Categories
Planty Product

Recycling and waste separation with Brabantia Bo bin

Urban Jungle Bloggers - Brabantia Bo Bin #urbanjunglebloggers #brabantiabo

Let’s be honest: Plants at home also make work! But it is work we consider a pleasure not a chore, right? Apart from watering, pruning, fertilizing, cleaning and caring for our plants, we also get quite often a little heap of green garbage to get rid of. Lucky are those who have a compost heap as this is the best way to circle back plant waste into nature. For those living in urban spaces the best solution is a separate bin for biodegradable waste. And since we at Urban Jungle Bloggers always strive for something stylish for the home too, we might have a little suggestion for you: the new Bo bin by Brabantia.

Urban Jungle Bloggers - Brabantia Bo Bin #urbanjunglebloggers #brabantiabo

The new Bo bin by Brabantia comes in two versions: As a Touch bin with stylish legs and as a Pedal bin for more compact spaces. It also comes in eight different colours and 3 different sized removable inner buckets, so you can definitely make your waste bin a stylish addition to your kitchen. We are using our Bo bin as a perfect solution for our plant waste. Our plant care routine is as simple as this: Once a week we dedicate an extra hour or so (depending on the number of plants) to go through all our green roomies. We check on their status of happiness. Who needs some water? Who needs pruning? Who is suffering? Who is growing new leaves? Ususally this plant routine hour ends up with a good handful (or two) of plant waste. And hop it goes into the new bin!

Urban Jungle Bloggers - Brabantia Bo Bin #urbanjunglebloggers #brabantiabo

The new Brabantia Bo bin does not only look stylish and helps you reduce your impact on the planet, but it also has a pretty small footprint itself. Like many Brabantia products, Bo Pedal Bin is Cradle-to-Cradle® Certified on Bronze level. For every Bo Pedal Bin sold, Brabantia donates to The Ocean Cleanup

Urban Jungle Bloggers - Brabantia Bo Bin #urbanjunglebloggers #brabantiabo
Urban Jungle Bloggers - Brabantia Bo Bin #urbanjunglebloggers #brabantiabo

Here are just a few simple tips for your plant care routine:

  1. Dedicate one specific day/time for your plants and mark it in your calendar! No forgotten dried up plants anymore!
  2. Make your plant care routine a good me-time. Play your favorite music, get in comfy clothes, brew yourself a coffee. Make it enjoyable to the max!
  3. Get a nice watering can to add aesthetics to your watering routine! We rounded up some favorites here.
  4. Have your urban jungle kit ready: plant scissors or a sharp knife, fertilizer, a damp cloth to clean off the dust from your plants, a mister, a bin for the plant waste.
  5. Group plants together according to their needs (light loving plants, humidity loving plants, desert plants etc.). It will make plant care much more efficient.
  6. Love your plants! As simple as that!
Urban Jungle Bloggers - Brabantia Bo Bin #urbanjunglebloggers #brabantiabo

Thank you to Brabantia for sponsoring this post. As always all thoughts & opinions are our own. Thank you for supporting the brands that help support this blog.

Categories
Plant Shop

Green Fingers at Woolrich in Milan

Urban Jungle Bloggers - Green Fingers plant shop at Woolrich in Milan #urbanjunglebloggers

If you have been interested in plants for a while, it’s nearly impossible that you never heard of Satoshi Kawamoto, the Japanese plant artist and creative director behind Green Fingers. Satie San, as he is called by his friends and loved ones, has a unique way of working with greenery, which he explores in the several books that he wrote about plants and styling. He also decorated many shops and department shops around the world, always focusing on making greenery a natural and familiar presence of the surroundings. His style is very recognizable, with a hint of wabi-sabi, lots of natural textures like wood stumps, driftwood, dried mosses, and vintage furniture.

At the end of 2017, well known outdoor brand Woolrich opened their new Milan flagship store of 650m2 where they sell their full collection of outdoor fashion. The flagship store also houses an Extreme Weather Experience room (where you can try the Woolrich outdoor wear) and in the back of the shop, you’ll find a wonderful green plant shop with a small mini garden terrace: Green Fingers.

Urban Jungle Bloggers - Green Fingers plant shop at Woolrich in Milan #urbanjunglebloggers

It’s not just a few cacti here and there, but a true experience of style. Tall Euphorbia and hanging Lepismium Bolivianum plants grow side by side, among flea-market-sourced accessories, Japanese-made housewares, dried greenery and flower wreaths, and some trinkets designed by Satoshi Kawamoto himself. “People who are not interested in plants but who are interested in looking for clothes, may end up buying plants,” And the opposite is true as well “people who are looking for plants may end up buying some well designed Woolrich clothing.”

Urban Jungle Bloggers - Green Fingers plant shop at Woolrich in Milan #urbanjunglebloggers

What makes the Green Fingers shop in Milan different from other plant shops is Satoshi Kawamoto’s signature styling: the styling of the plant around the shop is not glossy and sleek, but lived-in, earthy and a true feast for the eyes. The diversity of plants, the different textures and shapes, in combination with vintage plant pots, ceramic bowls; terracotta planters and dried leaves and flowers make that you discover something new in every corner.

Urban Jungle Bloggers - Green Fingers plant shop at Woolrich in Milan #urbanjunglebloggers

Green Fingers offers plants for any budget, for people with or without* so-called green fingers:
* Just a little side note: we don’t believe in having green fingers, or a black thumb. If you are willing to invest a little bit of TLC (time, love and care) into your new green friend(s), and if you do your homework, you can have a healthy and thriving jungle at home. More about that in our Urban Jungle book,

Urban Jungle Bloggers - Green Fingers plant shop at Woolrich in Milan #urbanjunglebloggers
Urban Jungle Bloggers - Green Fingers plant shop at Woolrich in Milan #urbanjunglebloggers
Urban Jungle Bloggers - Green Fingers plant shop at Woolrich in Milan #urbanjunglebloggers

Would you rather pick a small Crassula ovata (Jade plant), a spiky cactus plant in a small ceramic planter or one of the many different species of Sansevieria? Isn’t this the coolest DJ-booth ever?Wabi-sabi with Tillandsia airplants in a wooden apothecary cabinet. If you have read our Urban Jungle book, you may recognize this idea from Pepper’s beautiful green home! 

Urban Jungle Bloggers - Green Fingers plant shop at Woolrich in Milan #urbanjunglebloggers
Urban Jungle Bloggers - Green Fingers plant shop at Woolrich in Milan #urbanjunglebloggers

“The garden was not built in a day”. These words are tattoed on Satie San’s arm and represent the need for patience when growing something truly inspiring. You can find the text also on T-shirts in the shop. Or rather go for the “Grow Damn It”-shirt if you are still learning about growth and patience *wink wink*. Satoshi Kawamoto’s books about styling and plants are also available:

Green Fingers shop in Woolrich Flagship Store Milano
Corso Venezia 3, 20121 Milano MI, Italy
Open Monday through Friday 10am – 7pm, Saturday 10am – 8pm, Sunday 11am – 7pm

Categories
Planty Product

Our Top Ten favourite Watering Cans

Urban Jungle Bloggers - Top 10 watering cans

Plant care is more fun with nice gear. Invest in beautiful accessories to make your plant-care sessions even more pleasant: a lovely watering can, special gardening shears, little spades, watering bulbs and more. Plant care will not only be more fun, but more stylish too! These are some of our current favourite watering cans:

1 – Bowli watering can by Xala
2 – Roxi Gold mini watering can by Urban Outfitters 
3 – b. for soft watering can by Elho 
4 – Watercan Chrystal by Garden Glory 
5 – Kaenjusai watering can via Ode to Things 
6 – Sproeigieter by Studio Harm en Elke
7 – Kontextur X3 watering can by Paul Loebach 
8 – Vivero brass watering can by AYTM via Made in Design
9 – Botan watering can by Kristina Stark 
10 – Deuce pitcher watering can by Umbra Shift

This is not a sponsored post. We genuinely <3 the products above!

Categories
Hotel Plant Shop

8 Botanical & Green Hotspots in Zurich, Switzerland

Urban Jungle Bloggers - Botanical Hotspots in Zurich, Switzerland #urbanjunglebloggers

A few weeks ago we were in Zurich, Switzerland. We were invited to attend the “Textile & Fashion Days” of the Swiss Textile College in Zurich. Why you might wonder? Because their topic this year is called: Urban Jungle! We brought in our plant expertise and spoke about the Urban Jungle Bloggers community and our book and we also hosted a plant hanger workshop. In the evening there was a Slow Fashion Performance in a cool underground urban jungle, full of lush grasses, hostas, greenhouses and soil. You can have a look what that looked liked in our highlighted story on Instagram.

We spent the weekend in Zurich soaking up the first sunshine of the season, made a boat tour on Lake Zurich, indulged in Swiss traditional food (at Zeughauskeller), we enjoyed the finest chocolate and visited some of the greenest places of the city. Read on to discover the places we think you should not miss when you’re planning a trip to Zurich. Get yourself a Zurich Card for free or reduced access to 41 museums, unlimited tram, bus, train and cableway, boat trips and more. Ready? Here we go!

Where to go if you love plants?

Old Botanical Garden

Urban Jungle Bloggers - Botanical Hotspots in Zurich, Switzerland #urbanjunglebloggers
photo by Roland zh

We start with a walk in the park in the Old Botanical Garden in the middle of the city. The small greenhouse (closed to the public) houses a nice collection of tropical plants that you can admire through the glass. For more parks and gardens in Zurich, check out the Visit Zurich website here.

Botanical Garden and the Greenhouse Domes

Urban Jungle Bloggers - Botanical Hotspots in Zurich, Switzerland #urbanjunglebloggers
photo by Botanical Garden at the University of Zurich

With around 7000 different plant species spread over an area of about 53,000 m2 there is always something to see in the Botanical Garden of the University of Zurich. The most interesting part of the garden for us Urban Jungle Bloggers are the tropical greenhouse domes with their lush foliage and desert plants. Make sure to visit before 17:00, as the tropical greenhouses close earlier than the garden. A bummer, because we missed visiting the inside of the domes, which looked gorgeous from the outside!

Sukkulenten Sammlung

Urban Jungle Bloggers - Botanical Hotspots in Zurich, Switzerland #urbanjunglebloggers
Urban Jungle Bloggers - Botanical Hotspots in Zurich, Switzerland #urbanjunglebloggers
Urban Jungle Bloggers - Botanical Hotspots in Zurich, Switzerland #urbanjunglebloggers
Urban Jungle Bloggers - Botanical Hotspots in Zurich, Switzerland #urbanjunglebloggers
Urban Jungle Bloggers - Botanical Hotspots in Zurich, Switzerland #urbanjunglebloggers
Urban Jungle Bloggers - Botanical Hotspots in Zurich, Switzerland #urbanjunglebloggers


This is a succulent lover’s dream! Open since 1931, the “Succulent Collection Zurich” houses one of the largest collections of succulent plants in Europe. In the seven greenhouses you can walk past the entire collection that consists of 4500 different species from 78 plant families. Take at least an hour (or better… a few!) to wander around the greenhouses and admire the huge variety of textures, shapes and colours of all the plants on display. The Sukkulenten Sammlung is located at a 20 minute walk from the city center, and a nice break from the buzzing city life.

Masaola Rainforest in the Zurich Zoo

Zoo Zürich

In this tropical “mini rainforest ecosystem”, you get to experience animals in their natural habitat. Covering a total area of 11,000 m2, it is home to geckos, turtles, snakes, parrots and many other rainforest creatures. All information about the Rainforest in the Zoo, can be found HERE.

Where to eat & drink?

Pause

Urban Jungle Bloggers - Botanical Hotspots in Zurich, Switzerland #urbanjunglebloggers
Urban Jungle Bloggers - Botanical Hotspots in Zurich, Switzerland #urbanjunglebloggers
Urban Jungle Bloggers - Botanical Hotspots in Zurich, Switzerland #urbanjunglebloggers

This is what you would call a real Urban Jungle Bloggers café: a nice selection of yummy sandwiches and salads that you can enjoy in a hip urban jungle with dozens of (real!) plants. The vibrant color of the interior of Pause match the green of the foliage. Not to be missed if you’re in the neighborhood!

Neni Zurich West

Urban Jungle Bloggers - Botanical Hotspots in Zurich, Switzerland #urbanjunglebloggers
photo by Neni

In the cool 25 Hours Hotel Zurich, with its jungle-ish hotel lobby, you’ll find the Zurich West location of restaurant Neni  (they also have a location at the Langstrasse). Neni serves dishes from all around the world, but have a slightly Oriental vibe. Think: humus, spring rolls, hamshuka, Tel Aviv streetfood, falafel, Korean fried chicken, Romanian Sakuska… Yummm!

Hiltl

Urban Jungle Bloggers - Botanical Hotspots in Zurich, Switzerland #urbanjunglebloggers
photo by Hiltl

The world’s first vegetarian restaurant according to the Guiness Book of Records is in Zurich! And it is named Hiltl! No wonder their various spots across the city boost with plants and greenery for an extra cool and healthy lunch break! Also check out their rooftop terrace and bar in the city center as well as their cute café/bar in a flower shop. All locations can be found HERE.

The Artisan

Urban Jungle Bloggers - Botanical Hotspots in Zurich, Switzerland #urbanjunglebloggers
photo by The Artisan

When a place is called “The Artisan – Kitchen & Urban Garden” you know it is the right spot for any Urban Jungle Blogger, right? Delicious food, good coffee, a relaxed atmosphere and of course lots of greenery define this place. Go check it out when in Zurich – you can find The Artisan HERE.

photography by Urban Jungle Bloggers, except credited above

Categories
Plant Shop

Wild Milano plant shop in Milan

Urban Jungle Bloggers - Wild Milano plant shop in Milan #urbanjunglebloggers

When we were in Milan for Milan Design Week last week, we hopped by the brand new Wild Milano boutique. They are one of the first plants-only urban gardening shop in Italy’s capital of design. On Instagram we had a few peeks of what the shop looked like before the grand opening (on Saturday April 21st), but little did we know we were in for a colorful treat: a luminous plant shop with sunny touches of vibrant yellow… and lots of beautiful greens.

Urban Jungle Bloggers - Wild Milano plant shop in Milan #urbanjunglebloggers

Valeria and Pasquale previously worked at more traditional florists in Milan but felt so inspired by plants and greenery that ideas started to blossom. Also, their clients kept asking more specifically for houseplants, rather than floral compositions, which made them feel excited to open their own Wild shop. Unfortunately we missed the opening event on Saturday April 21st, but we snapped a few pictures for you to enjoy!

Urban Jungle Bloggers - Wild Milano plant shop in Milan #urbanjunglebloggers
Urban Jungle Bloggers - Wild Milano plant shop in Milan #urbanjunglebloggers

A mini terrarium with a mini Fittonia verschaffeltii:

Urban Jungle Bloggers - Wild Milano plant shop in Milan #urbanjunglebloggers

If you are living in Milan, or visiting the area, go meet Valeria and Pasquale at Wild and spoil yourself with a new plant friend, a colorful watering can, a handmade terrarium or a beautiful new planter. They can also help you if you have any doubts of questions about your plants. For some advice and tips, take your plant (or a photo) and go see them at the shop!

Urban Jungle Bloggers - Wild Milano plant shop in Milan #urbanjunglebloggers
Urban Jungle Bloggers - Wild Milano plant shop in Milan #urbanjunglebloggers
Urban Jungle Bloggers - Wild Milano plant shop in Milan #urbanjunglebloggers
Urban Jungle Bloggers - Wild Milano plant shop in Milan #urbanjunglebloggers

It’s nearly impossible to leave Wild empty-handed: why not gift your plantloving friend a botanical book (like the #urbanjunglebook that will be soon available!), a totebag with a botanical pattern, or a handmade terrarium. At Wild you can also stock up on different types of soil, dirt and organic fertilizers and they will be hosting plant workshops soon as well. Follow them on Instagram to keep in the loop about updates!

Urban Jungle Bloggers - Wild Milano plant shop in Milan #urbanjunglebloggers

Wild Milano – Via Giuseppe Sirtori, 11 – 20129 Milano, Italy 
Tel. +39 02 29.52.67.32
Open Monday: 3:00pm – 7:30pm. And Tuesday to Saturday: 10:00am – 1:30pm and 3:00pm – 7:30pm 

Photography Urban Jungle Bloggers