Vegemite, Britney Spears, brussel sprouts – you rather love them or hate them (for me it goes hate, love, love). Tegan just wrote about her distain for the sprouts (and how all cabbages are related) and I‘m here to mansplain how she might just not have had the new, good stuff. … Read more
Friday is podcast day. This week, we talk about the mystery of the angiosperm explosion during the crestaceous period when flowering plants suddenly took over the ecosystems and when dinosaurs roamed the earth.
You can find the podcast here and in all common podcast players.
This post is part of our advent calendar. You can find a posts here.… Read more
Nothing induces memories quite like smells. Especially in winter, different smells trigger warm emotional responses: the smell of cotton candy, fried sausages and cheap mulled wine makes people reminiscence of Christmas markets. The smell of pine gives us that lovely feeling of sitting in front of a Christmas tree on a cold but exciting morning. Let‘s have a look at what makes that smell.… Read more
It began with a Christmas Card, which only caught my eye because of the Penguins.* But the penguins were holding a small placard – the protesting kind, and the placard read ‘down with sprouts’.
*Penguins are the greatest. It goes Plants, Cats, Penguins. Although some penguins are probably even better than some cats.
I didn’t understand, but I was hooked… and soon I started seeing sprouts everywhere in London. Not just small ‘sprout trees’ sold at the farmers’ market, but also sprouts on Christmas wrapping paper, and even a shiny sprout Christmas ornament, not unlike the infamous ‘German’ Pickle.… Read more
Over the past few weeks, I’ve been reading up on the various Christmas traditions of different cultures in search for some inspo for this Advent Calendar. And I think I’ve found my favourite.… Read more
When I was young, I loved The Sound of Music. … Read more
Those who love winter usually love it for the opportunity to wrap oneself in a blanket, sit by the fire and enjoy the cozy indoor heat. Well, plants don’t have that luxury, most of them have to stay outside (despite Tegan’s best efforts to give them all a warm home). And for some, winter is almost never over.
For people in Central Europe or Northern America, winter is a passing season – its cold, dry weather is sure to pass, eventually. In some regions however, the cold season spans most of the year.… Read more
As I was reading fun facts about my beloved West Australian Christmas tree, wikipedia had the audacity to note that New Zealand also has its own Christmas tree. And I suspect it just might be better.… Read more
We’re back! The podcast took a short break for a few weeks but now, it is back, and it’s going strong. This week, we’re talking about not one but two papers – at the same time! We’re all about mistletoe, present you our favourite plant and so much more. It feels good to be back.
You can find the full episode here or in your podcast player.
The conversation went a bit like this:… Read more