May Day Muguet

The fragrant, waxen white bells of the native woodland gem lily of the valley, which ring in the merry month of May, symbolise romance and carry good fortune.

Scooby Dooby Doo, I Love You

THE Subaru XV is another strange concoction from the bestiary of the Dadaist Japanese car-makers.

Upstairs To Downstairs

The gradual decline of an old Catholic family helped preserve this magnificent manor house, finds John Martin Robinson

Searching For A New Movement

IT’S always good to think you were there at the start of something big, at the vanguard of a new movement.

If The Cap Fits

It’s no longer written in law that you must wear one, but, for some, it might just as well be. Rob Crossan explores the endless appeal of the flat cap

The Dahlia List

The chase is on: if you want to grow the best dahlias in your borders this year, you need to get your orders in soon, says Val Bourne

Have Violin, Will Travel

Now’s the time to book your musical holiday, says Pippa Cuckson

Man And Machine

Charles Darwent welcomes an exhibition dedicated to the French painter/film-maker, who took inspiration from mechanical modern life to develop his own take on Cubism

Chicken Fit For A King

Poached with slices of black truffle in a broth flavoured with tarragon and Madeira, there’s no finer way to treat a bird

A Man With A Van

February sees John Lewis-Stempel solve his lack of transport by purchasing a Citroën Berlingo–the French farmer’s vehicle of choice

Piping Up

Hours of intricate work are needed to craft a set of bagpipes, finds Kate Lovell

The Traveller's Riches

The Travellers Club, Pall Mall, London SW1 To mark the bicentenary of The Travellers Club, the oldest club in Pall Mall, John Martin Robinson tells the story of an institution and its home, a purpose-built Renaissance palace

Cupboard Love

Every good cook needs a well-stocked larder and the list of essential kitchen-cabinet ingredients has an increasingly international flavour, says Tom Parker Bowles

Desert-Island Magic - Joali, Maldives

Travel The great escape

It's A Love/Hate Thing

In fishing, there’s no accounting for people’s tastes and whether or not you like Marmite

Game Of Thrones

No downstairs cloakroom is complete without a wooden loo seat. Jane Wheatley investigates why burr walnut is always preferable to plastic when it comes to sitting pretty

Bach-To-Bach Bliss

Forget running marathons–Ysenda Maxtone Graham has become addicted to a 12-year project that aims to perform all of the composer’s vocal works

My Favourite Painting The Archbishop Of Wales

‘“Too idealistic” and “naïve”: two reactions to Strutt’s painting. It’s a “favourite” in a very particular sense: the Christian faith is, for some, too idealistic or naïve, but for those who understand Strutt’s inspiration, the painting is a metaphor for the Kingdom of God, in which innocence, gentleness and generosity of spirit triumph over division, conflict and self. The little child prefigures Christ, who embodies that Kingdom and, in his teaching, turns on its head what some see as the natural order in which might is right and self is king. Even if turning that world view on its head is idealistic or naïve, count me in!

Not Such A Bad Thing, Really

IADORE Rhododendron ponticum.

Chasing Perfection

One & Only Saint Géran, Mauritius

Water, Water Everywhere

Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Better Bergenias

INSPIRED by COUNTRY LIFE’s Lutyens celebrations (March 20), I’ve been re-reading Gertrude Jekyll’s Wood and Garden of 1899.

East Is East

Eleanor Doughty writes a love letter to Norfolk, praising its charming villages, unspoilt coast and rising market–not to mention a good number of pubs

The Destruction Of Chaucer's London

London’s medieval suburb in Southwark has preserved an unusual street plan redolent of its history. Ptolemy Dean hopes against hope for a miracle to save it from the predations of developers

Of Tittypines And Tisty-Tosty

Once believed capable of banishing wrinkles and revealing fairy gold, the dainty cowslip has clung on despite agricultural upheaval, finds Ian Morton

High Kicks And High Jinks

Offenbach famously created the can-can music, but one of his lesser-known works will be premiered in Garsington Opera’s 30th-anniversary season. Claire Jackson reports

What, No Trouser Press?

An Oxfordshire pub is flying the flag for a more relaxed approach to interior design.

Pop-Up Plants

In the garden

Dig For Victoria

Victorian gardeners may have looked to the past or to other countries for their inspiration, but their influence can still be seen in gardens big and small today, says Mark Griffiths

Three-Hundred-And-Sixty Degrees Of Perfection

Louisa Jones hails a masterly design that more than matches this garden’s breathtaking panorama