Category Archives: Exploration

Plant of the Month: November 2020

Posted on 24/11/2020 by carolinemmurray

I am in the throes of having my garden made over. This is because, when I was young, and even more ignorant than I am now: (1) I put too many shrubs in too close together; (2) I maximised planting … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography, Botany, Cambridge, Exploration, Gardens, History, Natural history, Printing and Publishing | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Plant of the Month: July 2020

Posted on 26/07/2020 by carolinemmurray

The other day, I found myself standing under a Broussonetia tree in the Cambridge University Botanic Garden (so happily now reopened, though you do have to book), and was reminded of my oft-repeated note to self to find out more … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Art, Botany, Exploration, Gardens, History, Museums and Galleries, Natural history, Printing and Publishing | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Plant of the Month: June 2020

Posted on 29/06/2020 by carolinemmurray

I never cease to be amazed that garden centres and nurseries actually sell seeds and plants of the Mexican fleabane, Erigeron karvinskianus. In my garden, nothing (except perhaps the dreaded pellitory) flourishes and reproduces better, and it grows best in … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography, Botany, Exploration, Gardens, Natural history | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

The Vegetable Lamb of Tartary

Posted on 02/02/2020 by carolinemmurray

I have long been attracted by the above-named beast, which I came across for the first time in my previous existence, when skim-reading John Bell’s two-volume work of 1763, Travels from St Petersburg in Russia, to Diverse Parts of Asia. … Continue reading →

Posted in Botany, Exploration, History, Natural history | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Plant of the Month: August 2019

Posted on 29/08/2019 by carolinemmurray

Passiflora, the passion flower, is – perhaps unsurprisingly – a genus in the family Passifloraceae, which is itself part of the enormously varied order of Malpighiales, which includes everything from the willow to the violet by way of poinsettias. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Botany, Cambridge, Exploration, Gardens, Natural history | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Plant of the Month: July 2019

Posted on 27/07/2019 by carolinemmurray

The nasturtium (occasionally nasturtian, or, if you are an A.A. Milne fan, mastershalum) is one of those plants which it is quite easy to overlook for their ubiquitous familiarity. Simple to grow (and to regrow if you save the seeds), … Continue reading →

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The Great Belzoni

Posted on 23/07/2019 by carolinemmurray

… is today hung on display in the Fitzwilliam Museum – or, at any rate, a spectacular likeness produced after his death is. I mentioned this fascinating character several times in my previous blogging persona, but his arrival in Cambridge … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Art, Biography, Cambridge, Exploration, History, Italy, London, Museums and Galleries, Printing and Publishing | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Sedgwick’s Boots

Posted on 20/06/2019 by carolinemmurray

I begin with an appalling confession, made because of my reasonable confidence that nobody (least of all @TheMuseumOfLiz) actually reads this stuff … Here goes: although the Golden Jubilee of my arrival in Cambridge is only just below the horizon, … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography, Cambridge, Exploration, History, Museums and Galleries, Natural history | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Loss of the ‘Royal George’

Posted on 09/05/2019 by carolinemmurray

Was Proust the first or merely the best to describe the extraordinary moment when a completely forgotten incident in your life rises fully formed in your memory? In my most recent incident, it was a phone call at work about … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography, Exploration, France, History, London, Museums and Galleries, Printing and Publishing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Plant of the Month: February 2019

Posted on 21/02/2019 by carolinemmurray

I had always thought that Garrya elliptica, usually at its most spectacular at this time of year, was an Australian plant. I have no idea why … In fact, it comes from a quite restricted strip of coastal western America, … Continue reading →

Posted in Bibliography, Botany, Exploration, Gardens, Natural history, Printing and Publishing | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment