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Wonderground Journal: Infrequently Asked Questions
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RECENT STORIES
New Shoots: Bushfire Recovery, One Year on
BotanicaWhat has happened in the forests and on the ground one year on from Australia's Black Summer bushfires?
Australia-first research reveals staggering loss of threatened plants over 20 years
BotanicaWhen it comes to threatened species, charismatic animals usually get the most attention. But many of Australia’s plants are also in grave danger of extinction, and in many cases, the problem is getting worse.
Leaving no Trace: Design as Fertile Practice
Art & DesignWhat if objects were designed as gifts to the world? A provocative essay by the curators of Plant Fever exhibition.
The Well Gardened Mind
CultureA review of the Well Gardened Mind by Sue Stuart-Smith.
Landscape as Protagonist: New Perspectives on Cities and Nature
Art & DesignAn essay by Stéph Donse exploring the complex relationship between cities and nature.
Highlights
Musk Cottage: Rick Eckersley’s Rogue Garden
GardensAcclaimed Australian garden designer Rick Eckersley is a rogue. So is his garden. So is his upcoming book.
Designing Abundance with Claudia West
Art & Design, PeopleA conversation with trailblazing landscape architect and ecological design advocate, Claudia West
Breathing Fire
CultureAn essay by Georgina Reid exploring questions of relationship and imagination in the wake of the Australian bushfires.
Fiona Brockhoff’s Sublime Garden Wonderland
Art & Design, GardensKarkalla is one of the great private gardens of Australia.
The Man Who Writes Lists: A Fire Story
CultureBird watcher and botanist Max James's property 'vaporised' in the 2020 Australian bushfires. This is Max's story, told by his daughter Clare.
Essays
Audacious Gardening: On Daring to Care
I’m rarely the recipient of negativity, of course. Everyone smiles when I mention I write about gardens, that I am a gardener. “How lovely,” they say, seeing me as a simple and wholesome woman, secateurs fused to my right hand and fingernails permanently encrusted with soil. “Salt of the earth!” they suggest enthusiastically. I smile outwardly, and inwardly too, telling myself they have no idea just how gritty this woman really is.Wild: the Healing Relationship Between Nature and Grief
Wild nature, in contrast to the urban landscape, is a place that invites the grieving to grieve. It does not seek to silence a damaged, confused heart or distract it with noise and activityThe Way of the Gardener
I am committed to tending to this world as a gardener. I am committed to cultivating new shoots, new stories, new hopes, new futures. I do this work with dirt under my nails, with curiosity, reverence and respect. And I wonder, is there any better way to be in the world right now than the way of the gardener – aware, engaged and in love?ARCHIVE
The Value of Front Gardens in a Pandemic, and Always
GardensAn ode to the importance of front gardens in challenging times.
Plant / Life: Artist Lily Langham’s Incredible Country Garden
GardensLily's garden will knock your socks off. A brilliant cure for isolation blues.
Artist Profile: Sally Blake
Art & DesignSally Blake's art practice explores the complex space between humans and nature.
A Celebration of Variegation
BotanicaVariegated plants are the sequins and glitter of the botanical world.
Plants in the Post: An At-Home Project
How-ToYou've got (plant) mail!
Ectopic Plants: Life in the Cracks
Art & DesignPhotographer Chloe Ferres finds hope, and life, in the cracks.
Grasping at Order: In the Garden, in the Mind
GardensA musing on the complexity of gardening in a pandemic.
Jac Semmler’s Mad Perennial Garden
GardensJac Semmler has created a perennial wonderland in suburban Melbourne. A bit of whimsy, a bunch of madness and a lot of fun!
Interrogation and Regeneration with Artist Cara Johnson
Art & Design, PeopleArtist Cara Johnson's works interrogate ideas around land management practices and the human relationship with the natural world.