Catching The Rain

Google Doodle – Kew Gardens

Google today have a Doodle for Kew Gardens’ 250th birthday, and the Queen is paying a visit.

Kew's Google Doodle celebrating its 250th anniversary

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Tags: google, google doodle, kew

A ‘lost forest’ – Kew’s discovery in Mozambique, thanks to Google Earth!

Kew botanist Jonathan Timberlake recording vegetation on the steep slopes of Mount Mabu. Photo: Tom Timberlake

There’s a nice audio slideshow, with some stunning pictures, now available on the BBC site – Audio slideshow: Discovering a ‘lost forest’.

It’s covered in more depth on the Kew site – “Google Earth helps Kew put ‘lost forest’ of Mount Mabu on the conservation map”

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Kew on Newsnight – Obama’s first 100 days: Environment

Always nice to see Kew being featured on high profile programmes like newsnight, and especially on such a prominent news story (overly so if you ask me, but that’s not important here!).

I particularly like the montage of a giant George Bush in the temperate House….

BBC NEWS | Programmes | Newsnight | Obama’s first 100 days: Environment.

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Tags: bbc, environment, kew, newsnight

What did Siebold ever do for us?

Well, according to the FT Magazine article, Defining Moment – Japanese knotweed invades Britain, he was the person responsible for introducing Japanese knotweed to the British Isles, way back on 9 August 1850.

Mind you, he also got up to some fairly dodgy dealings in its native Japan. Perhaps as some sort of atonement he then gave them the piano, but I think he was dead before the magnitude of introducing one of Britain’s most pernicious weeds was realised.

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More baobab press coverage

It’s nice to see the baobab story getting so much coverage, and even nicer to see that the editorial and factual quality of the articles, such as the new one on the BBC site (First taste of a magical fruit) is improving in leaps and bounds!

It reminds me of a book I was asked to proof for botanical accuracy, Miriam Moss’s enchanting children’s title This is the Tree.

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Youngs “Kew Gold”

What could possibly be described using the following:
- retro touch
- aroma of wet corn
- some fruit and hint of cardboard
- proper nettley green hop aroma
- Mellow wine gum citrus
- buttery dunked Malted Milk
- a hint of sting
- Some cereal on the nose
- a deep, irn-bruey gold
- biscuit malts, citrus and yeast
- resinous lemon towards the finish

Well, it could only be Youngs Kew Gold, the new beer to replace the much missed Kew Brew.

I had my first bottle of it in the Coach & Horses on Kew Green last week, and I must say it was quite pleasant drinking – certainly a good beer for a warm summers’ evening (which unfortunately it wasn’t at the time!).

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Tags: kew