The South London Botanical Institute is one of my favourite places to visit for ideas and inspiration, even on a rainy day. There were several large patches of the delightful Cardamine quinquefolia in full flower- except I didn't take my camera! So the photograph above is in fact from this time last year.
 Besides having a natter with the gardeners my main reason for the visit was to spend an hour or two in the SLBI library. It's very traditional as libraries go- I feel like I'm siting in a reading room circa 1900 as I peruse the books and periodicals.
 I had no clear line of research in mind and began to cross reference one thing and another by moving from section to section. The materiality of books makes this process far more tactile and tangible than simply relying on the internet. In the event I found three books I hadn't come across before. By a mixture of accident and design I drew together several strands of thought which characterize my interest in plants.
 The first book was 'The Flowering of Britain' by the ever reliable Richard Mabey (published 1980). In it he discusses various landscapes of Britain and how they evolved with land use: hay meadows, coppiced woods, cornfields etc.
 The second book was 'Plant Communites' by Anna Bulow-Olsen (1978). She describes how different environments create different groupings of plants with soil and weather being the main influence. A dry beech wood and a swampy peat bog have very different flora for example.
 The third book was 'The National Trust Book of Wildflower Gardening' by John Stevens (1990). A good practical guide suggesting what plants to use for gardens corresponding to sunny meadows, semi-shady hedgerows and shady woodlands, also niche environments like ponds and rock gardens.
 In my travels I actively seek out the plants of particular habitats- an ancient wood in Sussex perhaps or a chalk hillside in Wiltshire. As a gardener in London I try to use wild species to create thriving combinations of plants in an urban setting.