looks exciting!

Ah this is lovely

Just came across this great blog by Taran N. Khan about a 'Never Walk Alone' trip to Kew Gardens organised by @fencesfrontiers.bsky.social, an organisation that supports refugees and asylum seekers. @rbgkew.bsky.social www.runnymedetrust.org/blog/putting...

If anyone would know about cheese baskets, it would surely be @jennylinford.bsky.social

The British Museum is 'an embassy, a university, a police station, a science lab, a customs house, a base for archaeological excavations, a place of asylum, a retail business, a publisher, a morgue, a detective agency'. Fascinating piece on the British Museum by Charlotte Higgins:

#GARDENS & #EMPIRES: conference organised by @rbgkew.bsky.social @englishheritage.bsky.social & @britishlibrary.bsky.social 27-28 June 2025. Call for papers: gardensandempires.tiiny.site @rhulgeography.bsky.social @nationaltrust.bsky.social @ihr.bsky.social @ihrbritainseminar.bsky.social

Lovely piece on therapeutic value of Kew Gardens' community allotment:

Somerset House putting on some fascinating-looking exhibitions this coming year, starting with Soil: The World at our Feet.

This exciting new art exhibition at Somerset House explores the iniquitous colonial salt tax. The artists, Hylozoic Desires, have drawn inspiration in part from my work on a powerful courtesan, Mayalee, who defied the British at Sambhar Salt Lake in the 1830s. www.theguardian.com/world/2024/d...

Wonderfully inventive website suggesting new ways of approaching botanic collections. Do explore!

A massive privilege for me and Leon to be a small part of bringing books and families together. #prisons #prisoners #reading #books

Great view of Kew Gardens (first exhibited c. 1865). Love the incongruity of the ‘Chinese’ pagoda in the semi-rural landscape.

Brilliant (long!) thread. Combines huge paleontological expertise with … kittens!

Extraordinary images!

Wonderful thread!

Since we all really FELT that ancient pooch who wouldn’t drop the ball, I figured I may as well tell you a bit about dogs in ancient Mesopotamia. They leave traces everywhere, from bricks to burials to proverbs. Here’s a 4,000-year-old paw print of a pooch on a brick from ancient Ur

If you thought forms were always perfunctory, then check out the lovely artwork on this late seventeenth-century bill of lading from the @prizepapers.bsky.social #earlymodern #maritimehistory #customs #ports

May as well dive right in. Did you know that dogs in ancient Mesopotamia also refused to drop the ball? According to a Sumerian proverb, “The dog understands ‘Take it!’ It does not understand ‘Put it down!’” Source: cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts/34...

Fascinating thread:

Fascinating thread!

The Mughal Cotswolds!Yesterday at Sezincote House after tremendous walk with @corinnefowler.bsky.social from her great book, Our Island Stories.

Exciting!

British Social Attitudes Survey report released. Highest score for sense of pride in British achievement is 79.3% for Arts & Literature: government, universities and funding bodies take note!

This looks splendid #CaribbeanConnections #CaribbeanThreads www.vam.ac.uk/event/YGVBDZ...

Paolo Antonio Barbieri, Autumn Still Life, circa 1640, Oil on canvas, 66.3 × 79.2 cm (26 1/8 × 31 3/16 in.) (Art Institute of Chicago) #earlymodern

A stunningly illustrated celebration of wildflower seeds:

Nice article about the persistent disobedience of pedestrians: