The Garden Museum ….. the U.K.

Spring Plant Fair 2023 Our Spring Plant Fair returns on Sunday 16 April!  This beloved specialist plant fair has been held at the Garden Museum for over 40 years, gathering expert plant growers and specialist nurseries from around the country to sell some of the best garden plants you’ll find in London. From shade specialists to plants for pollinators, meet the growers and they will help you pick something special that will flourish for whatever growing space you have available, be it a garden, window box, balcony or allotment. Stalls will include Beth Chatto Gardens, Moore & Moore Plants, Glendon Farm Nursery, and Nobottle Nursery. This year’s fair will also feature a programme of talks and activities curated by Susanna Grant, founder of Hackney-based shade specialist plant shop Hello There Linda. More details coming soon! Sun 16 April, 10am – 4pm £5 Standard, £4 Friends Book tickets The Wild Escape There’s a worm at the bottom of the garden… what else can we find outside? We are delighted to be taking part in #TheWildEscape with Art Fund and hundreds of other museums this year! The project unites schools, families and museums in a big celebration of UK wildlife and nature. Our project will explore science and art through school visits exploring the world of earthworms. Pupils will investigate the structure of earthworms using microscopes, and then make a small wormery to take back to school. The Garden Museum will also create our own wormery! And in February half-term and the Easter holidays, we will have family workshops creating two-dimensional creatures out of paper inspired by the wildlife we find in our gardens. These will be displayed as a collaborative artwork for Earth Day on 22 April, and on display until the end of May. Attend a workshop A History of Potted Plants By Giovanni Aloi, Curator Lucian Freud: Plant Portraits In 1939, Lucian Freud painted a stack of clay pots. At first glance, this is a simple and charming image. On the right is a potted prickly pear (opuntia). On the left is a small silvery pachyphytum. From the perspective of a plant lover, there isn’t much to see… The pads of the prickly pear are cropped by the picture frame—much of the plant is left out. It is not what Freud wanted to focus on. The pachyphytum looks unassuming and fragile in its tiny clay pot. Unusual in composition and even stranger in subject, this is one of the most overlooked paintings by Lucian Freud. But this is one of Freud’s most meaningful works, especially if considered in the context of his long-lasting determination to paint plants in a way that no other artist had previously done. Potted plants have a long history and yet western art has had a complicated relationship with them. It is known that clay and ceramic pots were widely used in India, Japan, China, and Korea over 3000 years ago, mostly to bring plants closer to houses and in courtyards rather than indoors. Terracotta plant pots have been found in the Minoan palace at Knossos on Crete. The Romans preferred to plant lemon trees in large marble pots. And throughout the Middle Ages, pots were used in convents to grow herbs as well as to keep life-saving medicinal plants close at hand. Keep reading The House of a Lifetime: Umberto Pasti and Ngoc Minh Ngo Last few tickets! Writer Umberto Pasti’s house and garden in Tangier is the ultimate example of a well-curated Moroccan villa, filled with museum-quality pieces of furniture, luminous textiles, rare tiles, ceramics, and other objets d’art; set in a lush hillside garden filled with the native flora of northern Morocco. To celebrate the launch of their new book The House of a Lifetime, Umberto and photographer Ngoc Minh Ngo are joined in conversation by garden designer Tania Compton. Tues 21 February, 7pm £20 Standard, £15 Friends, £10 Young Fronds / Students £10 Livestream Book tickets Object of the Week: Horticultural Basketware (1937) This advert for horticultural basketware was pubished in the catalogue for the Royal Horticultural Society’s ‘Great Spring Show’ in the Royal Hospital grounds at Chelsea in 1937. The baskets were produced by disabled soldiers at the Lord Robert’s Workshops in London, which were established in the 1890s to provide employment and training for injured servicemen. By 1920 there were eleven workshops producing goods such as baskets, toys and furniture. Explore our collection online Images: Spring Plant Fair 2022 (c) Graham Lacdao; Islington Back Garden by Susan Shipp  (c.1960), Garden Museum Collection; A hand-coloured woodcut print of a 16th century gardener from ‘The Herbal’ or ‘Krauterbuch’ by Adam Lonicer (Lonitzer); Umberto Pasti’s house (c) Ngoc Minh Ngo Garden Museum 5 Lambeth Palace Road, London SE1 7LB gardenmuseum.org.uk

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THE GARDEN MUSEUM NEWS …the UK

Sow, Grow Eat A new programme for teenagers to explore horticulture and cooking Do you know any teenagers aged 13-17 based in South London who might be interested in dipping their toes in the career of a gardener, food grower or chef? We are looking for up to eight teenagers to join our free ‘Sow, Grow, Eat’ programme, which involves spending one Saturday a month at the Garden Museum for ten months. Participants will learn sowing, planting and gardening skills in our greenhouse and gardens, then in our studio kitchen we’ll do hands-on cooking sessions using some of the produce grown throughout the year. No prior experience necessary, just an enthusiasm for plants! Apply by Monday 13 February Programme runs March – December Find out more Life Drawing Class Lucian Freud: Drawing Plant Portraits Back for a second session by popular demand! Lucian Freud is infamous for his gritty, fleshy nudes, and so inspired by our current exhibition Lucian Freud: Plant Portraits, London Drawing Group will be offering a life drawing class like no other. Set against the soaring backdrop of our central nave space, and nestled amongst a backdrop of lush plants, our incredible model Lily will be posing in, with and amongst our leafy friends. Tickets include access to the exhibition, guided instruction and bespoke drawing exercises throughout our Life Drawing class. Fri 24 February, 6.30pm – 8.3pm £30 Standard, £25 Friends / Young Fronds Book tickets Wenceslaus Hollar (1607-77): View Across the Rooftops of Lambeth Palace A rare 17th century sketch of the view from our medieval tower is currently on auction with Sotheby’s. We take a closer look at what we can learn from the sketch in this article, reproduced from ‘Sotheby’s New York January 2023 Catalogue: Master Works on Paper from Five Centuries’: Wenceslaus Hollar’s bird’s eye view of Lambeth House (Palace), official residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury, is a splendid example of the artist’s dynamic ‘on the spot’ sketches. It has not appeared at auction since the drawing was discovered in a sale, in 1931, by the art historian, Iolo A. Williams. Its re-emergence, as a work by Hollar, provides a wonderful opportunity to delight and delve into the world of this fascinating Bohemian artist, whose drawings rarely come to the market. Born in Prague in 1607, Wenceslaus Hollar was a prolific draughtsman and printmaker, who is perhaps best known for his visual records of mid 17th century England. His drawings and prints of London before the great fire of 1666 are historical documents of great importance, as well as aesthetically appealing images of a bygone world. Keep reading

Lucian Freud: Plant Portraits Exhibition Catalogue Can’t make it to see our Lucian Freud exhibition in person, or want to find out more his artistic relationship with plants? The exhibition catalogue is available now in our online bookshop! Beautifully illustrated with examples of Freud’s plant paintings and etchings, this catalogue includes interviews with Freud’s longtime studio assistant David Dawson and daughter Annie Freud. Order your copy for just £20 Buy a catalogue Call for papers! Visions of Welfare Conference This May we are hosting an international conference discussing the role of women in the creation of the spaces of the post-war Welfare States, co-hosted by the Women of the Welfare Landscape Project, the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain and the Women in Danish Architecture project. The importance of quality open spaces for health and wellbeing has been highlighted more than ever by the Covid-19 pandemic. And historically the provision of well designed, accessible, open public spaces was a crucial part of a wider concept of economic redistribution. While previous research has uncovered the work of many individual ‘heroines’ and celebrated iconic design projects by women, this conference invites abstracts that consider the role of women in creating the spaces of the period internationally with the aim of looking beyond individual achievements and professional boundaries. Abstracts of 200 words are invited and should be submitted online by Monday 30 January 2023 Tickets to attend the conference will be available soon Find out more Object of the Week: Illustrated Letters in the William Shute Barrington Archive By Alice Ridgway, Archivist January 16th marked ‘Blue Monday’ the most melancholy day of the year. However, mine was brightened by discovering some charming drawings in the William Shute Barrington archive, which we hold in the Archive of Garden Design. The archive contains correspondence, plans, plant lists, sketches and paintings between 1920-1940 relating to the gardening career of Viscount William ‘Bill’ Reginald Barrington (1873-1960). After a career in the military, Barrington restored and redesigned gardens at a number of stately homes in East Sussex and further afield. His gardening philosophy aimed to give the illusion that a garden had existed forever, stating that ‘its relationship to the surrounding fields, hills and buildings should have a naturalness borne of scrupulous attention to detail’. The letters I found were sent by Guy Roderick Falkner, an unknown gardening friend of Barrington. They thank him for his plant cuttings and hospitality and give short updates about his horticultural projects. My favourite drawing features two cartoon birds – most likely a depiction of the tame pair of starlings that lived with Barrington alongside his partner, Violet Gordon Woodhouse. Keep reading Images: Sow, Grow, Eat illustration by Ross Bennett; Plant Life Drawing photo courtesy of Luisa MacCormack; Visions of Welfare Conference © Fortepan / Szabó Gábor

Garden Museum 5 Lambeth Palace Road, London SE1 7LB gardenmuseum.org.uk

Amazing Contemporary Hydrangea Arrangement

www.instagram.com/reel/CnTF_ImIZ8R/

Check it out. Very genius…,,

Sewing Spring Seeds….growing!

I have my very own collection of new seeds for spring planting. I’ve found in the past, that if I wait until early  spring (April 1st) to make my selections, they are very picked over, and often I miss out on the ones I’m really looking for. So last week I made my “picks” and purchased them all at my visit to the nursery. I’m so excited. 

First on my fav”’ list is:

Sweet Peas………Lathyrus odoratus

Sweet Peas are of several varieties. I’ve selected the “Bouquet” blend.  They are referred to as a Spencer type, ideal for cutting, because of their extra large flowers, longer and sturdier stems, and they produce a larger number of blooms each year. The are ruffled, lightly scented and are a “romantic” flare. I bought them to be able to cut and bring in the house. I love a tiny vase of flowers near the kitchen window, one on the bathroom sink and one beside my pillow. Sweet Peas aroma is very light and delicate. Can’t wait!!

I have also selected four other seedlings this year, to include Cosmos, Nasturtium, Fireball Zinnia and Sunrise Morning Glory.

My sweetheart and I have a connection with Sweet Peas, so I’m certain I’ll be putting a few of these puffy/curly flowers under his chin, in hopes that the aroma will spark a little feeling of amorous adoration. What a lovely thought and anticipation…..Amen!

“Contessa” says……it is such a lovely and sweet thing to do!

December….Birds and Blooms

Our favorite winter bird. They always come round in pairs. He travels fast. She follows. But often you will see him scouting for morsels. Two things are going on. She is very independent and she may still have a “yungin” close by. But her demeanor suggests she will always join him. Her coloring is subtle but his is blazing red. We love to watch them. Our cover certainly shows his majestic prowess.

And this photo below…..was captured during a huge snow storm. This northern cardinal is puffing up his feathers to keep the damp snow from settling on his plumage. Then when the snow packs down he can ruffle his feathers and shake the snow off. And the puffed up feathers helps to keep  him warmer. 

We think this December copy is fantastic.

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Birds and Blooms reminds us not to forget to provide water for the birds in the winter months.
…….and to decorate low hanging branches with bird treats that you’ve made yourself. Make sure to include some peanut butter on a pine cone. They love it.
Very helpful and sweet ideas children can do indoors, and then the family can visit a tree in the yard together, to string the garlands where they can be seen from an indoor window. Family fun and a learning opportunity too.

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Also published in this issue was the Grand Prize Winner of the Annual B & B Photo Contest. Literally thousands of entries were sent to the magazine. This one was the winner. Very cool. I mean how often could this “pose” be possible.

Butterfly photos are featured on page 48 and 49.

Finally,  a Kale plant left over from a summer garden, turns pink in the cold.

I don’t often feature so many photos in my B & B posts, because the magazine photo copy doesn’t really do justice to these great photos in this publication. What I see is not what you see, unless you borrow our copy. But…. I hope your curiosity is keen enough to even order this magazine for your family. It’s $10 a year. You will improve your knowledge of birds, flowers, indoor plants, berry bushes, and insects,  and the readership is from all over the US.   It’s a fantastic and compact way to educate yourself and the members of your family. I grew up with books and publications of all these pictures in my home. It’s a fantastic way to take the natural world and bring it into our lives. We need to appreciate our natural world…. way more than we do. I hope you will take the time to do this with your family, or even just for yourself.

“Contessa” says….it’s  all a very….very…good thing!

Birds and Blooms

November, 2022 Issue

What’s your definition of “getting out into nature?” Maybe for you, it’s sitting on your deck in your very wooded neighborhood watching for the birds to come to the feeders you’ve placed around. Your favorite feathered friends love to come so they can grab a morsel. Or….is your favorite adventure a hike to a national park. Both of these experiences can bring you the sense of peace we all enjoy and deserve. Carve out some time to enjoy the bounty of nature. Your soul will heal and be lifted. Nature is so healing and it may come to you with a sense of “peace” that you deserve and were secretly seeking. 

If you are looking for that same peace and a soothing atmosphere indoors, bring nature into the house by having a few houseplants. Very often your very own mental health can be lifted in your “inner soul” by placing some greenery indoors. Plants can nudge your brain into mindfulness and they create a relaxing and cozy atmosphere in your personal space. All of us need this in the winter months, so that we can keep a “healthy balance .”

I myself bring about ten…end-of-summer plants indoors for the winter. I have taken a few pictures of examples of a few plants from the magazine that you might consider. Plants help to purify the air indoors….so consider one in each room.  Houseplants do make for a healthy and pretty home.  

Tomorrow I will feature the December issue. I thought it worthy to post today on a few features of the November issue.

(We regret the glossy cover photo, but the hard copy of this magazine is “high gloss” and difficult to photograph).

We cannot stress enough, the modest cost of a subscription to this quite informative publication, and if you wish to view it in person, we always offer to drop it by your location for a one week viewing. And then we can pick it up and pass it to another viewer.

“Contessa” says….. it’s a very good thing!

THE GARDEN MUSEUM News, the UK

Sarah Price: Designing a Cedric Morris-inspired Garden For the 2023 RHS Chelsea Flower Show, The Nurture Landscapes Garden built by Crocus and designed by Sarah Price will be inspired by artist-plantsman Cedric Morris’ garden at Benton End. To find out more about what to expect from this exciting project, we had a few questions for Sarah:How did this project come about? Nearly four years ago, I was lucky to visit Benton End, and spend time immersed in the garden. It was April and demure fritillaries and Anemone pavonina scattered the long grass like a beautiful tracing. Entrancing, and as close to a medieval mead as I’ve ever seen, this filigree was a physical and enduring memory of Cedric Morris’ plantings. This visit to Benton triggered memories of Sarah Cook’s mesmerising display of Benton Iris within the Pavilion at Chelsea in 2015. The poise of the Iris and their wavering hard-to-describe colours were pure, visual pleasure! Together with Cedric Morris’ paintings, these two experiences helped to build up a picture of Benton End as a place of astonishing creativity; a place latent with inspiration for a Chelsea garden design. Knowing that the plants and materials of a Chelsea garden could support the reimagining and reopening of Benton End gave the project added depth and longevity… Keep reading Merry Christmas from the Garden Museum! This is our last newsletter of the year, the next Garden Museum News will land in your inboxes early January. If you’re planning to visit the Garden Museum over the festive season, please make a note of our Christmas closure: Garden Museum: last day open Wednesday 21 December, re-opening Monday 9 January Garden Café: closing after lunch Friday 23 December, re-opening Monday 9 January We hope you all have a restful break, and look forward to welcoming you back in the New Year! Plan your visit

Object of the Week: Christmas Tree Growers, c.1912 This photo from the 1912 publication One & All: Gardening Annual of Amateurs & All Garden Lovers shows two men pulling up the year’s Christmas trees, location unknown. Gift of Tony Elphick Explore our collection online Images: Illustration for The Nurture Landscapes Garden courtesy of Sarah Price Landscapes

Garden Museum 5 Lambeth Palace Road, London SE1 7LB gardenmuseum.org.uk

Indoor Bulbs for Christmas (REVISED)Jan 4th – 9 am – Wed

(REVISED) – Jan 4th – 9 am – Wednesday 

ta….da!

How exciting and pretty. Today all three blooms are at peek.  It was worth the wait. We have now learned the planting/growing/blooming cycle. Again, we planted Nov 30th, so if we want full bloom for around Dec 24th, we need to plant approximately November 15th. We also believe we will plant a larger planter next year because a collection of say  8-10 bulbs will be so lovely.

They are so easy to care for and the amount of water is so small. Plus securing them well in the planter is so important. Our success this year is so gratifying. We will enjoy these blooms most likely for one full week. It’s been so much fun! We are thrilled

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We planted our three “paperwhite bulbs” on November 30th. We have watered with just a dropper. We water every day.  Our saucer doesn’t hold that much and frankly you don’t want your bulbs swimming in water. The tiny pebbles secure the bulbs in place, and only the tiny roots at the pointed end need the moisture to grow.  

So here they are today. Poking themselves upward. Once they begin to breath indoor air their growth takes off pretty quickly. We haven’t had many sunny days, so it may take them a little longer to grow. That’s ok though, because pretty “pure white” blossoms for Christmas, might be our “joy.”  Perhaps signifying the birth of the babe…. On our Christmas Day! We will continue care and watering until then….. in anticipation. 

Paperwhites

(REVISED) 12/28 – Wed – 8:36 am 

Today we have a bloom on our Paperwhites that we planted Nov 30th. So that tells us that it took almost 30 days to produce a blossom…. Meaning that if we want pretty white blossoms for Christmas next year, we probably need to plant them about the 22nd of November. ✅

We have included some photos from just this morning. We did tell you they grow really tall and that it’s best to tie them with a ribbon once they start to grow, so because we see the other buds will most likely bloom in the next couple days we have moved our ribbon tie to secure all three sprouts. And our last photo shows the pretty blossom, which smells divine. With the heat running in the house…make sure to add a little water a couple times a day. Our blossoms  shoukd last about one week. It’s a miracle….!  Beautiful pure white fragrant blossoms in December.  Such a treat, And with our sun shining so brightly this Morning, and news on the weather this morning,  we are already just beginning to have longer days each day ahead. The promise of “spring.”  Alleluia!

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And…..every year we grow our Red Amaryllis outdoors and it produces several very tall green fronds. We prop it up with reeds, tied with pretty ribbon, knowing that it’s growth is all part of the process of “new flower growth” come the winter season.

So in late October we bring it indoors, add some fresh soil and cut back all the green… all the way down to the dirt. Yes you got it. Because, within about ten days to two weeks the bulb starts producing a new green shoot. And…..here it comes. It’s such an amazing process. The plant knows it is winter and that it’s time to produce its beautiful flower. It’s very exciting and we always look forward to its arrival. The timeframe can vary slightly…. But it never fails us. It’s reassurance to us that if we do all the right preparation, we will reap the rewards of new growth and gorgeous red blossoms.

Amaryllis

“Contessa” says…. It’s a very good thing!

GARDEN MUSEUM NEWS, the U.K.

A year of art and gardens awaits! We are delighted to announce our 2023 exhibitions programme: Private & Public: Finding the Modern British Garden The interwar period in Britain saw a flowering of artists retreating to plant and paint in their gardens. This exhibition will bring together intimate depictions of private gardens and public green spaces by artists including Charles Mahoney, Evelyn Dunbar, Eric Ravilious and Ithell Colquhoun. Presented in partnership with Liss Llewellyn. Works will be available for purchase in aid of the Museum’s educational programmes. 22 March – 25 June 2023 Find out more Jean Cooke: Ungardening Jean Cooke (1927-2008) was not a conventional gardener, once describing ‘ungardening’ as her hobby. But she derived much inspiration from her overgrown London garden and the cliff-top meadow at her Sussex cottage. Emerging from the shadow of her difficult marriage to the artist John Bratby, this exhibition will spotlight Cooke’s long-underrated yet magnificent garden paintings and expressive portraiture in a museum setting for the first time. 19 July – 1 October 2023 Find out more Frank Walter This exhibition will present the landscape and nature paintings of Antiguan artist Frank Walter (1962-2009), exploring his genius as a gardener and early conservationist on the islands of Antigua, Barbuda, and Dominica, as well as one of the most distinctive figures in modern Caribbean art. Guest curation by Professor Barbara Paca, Ph.D., O.B.E. 18 October 2023 – 21 January 2024 Find out more Gift Membership for Christmas Fancy going to all of our 2023 exhibitions for free? Garden Museum Friends can enjoy unlimited free entry year-round! Membership also includes discounted event tickets, Friends Private Views, 15% discount in the museum shop, a complimentary copy of the Garden Museum Journal and priority booking to our popular garden visits and Literary Festival. Or why not give a year of art and gardens to a loved one for Christmas with a gift membership? Membership starts at just £36 a year. Friends Membership A thank you to Bertie Leffman, long-time supporter of our Horticultural Traineeship By Matt Collins, Head Gardener We were saddened by the news recently that Bertie Leffman, a long time supporterof the Museum’s Horticultural Traineeship, had passed away. Bertie’s generous annual donation, which was given in memory of the pleasure he took visiting gardens with his late wife, has since 2013 enabled us to run a successful, unique and increasingly popular traineeship programme. Match-funded by the National Garden Scheme, it offers one gardener each year the opportunity to work with me in the gardens here and engage in the Museum’s busy and exciting schedule of horticultural talks and events, while also getting to spend time in gardens nationwide (and occasionally abroad), learning alongside fantastic plantspeople from head gardeners and landscape designers to floral artists, growers and garden writers… Keep reading Plant of the Week: Mexican tree dahlia (Dahlia tamaulipana) By Matt Collins, Head Gardener Two years ago we marked the flowering of our enormous tree dahlia in a stand alone piece for the museum newsletter, however its blooming this week has been so spectacular — and right on the cusp of frosts — that I wanted to mark the occasion once more, with a ‘Plant of the Week’ dedication. In fact, watching for a crown of amethyst-pink flowers to appear on this behemoth of a dahlia (D. tamaulipana, a rare species dahlia introduced to the UK from north east Mexico by plantsman and collector Nick Macer) has become something of an annual fixture in the garden calendar: a ‘will they/won’t they’ each year, as we gaze up at fattening buds hoping a sudden temperature drop won’t prevent their unfolding. Had this week’s weather arrived a little sooner, this may well have been the result. But once again we’ve been treated to a final and fleeting flicker of colour to close out the year. The slow progression of this tender perennial is a quiet delight: throughout the growing season it is no more than a leafy foil for the various bulgings and bloomings of the courtyard; a steady swelling that by autumn would equal a garden shed in size; a small elephant, maybe. In October we stake and support its bowing branches, with a stake the size of a fence post sledgehammered-in somewhere towards the middle and string woven between stems as inconspicuously as possible. Once trussed, we await the morning when gathering buds are suddenly spied — usually by one of our volunteer gardeners — as if sprouted over night. If we’re lucky, the first violet flowers open by December. Earlier this week I stood watching a solitary bumblebee moving from flower to flower, which I’d not seen before: might this be the year we get seeds? In the New Year there will be bud break on the fatsias, and then the melianthus, followed by the erythroniums that creep through the courtyard planting. Soon after, spring bulbs will emerge, which promise to put on a great show. But for now we celebrate another fantastic, energetic, eventful year at the museum in the presence of rare flowers.

About our gardens Object of the Week: Mary & Pete (1948) by Anthony Gross British printmaker, painter, war artist and film director Anthony Gross painted this picture of his children Mary and Pete in their Chelsea garden in 1948. Mary recently visited the Garden Museum to see the painting in person for the first time in years, and shared the story behind it: “It was painted in 1948 when we lived in Old Church Street, Chelsea from 1945 to 1958. We seem bored with posing and would prefer playing with our toys and swinging on the swing hanging on a branch of the pear tree. It was spectacular when in blossom in spring and seemed to invade the house. In fact, it influenced the short story ‘Bliss’ by Katherine Mansfield written by her in 1918 when she was living two doors down from our house. A few words about my green fabric horse seen in our toy box: he was my favourite toy and I adored him and ever since green has been my favourite colour, but I cannot remember his name…!”  This painting was acquired for the Garden Museum Collection through the HLF Collecting Cultures scheme. Explore our collection online Images: Evelyn Dunbar (1906-1960), Invitation to the Garden, c. 1938, image courtesy of Liss Llewellyn; Jean Cooke, Through the Looking Glass (1960) Oil on canvas © Royal Academy of Arts, London, photographer John Hammond; Sailboats through Coconut Palms, oil on card, 33 x 28 cm, no date Frank Walter; British Flowers Week Late 2022 © Graham Lacdao; Garden Museum courtyard photo courtesy of Gardens Illustrated © Eva Nemeth; Mexican tree dahlia in the courtyard garden © Matt Collins; Mary & Pete (1948) by Anthony Gross, image courtesy of the artist’s estate

Birds and Blooms – Oct/Nov/Dec

We have copies available for “lend.” Just send us a txt or call us. We are happy to drop them by your location.
703/548-1882

• October features the Barred Owl
• November, the white Breasted “Nuthatch”
• December, the Northern Cardinal 

These wonderful publications feature beauty in your backyard and beyond.

You can learn how to attract these birds, learn about their typical habitat and what you can do in the outdoors to find and photograph these wonderful native species.

We traditionally drop these copies off for one (1) weeks time….to your door,  and then we can pick them up to pass on to our next reader.

“Contessa” says..it’s a very good thing to do!