London Archives - Page 2 of 6 - One Hundred Dollars a Month

Window Box Ideas for Late Winter and Early Spring

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By Mavis Butterfield on February 24, 2014 · 3 Comments

While The Girl and I were walking in London this past week I couldn’t help but pull out my camera {about a hundred times} and snap some photographs of the window boxes we walked past.

I’ll admit it, I am a total sucker for a well planted window box and we’ve had one in the front window of just about every house we’ve ever lived in.

If you plan it out right, you can usually get away with just planting your window box gardens about three times a year. Well, at least that is what I do up here in the Seattle area anyway.

If you have OCD this one with the trimmed boxwoods would be ideal. 😉

I love, love, love the way these potted geraniums look. Unfortunately you would need to live someplace with pretty mild winters if you were going to plant these in your window box.

And last but not least, you just can’t go wrong with ivy, can you?

Do you have a favorite? I think the first garden box with the daffodils and moss might be mine.

~Mavis

Looking for a little more window box inspiration? Check out the book Window Boxes: Indoors & Out. I own a copy and pull it out every year to get ideas.

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Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew Garden

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By Mavis Butterfield on February 22, 2014 · 9 Comments

Last time we went to the Royal Botanical Gardens, I showed you tons and tons and tons of pictures, but I never really gave you the history of the place. Shame on me.

The Kew Gardens take up about 300 acres of land in southwest London. They are a combination of outdoor gardens and glasshouses {uh-mazing glass greenhouses}.

The whole of the gardens house the world’s largest collection of living plants. They are are more than 30,000 kinds of living plants. Be still my beating heart. And while it has amazing gardens, at it’s heart, it is dedicated to preserving and studying all horticulture. There’s about a million ways to experience it, from tours to classes.

They also host events throughout the year, depending on what is in season/bloom. It really is impressive. Right now the orchid festival is going on and it is freakin’ fantastic.

The first part of the gardens opened in 1759. The collection of plants kind of grew chaotically and without much planning at first–and over the years more land was added to the overall conservatory.

The MANY buildings, like Queen Charlotte’s Cottage and the Princess of Whales show the extensive royal influence over the development of the gardens.

The Orangery, originally designed to be a greenhouse, now functions as a cafe/restaurant. In it’s prime, it was the largest glasshouse in England. In true British fashion, it overlooks the perfectly landscaped grounds. The menu changes daily and time around we enjoyed tea and cupcakes.

And let’s not forget about the gift shop. There is everything from Burgon and Ball enamelware, garden books and tools plus a nice selection of potted plants both inside and outside the gift shop.

Hands down Kew Gardens is one of my favorite stops in England.

How about YOU? Do you have a favorite place in the world? What is it?

~Mavis

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The Garden Museum London, England

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By Mavis Butterfield on February 21, 2014 · Leave a Comment

If you ever get a chance to go to London, try to stop by The Garden Museum. It is small–but totally charming. I read the reviews online and they were a little mixed. Some people thought the Garden Museum wasn’t big enough and a few thought there were not enough displays.

But I’m here to tell you the Garden Museum in London was absolutely charming. And the gift shop was spot on. I walked away with several treasures {and I’m not really a souvenir kind of person} and was glad I spotted by.

The museum portion was born out of an attempt to save an old church, where John Tradescant was buried {1570-1638}. If you don’t know {which I didn’t}, he was England’s first great gardener and plant collector.

Can you imagine a culture that values gardening so much that they will build a museum around the “greats?” Seriously, I could live and die happy in England. That’s right, stuff me full of tea and scones and give me a shovel and some seeds, I LOVE it here.

Anywho, the gardens were created in 1980, and true to form, they are lovingly manicured. The plants were specifically chosen to reflect the 17th century, and honor the original gardeners. The topiaries were my favorite.

There’s even a quaint little cafe with soup and salads and TEA off to one side of the church. We didn’t stay for lunch, but the food looked delicious.

If you time it right, they have Temporary Exhibits in place–with a pretty wide range of topics. I snapped a photo of these white “gardening gloves.” Can you imagine gardening in these beauties?

We had a great time and if you are ever in London, you should go.

Peace Out Garden Scouts,

Mavis

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Walking Around London – Pastries, Snogging and Museums

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By Mavis Butterfield on February 21, 2014 · 8 Comments

If you have read this blog for any length of time I’m sure you know that I pretty much ~~don’t like~~ can’t sit still. Sitting still is my kryptonite. Yesterday The Girl and I left the hotel at 9:30 am and by the time we returned at 6pm, we were exhausted.

The day started with a titanium screw falling out of my jaw. I saw it as a sign the British were glad I was here. Luckily The Girl is not one bit squeamish and she was able to twist it back in. {And yes, it did hurt!}

Then, we left for Hyde Park.

Giant gumdrop {boxwood} hedges.

The Orangery at Kensington Palace. I soooo want to have afternoon tea here.

After a stroll around the park we went on a mission to find the Hummingbird Bakery. On our way there we passed SNOG. When we read the sign in the window “Snogging is healthy and 100% natural” we couldn’t help from giggling all the way down the street.

Mama JJ do you see all this cheese?

And pastries?

Breakfast.

Cherry tree in bloom.

Iconic red phone booth.By 11:32 am London time I had taken 9,162 steps.

Monkeys.

More pastries.

Big Ben and the Palace of Westminster.

I am soooo getting this printed on a canvas! I LOVE my Rebel Camera!

The Garden Museum.

Walking makes you hungry.

Crowds make me crazy. Apparently London children are on school holiday this week. Which is really awesome if all you want to do is look at a couple of exhibits at the Natural History Museum. Gaaaa.

Saw something in the window and decided to pop in. Then quickly decided money would rather be spent on more pastries.

Tomorrow’s headline: Woman trades car for AGA stove. Seriously, Handsome Husband, are you reading this? How cool would one of these be?

Tea and scones back in the room. We walked about 12 miles!!! Holy crackers people, that’s almost a half marathon.

Souvenirs. {Lipgloss}.

Evening snacks.

We are having a blast! Have a great weekend everyone,

~Mavis and The Girl

This post may contain affiliate links. These affiliate links help support this site. For more information, please see my disclosure policy. Thank you for supporting One Hundred Dollars a Month.