I am not sure how I feel about being old enough to see fashions and fads truly recycle themselves.  I remember my grandmother and mother saying to me “Thats not new….I remember when blah blah was the fashion back when I was….blah blah”.  Well, now I am saying it.

When I was a kid, I was obsessed with my sun block printing kit.   I loved it and it seemed at the time like something lots of other people did too…..so the resurgence of this pretty way to capture a bit of your garden for your home couldn’t please me more, even if it does make me sound like my mother and make me wonder if I may need to begin lying about my age.

Have you noticed the resurgence of sun prints?

Sun printing was originally developed by Anna Atkins (a British botanist, 1799-1871) who used the process to document and catalog plants.  She felt it was more accurate than her drawings.  There is a great telling of the story of her and the algea that she first documented at Venetian Red.

The process (as applied to not just scientific record keeping) reveals beautiful results that are perfect for decor of all kinds.

Here is my round up of all the sunblocking that is catching my attention:

Blueware Tiles, vases and even lampshades by Studio Glithero.

Both Martha  Stewart and Garden Design have nice write-ups about the how-tos and you can get printable fabric at blue prints on fabric.

You can also learn more about doing it yourself from a new book by  Christine Schmidt of Yellow Owl Workshop.

I am excited to give this old craft of mine a new twist….maybe I can even get my kids hooked on it, and one day when they are 30 something, they can say, hey- “that’s not new,  I used to do blah blah back when I was blah blah…”;)

To see more sun-spiring print inspiration, check out my newest pinterest board.

images from Martha  Stewart , Garden Design, Rinne Allen,  and that cake (which is not really cyanotype but an airbrushed edible copy) is from Once Wed.

I have heard of many interesting and off beat ideas for gift giving to newly-wed couples, but a garden makeover has not, until now, been one of them.  A company called Bottom Drawer in the UK has evolved a scheme by which couples can work through them and a local team of landscape professionals to figure out a garden plan and then break it out into gift-able gift registry pieces.

So, Aunt Rose can give you a bed of roses, the Mother-in law to be can make sure you eat right with a freshly planted kitchen garden, and maybe the best friend can give the privacy hedge newlyweds might desire.

image from style me pretty.

Have you ever heard of term Jump the Shark? (wikipedia defines: something (usually a tv show) has broadened beyond television – indicating the moment in its evolution when a brand, design, or creative effort moves beyond the essential qualities that initially defined its success, beyond relevance or recovery – in a moment characterized by absurdity.)

I thought of that this morning when I saw this video.  Do you think that it is possible for horticultural trends to ‘jump the shark‘?

This makes me think so.  I really hate when something (like in this case the popularity of succulents) goes to a point of stupidity.  Here, they are being used in a promo video that has nothing to do with plants, their usefulness, their ease of growing, their appropriateness to a site, or really anything even related to gardens or horticulture.

I think the succulent craze may have jumped the shark with this one.  What do you think? Has the succulent craze hit its crescendo yet?  Can horti trends (or even design trends in general)  jump the shark?  I am curious what you think?

In the mean time, lets take a moment of silence for the little plants that are surely all dead now after what was certainly a long photo shoot to create this irrelevant little video.  Don’t get me wrong, I am not some sort of PETA-ish plant protector, plants die, it happens all the time.  Flower shows are hard on plants, TV and other demonstrative activities can kill delicate ecosystems and visiting gardens can alter the environment permanently and irrevocably.  But these have a point, education, health, fresh air, design, teaching, inspiring, etc. etc…..

Here though, these little plants are being used as objects that in no way relate to the brand and their use accomplishes nothing…..except that they are trendy. I just don’t get it.

Est (the brand) -  is a new online shelter magazine from Australia — and even though I am (probably) overly grumpy this morning about this little video, the magazine very much worth perusing. (online here)

You have heard of Guerrilla gardening right?  It’s all about people surreptitiously planting in places that are less than hospitable.   Operation: Ivy League makes a slightly more focused effort, but one that I think could be applied more widely.

“Travel to the City of London on a Monday morning and you will become absorbed into the hustle and bustle of a monstrous pin-striped machine. Individuality is frowned upon as is dawdling and looking lost or confused. Towering buildings glare down at you and heighten your sense of helplessness. Those unaccustomed to the pace and flow of city life may often feel a sensation of drowning when first entering its confines. To conquer the fear and succeed or to escape offers your only salvation. Return to the same place on the following Sunday and the place takes on an entirely different tone. The buildings still loom, still whisper their mantra, but without the thousand-tiny suited cogs they lose some of their potency. Turning through the winding backstreets you begin to notice signs of another sort of life. Tiny weeds creep through cracks in the paving stones, moss covers drainpipes and spiders lie in wait for dinner in dark corners. Slowly but surely nature is pushing through in a quiet revolt to regain what it once controlled. On a Sunday afternoon you can feel the City begin to breathe again.”

The Ivy League encourages the planting and nurturing of ivy growth on corporate architecture. Ivy-clad buildings are generally associated with academic pursuits, thoughtfulness and idyllic countrysides, so the idea to cover the concrete jungle with actual jungle is a hope for distraction from hardened pursuits and additionally an encouragement of  birds, butterflies and other wildlife to the area.

This (including the actual adventures of sneaking into the city and finding homes of dozens of baby ivy) and other clever ideas for bringing a little more nature into seemingly unnatural environments can be found at Stories From Space.

image from archdaily.

Care to join me for a glass of wine? Isn’t this just the perfect looking place to hang out all summer?

Cava is just up the road from me in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. This cozy little wine and tapas bar got some serious garden treatment form Charles Hugo and his team.  Not only did they cover the outside of the building with a beautiful green wall, but they transformed the courtyard from barren brick bleak, to cozy and modern.  And here is the biggest wow of the whole thing,  they did it with native plants! (the only native plant green wall on record in the US).  Environmentally impressive and beautiful.

Make sure to click through to see a few of the ‘during images’ .

Do not get distracted by the beautiful console table.  Avert your eyes; focus on the wall behind it.

Twisting something that may have become  little cliche into something fresh is design genius.  Stacked wood walls, while eternally attractive and rustic-ly beautiful are (as of right now) I think on the downward side of the trend curve.  But with a change of scale (bigger logs) and the addition of the zen pebbles, the design is now all cool and new.