A piano flowers and grows in Brighton and Hove

 

This old piano, exploding with ivy and potted flowers, stands on a sidewalk in Brighton and Hove, UK. A passing urban plant aficionado shared it with us, asking to remain unnamed. Thank you, friend!

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Berlin: Queen Luise honored with urban plants

A report from Berlin, the former headquarters of Urban Plant Research. While I’ve been busy getting oriented amongst the tropical flora of Hawaii, my friend Dorothee of Lilienfeld sent in this report from the grounds of Schloss Charlottenburg. She found the station of Queen Luise thus decorated. She notes that the pearl earrings are made of snowberries. These are also known as “Knallerbsen,” the German term for the small novelty explosives now in English as bang-snaps or poppers. Was it the Queen’s birthday? Or did the fall abundance of horse chestnuts and berries inspire an impromptu decorating session? I don’t know, but I am charmed.

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Tagebuch unserer Residenz (Diary of our Reisdency), Lichtenberg Studios

(For the English version, click “read more” and scroll down)

Forschungs-Spaziergänge am See, um den Bahnhof Lichtenberg, in Parks und in einem Friedhof. Unsere Woche als Künstlerinnen in Residenz in Lichtenberg Studios war unglaublich voll und ging zu schnell zu Ende. Am Freitag, ein paar Tage vor der Abreise, haben wir zu einer Kunstveranstaltung und Prämiere eines Kurzfilms, der in diesem kürzen aber intensiven Zeitraum in Lichtenberg entstanden ist, die Öffentlichkeit eingeladen.

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Book tip: Berlin Green Places

In one summer, William Niendorff photographed more than 80 of Berlin’s larger parks and green spaces, from former airfields to lakeside idylls. You might remember seeing his photos here at UPR or on his blog, Planting Art. Now hundreds of his images from Summer 2013 have come together in his new book, Berlin Green Places, which you can view in its entirety online. Enjoy!

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San Francisco: moss grows on a rolling bike

Ever seen an old bicycle, repurposed as a planter, in a quaint grandmother’s garden, with pots of trailing vines attached to every available spot? These little grasses and weeds seem to aspire to the same romantic arrangement. Props to eagle-eyed Ms. Hustrulid, who just spotted this amazing interaction between sidewalk flora and sidewalk paint in San Francisco. For more of her photos, please visit her Instagram feed: @glovecompartment.

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Berlin: Taking spring into his own hands

Snow is still on the ground a week after Easter. Most Berliners are busy complaining about the total absence of spring, but my neighbor Herr Mischke has taken matters into his own hands. On the mountain of old snow in front of his bookshop, Atlantis, he’s throwing this spring’s first garden party on the icy peak.

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Geografische Buchhandlung Atlantis is an independent bookshop ‘for reading travelers and traveling readers,’ with maps, travel guides, and general interest books (mostly in German). Karl-Marx-Allee 98, Berlin-Friedrichshain.

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Miami: Shade Tree installation Friday, Dec. 7

For one day only, a very odd tree in Miami will become a pop-up art gallery and installation site for an  event entitled Shade Tree. Tomorrow, December 6, artist Barron Sherer informed us via email, he and William Keddell will be showing a site-specific work about this large tree which has grown right through and around a chain link fence.

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Berlin: Deciduous Christmas trees in Kreuzberg

The folks on Dresdenerstraße, a little street tucked away behind Kottbusser Tor in Berlin-Kreuzberg, have gotten up several of their currently leafless street trees with colorful baubles and ribbons. For once, Christmas finery isn’t reserved for the conifers.

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Berlin: Ivy snuggles up to stockinged drainpipe

Outfitted by guerrilla-knitting street artists, this Berlin drainpipe offers a warm surface for an ivy vine on a cold November day.

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Berlin: Shopping cart planter!

The shopping cart as mobile guerrilla gardening planter, which I first saw in Basel, Switzerland last year, has appeared in Berlin-Neukölln.

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