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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Mysteriously multiplying Christmas trees in Brooklyn

“How did my seven-unit building produce ten dumped trees? Don’t ‘miracle of Christmas’ me, Brooklyn, you’ve got some explaining to do,” says playwright and keen-eyed New Yorker Mike Lew.

Any theories?

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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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Malmö: Trees on a treeless street

Is this street empty of trees or full of them? Depends on how you count ’em.

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Berlin: False spring

The sight of these purple crocuses, sprouting out of the grass on my street in large numbers, made me stop in my tracks. Yes, Berlin has seen much unseasonably mild weather this winter. A friend’s strawberry plants started fruiting at New Year’s. But crocuses in February seem a bit much. Will the frost return and kill them? And will they then fail to return when the real spring arrives?

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Belgium: wall vs. trees

This winter, two trees in Hasselt, Belgium managed to deliver a blow to a brick wall in a café parking lot, reports local designer Pablo Hannon, who sent these pictures from the scene of the battle.

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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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San Francisco sidewalks: steep, lush, vivid, wacky

When the fog lifts from gray San Francisco and Indian summer sun floods the up-and-down streets, the plants and buildings suddenly show their true colors in all their vividness. Some plants are painted on, others are trimmed into submission, while others grow into their own forms, whether creating sidewalk tunnels or two-dimensional trees. Here’s a little photo walk around San Francisco’s Mission and Noe Valley neighborhood back when the sun was shining.

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Berlin: Squash – repurposing public structures

A squash plant thriving in a public wooden structure intended to support a young tree. Mainzer Straße was recently dug up to repair water pipes below; this very young tree appears to have been planted after the street was restored. So it, and the structure supporting it, are rather new arrivals on the block.

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Berlin: Giant strawberries, wild in the streets

Every June and July, big red metal strawberries pop up all over Berlin. I always smile when I see them, pause to buy a pound or two of strawberries (the best in town) but rarely stop to photograph them. Now Kate Seabrook, the photographer behind Endbahnhof, is searching for strawberries every Sunday, camera in hand, and sharing her observations here.

I found the strawberry above at Alexanderplatz station; for Kate’s photos, visit her blog.

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