Pelargoniums for perfume all year round | James Wong

The intense aroma of pelargoniums comes from their leaves – which means the scent lasts the whole year

As we garden we often spend so much time focused on the visual that it can be all too easy to overlook one of the other great gifts that tending plants gives us – their incredible scent. In fact, upon the advent of colour printing, much of modern breeding work with even the most highly scented species started to prioritise appearance above all else. This was to allow plants to vie for attention on the pages of gardening catalogues. It meant that many modern roses, sweet peas and even some jasmine cultivars began to lose their fragrance. To most of us, that’s nothing short of a travesty.

While the tide may finally be shifting on this trend, there is one group of aromatic plants that have always been selected for the very best perfume, resulting in some truly spectacular results. Fortunately, they are easy to grow, have a long season of interest and are very affordable: scented pelargoniums.

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from Property | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2WrlxUq
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Three quarters of renters say they can’t afford to buy

Sound familiar?

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Buying and selling a house with subsidence Nottingham Estate Agents

Few things strike as much fear into buyers and sellers alike as subsidence. Who would buy a property that was at risk of structural collapse? And if you are a seller, the nagging question that keeps you awake at night: should you buy a house if the tell-tale signs of subsidence are going to be […]

The post Buying and selling a house with subsidence appeared first on OnTheMarket.com blog.

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More light, more sun, May brings gardeners the promise of an endless summer | Allan Jenkins

Get sowing – summer squash, sweet peas, calendula, tagetes, peas, salad – and enjoy this special time of year

It’s finally May, the gardener’s month of active sun. Two hours more light a day by Friday 31st. It is the start of my favourite time, since I was a child, with the promise of endless summer. Like the start of the long school holidays.

It is also my duty to warn you, though, that there may still be a (slight) possibility of frost. Be mindful with tender seedlings and harden them off before planting outside. Take care not to overcrowd them (truthfully, this is my greatest garden weakness – just ask Howard, who will be shaking his head).

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from Property | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2UXcngQ
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More light, more sun, May brings gardeners the promise of an endless summer | Allan Jenkins

Get sowing – summer squash, sweet peas, calendula, tagetes, peas, salad – and enjoy this special time of year

It’s finally May, the gardener’s month of active sun. Two hours more light a day by Friday 31st. It is the start of my favourite time, since I was a child, with the promise of endless summer. Like the start of the long school holidays.

It is also my duty to warn you, though, that there may still be a (slight) possibility of frost. Be mindful with tender seedlings and harden them off before planting outside. Take care not to overcrowd them (truthfully, this is my greatest garden weakness – just ask Howard, who will be shaking his head).

Continue reading...

from Home And Garden | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2UXcngQ
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The high life: a light-filled top-floor apartment in Porto

Homewares designer Christian Haas has set his imagination free on the top floor of his Porto townhouse

Christian Haas lives in a tall, thin 19th-century townhouse on a side street in Porto, where each floor has a different mood and function. His home is on the top two floors, above a ground-floor restaurant and his work studio on the first floor. Here, there are computers, tables are spread with drawings and shelves lined with miniature models of his furniture designs. They include a bench made in tiny slivers of balsa wood and neat, origami-like chairs fashioned from paper. “Even at an early stage, this is a useful way to immediately see whether a shape works,” he explains.

Upstairs, there are some finished, full-sized versions of his designs dotted around his home – but not in an obvious, showroomy way. “After thinking about shapes and materials all day, I prefer to keep things quite simple up here,” he explains.

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from Property | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2GVuRcB
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The high life: a light-filled top-floor apartment in Porto

Homewares designer Christian Haas has set his imagination free on the top floor of his Porto townhouse

Christian Haas lives in a tall, thin 19th-century townhouse on a side street in Porto, where each floor has a different mood and function. His home is on the top two floors, above a ground-floor restaurant and his work studio on the first floor. Here, there are computers, tables are spread with drawings and shelves lined with miniature models of his furniture designs. They include a bench made in tiny slivers of balsa wood and neat, origami-like chairs fashioned from paper. “Even at an early stage, this is a useful way to immediately see whether a shape works,” he explains.

Upstairs, there are some finished, full-sized versions of his designs dotted around his home – but not in an obvious, showroomy way. “After thinking about shapes and materials all day, I prefer to keep things quite simple up here,” he explains.

Continue reading...

from Home And Garden | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2GVuRcB
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