CATEGORIES
A hungry heart
A man who strove, sought and found, Wassily Kandinsky pioneered not one, but two artistic movements against the tumultuous backdrop of early-20thcentury Europe, as Holly Black relates
Parsley of Macedon
Not quite a native, alexanders can taste like joss stick-tainted celery or sweetly spiced parsnips, depending on your method, warns John Wright
Royal favours
AFTER much speculation as to what might be the favourite flower Her of Elizabeth II, the truth was revealed at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2019.
Smart thinking
A private family garden near Godalming in Surrey How does a garden design begin? With a lot of questions and by finding a central theme says James Alexander-Sinclair
Escape to the hills
These four houses in the county of Surrey can offer the best of both worlds: rural settings and easy access to London
A little help from your friends
Driven to distraction by paint charts? A colour consultant could be the answer for anyone befuddled by choosing the right hue
A (crab) apple a day
They may be too tart to eat, but crab apples can be made into all sorts of good things, from jellies to salves, and may even have been Adam and Eve's forbidden fruit, says Ian Morton
The sound of centuries past
The past 50 years have seen an energetic revival of the instruments that would have been played in Bach's day. Henrietta Bredin meets players fascinated by the noises Baroque composers would have heard
Where the wild things are
In his paintings, Archibald Thorburn captured the essence of Nature, whether it was piercing-cold snow enveloping a stricken deer or the existential fear of the ptarmigan. This talent for conveying atmosphere set him apart, finds Charles Harris
The legacy Sir John Soane and his Museum
EXASPERATED and despairing at the provocative behaviour of his sons, Sir John Soane (1753-1837) decided towards the end of his life to make the British public his heir. His eldest son, John-whom he had hoped would follow him as an architect, but who had no interest in the profession -had died in 1823 and he had become estranged from his younger son George.
From royal favourite to stranger's heir - Stansted Park, West Sussex, part 1
A property of the Stansted Park Foundation In the first of two articles, John Goodall looks at the stages by which a medieval hunting lodge developed from the 17th century to become a great country house
Orchid spotting
I HAVE had many horticultural enthusiasms, but I have never really caught the orchid bug. Better gardeners than me— rather more passionate plantsmen —have orchid houses with graded temperature zones for the different species: cool-ish is fine for cymbidiums, slightly warmer for phalaenopsis and steamy tropical heat for vanilla orchids.
We need to trade on a level playing field
Life after the NFU and why MPs of all parties need to sort a food strategy
That boat has sailed
WELL, we haven’t stopped the boats. The Rwanda Bill was supposed to deter illegal migrants. It hasn’t and it won’t.
Through the looking glass
Little is more alluring than a mirror, its glittering reflection at once a symbol of vanity, palatial splendour and human ingenuity. Matthew Dennison charts its history from polished obsidian to decorative furnishing of unrivalled glamour
The sinner who painted saints
Although named after an angel, Caravaggio needed no stronger reason to brawl than having his artichokes dressed with butter instead of olive oil. Maev Kennedy delves into his short and brutal life
Whistle down the wind
‘The Lady of the Nightingales’ Beatrice Harrison charmed King and country with her garden duets. One hundred years later, Julian Lloyd Webber examines whether her performances were fact or fiction
Small, but perfectly formed
With a stream running through it and views of the Uffington White Horse, this is a garden of great natural beauty cleverly designed and planted to make it seem much larger than it actually is
Keys to the kingdom
Buying agents excel at gaining access to houses of which there's nary a whisper on the market, finds Annabel Dixon
Wedding belles
With parkland or rural settings, country houses make for idyllic wedding venues, as the vendors of these three properties have found
Different strokes
The infinite possibilities of decorative painting brought life to villas in Pompeii, Florentine palaces and Charleston in East Sussex. Today, a revival of interest in the artform is once again precipitating a highly distinctive new look in interiors
The art of layering
Henriette von Stockhausen believes combining textiles in a variety of different forms is the secret to creating a room that is not only timeless, but also supremely comfortable
Shepherd's delight
A prolific weed, shepherd’s purse has long been taken for granted, but it deserves greater consideration, if only for its medicinal properties
Our incomparable coastline
Our beautiful, infinitely varied coast has become central to our national concept of what makes Britain so special
A marvel revived
A major restoration project has brought one of Britain's greatest Victorian buildings back to splendour and life. Steven Brindle explains the extraordinary story of how it came to be
To have and to hold
A collection of much-loved pieces will turn a house into a home
Get the London look
Exuberant and different, Biba helped consign to history the fustiness of post-war dressing. Matthew Dennison looks at the rise and fall of the iconic 1960s fashion label
How to make an Impression
In 1874, a group of painters rejected by the official Paris Salon staged its own show and changed the course of art. It was France's convulsed lurch into the modern era that helped spark the Impressionist revolution
My heart goes flip, flip, flip
DO you know that feeling when your heart does a little flip at the sight of something beautiful? Mine did that last week. In fact, over the course of a couple of days, it did a series of little flips—possibly even a whole somersault.
Changing faces
Mallorca was one of Spain’s first holiday hotspots, but came close to ruin in the second half of the 20th century. Now, it’s back to its glorious best, says Hetty Lintell