Book Review: The House Gardener

As an avid 'Urban Jungle Blogger' I was very impatient to get my fingers on the latest book of London based author Isabelle Palmer, 'The House Gardener'. After her successful first book 'The Balcony Gardener' (I reviewed it HERE), the new book focuses on small-space gardening in interiors. Small-space gardening? Interiors? I think this book has my name all over it! 

'The House Gardener' is all about innovative ways to display your houseplants and unexpected, creative plant arrangements. The author structures her book in various project chapters: Enclosed in Glass, Hanging Gardens, Old Finds and Just Outside. These chapters are followed by a comprehensive basics section with great tips on which plants to choose for your home and lifestyle, different planting techniques and tips on plant care. While going through the book I had to bookmark a few projects that really caught my eye. And I really loved the 'Top 10 House Gardening Tips' - very helpful for urban gardeners like myself!

'The House Gardener' was published by CICO is available online or from all good bookshops. For my German readers here's a hint: The German version will be launched in September by DVA publishing and can be preordered HERE.

I hope you enjoyed this little book review. I can recommend the book to any 'Urban Jungle Blogger' out there. If you love plants and indoor gardening, this books offers a great selection of ideas how to display and arrange your plants. And it is suitable for all kind of levels - for beginners as well as for more advanced urban gardeners. 

Happy reading & planting everyone!

Photography by Igor Josifovic

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New Outdoor Collection By Rowen & Wren

With improving weather conditions and my soft spot for urban gardens, I was more than smitten by the new outdoor collection of one of my favorite UK based homewares brand and online shop, Rowen & Wren. As part of the spring/summer 2014 collection, the new outdoor goodies will be soon available in their webshop.

Rowen & Wren managed to magically capture the outdoor collection through beautiful photography. Every image carries the promise of happiness in your own garden - be it an outdoor garden, a little balcony garden or even a small, urban indoor garden (which would be my case for example). The collection reflects all aspects of modern living and highlight the importance of living with the nature in our dwellings as part of a healthy and happy lifestyle.

As an Urban Jungle Blogger I feel inspired to add more greens this spring. And I think I might need one or two plant pots from Rowen & Wren's great outdoor collection. I particularly love the weathered looking plant pots and the glass domes.

Are you planning on adding greens to your home this spring? And what do you think of the collection? Let me know!

Happy weekend, friends!

Photography by Rowen & Wren

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Urban Jungle Bloggers: My Gardening Secret

Hello urban jungle friends and green lovers! A new month has started and we are slightly gliding from mild and sunny autumn days into more gloomy and cooler winter days. November is a period not only of meteorological shifts, it also means a considerable change for your plants at home. Even more so if you have cacti and succulents at home like I do. So I will focus in this month's post on cacti and succulents and share 'my gardening secret' with you. Although I don't think it's a secret at all, but maybe it might be handy for green newbies and those of you considering the addition of cacti and succulents in your home.

Cacti and succulents are perfect green companions for small apartments and for busy urban folks. They require a minimum of care and still thrive and prosper happily. During the sunnier periods of spring and summer you can place your cacti and succulents on sunny places, windowsills, balconies, gardens. You water them depending on the weather every other week and fertilize them to make sure they get all the botanical nutrition they need. But when winter season comes upon us, your green friends will slide into botanical hibernation. This means you have to care even less for them, but you need to consider a few simple points for the perfect plant hibernation.

Small scale dwellers will need to find a nook in their homes that is less exposed to daylight and thus ideally a tad cooler. If you have no extra room or space like an unheated stairways, basement, an unheated extra room, try of find a corner of your apartment with the least sunlight exposure and try not to overheat the room (it's anyway not so good to live in overheated apartments for that matter). Group your cacti and succulents together and leave them there. Stop fertilizing them as of October/November until warmer spring days arrive in March. Stop watering them too. If they remain in a heated space, water them only rarely to avoid complete dehydration. But be stingy with water. They don't really need a lot. 

Even though your cacti and succulents will go into hibernation over winter, look after them from time to time. And love them no less than in spring and summer. They will reward you with fleshy, vibrant greens and probably a few blooms coming spring. Happy urban gardening!

Urban Jungle Bloggers is a monthly series by 3 bloggers: Igor (Happy Interior Blog), Jocelyn (The Little Room of Style) and Judith (JOELIX.com). Every month we share ideas to create an urban jungle through styling ideas, DIYs and green tips & tricks. You can find additional inspiration on our Urban Jungle Bloggers Pinterest board. Want to join? Use #urbanjungle on Twitter and Instagram. Or let us know and we'll share the badge and upcoming topics with you. Let's bring some green into your homes and blogs!

Photography by Igor Josifovic

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5 Happy Inspirations: Outdoors Goes Indoors

With the new monthly blog series 'Urban Jungle Bloggers' I am sharing my passion for the outdoors world that sometimes can be brought indoors in the form of little plant collections, flowers or windowsill gardens. This has been the guiding thought for today's selection of five goodies: They all bring the outdoors indoors. A bit of nature for your happy home if you want so. Let's have a closer look on what I've curated for you:

1. 'Into The Wild' wallpaper by Hibou Home: What a lovely wallpaper design, especially for a nursery or a even a little feature wall for the reading nook. It's like spending a time out there in the woods while gazing at this playful wallpaper design.

2. Joules Yellow Garden Boots by Garden XL: Here comes the ultimate fashion accessory for all you urban gardeners out there - now how fancy are these yellow and blue striped garden boots? Oh my, I wish I had a garden to jump around with these boots. I don't even care that they are marked as 'for women'. Oy!

3. Blue ocean cushion by Tye: The new Swedish online store boasts with beautiful, nature inspired home textiles. My absolute favorite is this blue ocean cushion. It brings the waves right onto your sofa!

4. 'Flower Child' art print by Clare Elsaesser via Etsy: How about a fresh bunch of flowers? If you couldn't make it to the flower market or your local supermarket, you can adorn your home's walls with this wonderful flower art print.

5. Linen wrapped pots by Terrain: If you are growing a little indoor or outdoor garden with potted plants, opt for these vintage looking pots. They look like they've been outside forever facing the ever changing weather caprices. 

So, will you bring some outdoors indoors in your home?

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Urban Jungle Bloggers: A Community Garden In Vancouver

For the second post of our monthly 'Urban Jungle Bloggers' series we chose the topic of green neighbourhoods. Since a real urban gardener loves interior gardens as much as exterior ones, we opted for this topic. Moreover, the various posts written by all participating bloggers such as Judith or Jocelyn will show us the variety of green spaces in urban areas. 

Now, some of you know that I am just back from a three-weeks trip to Canada and the USA and I thought I'll give you an idea what I had discovered in the Canadian West Coast metropolis Vancouver: the Davie Village Community Garden in the city's West End district.

If it wasn't for my little shopping spree on Davie Street, I would have never discovered this garden. I passed by and was amazed by the idea of a community garden with plots growing flowers, fruits, vegetables right in the middle of the city. Even though this garden looked a bit wild in some of its corners, I loved the idea of gardening in the city. This is a concept that is hardly known in Europe - I have not seen anything similar here in Munich so far nor have I encountered such an urban garden in Paris or any other city I traveled to. 

I admit, I would probably rent a plot in such an urban community garden if we had one here. I mean imagine the wonderful, soothing power of gardening after a busy day at work. Plus you grow your own veggies right in the city. Fun! 

On my trip through Canada and the USA I have seen very similar community gardens in Seattle, Portland and San Francisco. Plus I have noticed many buildings with rooftop gardens, many of which also had beehives to produce honey that would then be sold in local cafés and restaurant. 

All these encounters convinced me that urban gardening is growing beyond a trend. That it is rather a shift in our perception of everyday living, of what we expect of our lives. We love our urban lives but want more of nature in it, we prefer organic food over processed food, we buy local produce instead of imported stuff. We cherish both, our urban lifestyle and the desire to be surrounded by green spaces. Hence the urban gardens. What do you think of such a community garden? Are there such gardens in your city? I am curious, let me know!


Urban Jungle Bloggers is a monthly series by 3 bloggers: Igor (Happy Interior Blog), Jocelyn (The Little Room of Style) and Judith (JOELIX.com). Every month we share ideas to create an urban jungle through styling ideas, DIYs and green tips & tricks. You can find additional inspiration on our Urban Jungle Bloggers Pinterest board. Want to join? Use #urbanjungle on Twitter and Instagram. Or let us know and we'll share the badge and upcoming topics with you. Let's bring some green into your homes and blogs!

Photography by Igor Josifovic

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Urban Jungle Bloggers: Create Green Spaces

The expression green with envy must have been invented after someone had spotted a green garden and turned all envious for not having one himself. Other than that I could not understand the concept of this expression. Now since envy is not something we would like to grow in the bloggersphere, we - that is my fellow Urban Jungle Bloggers Judith, Jocelyn, and I - have decided to inspire you once a month to create your very own green urban space. A little green nook in your downtown apartment, a lush green balcony or a tiny city garden - you name it! Urban dwelling and green living have never been so close as today.

With today's post we would like to kick-off our green blogger mission by sharing our own green spaces. All three of us live in three different countries and in three different places location-, style-, and size-wise. All three posts are here to show you that it doesn't  take much space, time or effort to grow a green oasis in your home.

My own green corner is tiny as is my rooftop apartment. But trust me, even 32 square meters are sufficient for a little urban garden. If you happen to live in a rooftop apartment too, I suggest you focus on cacti and succulents and other somewhat resistant greenies as it tends to get pretty hot up here in summer. I have a small assortment of green buddies including two cacti, an aloe vera plant, a money tree, a Chines money plant, a monstera, a palm tree, hanging rosemary, and a Sansevieria cylindrica or African Spear. Oh, and a blooming orchid in my bedroom. All easy to care for and all very sculptural and decorative! Not to mention healthy for my indoor climate.

How about you? Do you have any green plants in your home? What's your stance on botanicals indoors? Join our urban jungle bloggers fun and become one of us. Cherish nature in your home and make your happy living a healthy one, too!

Happy green blogging!

Urban Jungle Bloggers is a monthly series by 3 bloggers: Igor (Happy Interior Blog), Jocelyn (The Little Room of Style) and Judith (JOELIX.com). Every month we share ideas to create an urban jungle through styling ideas, DIYs and green tips & tricks. You can find additional inspiration on our Urban Jungle Bloggers Pinterest board. Want to join? Use #urbanjungle on Twitter and Instagram. Or let us know and we'll share the badge and upcoming topics with you. Let's bring some green into your homes and blogs!

Photography by Igor Josifovic

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A New Book & My Urban Garden

Over the past few months I have become fond of greenies in my home. Actually, I've started growing my own little urban garden. Now given the fact that I dwell in a tiny rooftop apartment without balcony, you can imagine that it is not very easy to grow a little jungle. But if it were easy, it would be boring, right? I've carefully selected my plants to fit their new habitat and my lifestyle. This means I've picked green plants that can handle lots of heat (rooftop apartments can get really hot during summer) and which won't miss me too much if I am on one of my numerous trips. Hence, I have lots of succulents, an adorable cactus and robust greenies (even a monstera plant that I rescued from the office garbage - hello good karma!).

I haven't thought consciously of my new 'green thumb' - I grew up in a typical Serbian home with lots and lots of green plants. My mother really had a jungle at home! Thus I thought it's a natural thing to continue it, especially now that greenies in homes are really trending. But when I received the book 'The Balcony Gardener. Creative Ideas for Small Space' by Isabelle Palmer a few weeks ago (I got the German version), I realized I have turned into a little urban gardener. Even though I have no balcony, this book offers a plethora of wonderful ideas to create a green oasis in the even smallest of homes. Whether you like to grow flowers, veggies or herbs - this book is such a great guide to help you along the way.

I really like that the book is well structured and starts with basics such as tools, plant pots, soil types, colour arrangements, plant care, positioning as well as decorative elements. Then it guides you through thematic chapters such as urban oasis, creative recycling, green diary and more. My little favorite: a herb garden in a wine box! Oh my, I might try this actually!

Are you an urban gardener? Do you have a green thumb? Let me know!

Get the English book HERE and the German version HERE.

Thanks to DVA publishing house for the copy!

Photography by Igor Josifovic

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