Chelsea flower show grows to new heights...

Chelsea Tower Show: Vertical gardening is bloomin' marvellous at this year's event

By EMILY ALLEN

Last updated at 9:17 PM on 22nd May 2011

Tall order: A gardener works in the B&Q Garden in preparation for the Chelsea Flower Show

Gardens are beautiful places normally enjoyed on foot.

But two designers at this year's Chelsea Flower Show have taken gardening to new heights with creations suspended in mid-air and the tallest garden structure ever seen at the prestigious event.

The £300,000 tower-block-type structure, pictured right, is designed by gardeners at DIY chain B&Q and has window boxes packed with vibrant blooms whilst the rest is covered in lawn.

It promotes the show's 'grow your own' theme and aims to encourage people to grow food wherever and however we can.

Designer Patrick Collins said the 30 foot garden, in which every plant has associations with food or drink, highlights how people can grow their own food in an urban setting.

He said: 'I didn't want to do a conventional allotment garden. We're trying to get across the idea you can still have an ornamental garden but created with edible plants.'

Mr Collins said he wanted to illustrate the diversity of edible plants - 90 per cent of our food comes from just 20 plant species.

His display ranges from lime trees, from which tea can be made, to nasturtiums with their edible flowers, along with herbs and vegetables. A glass tower, complete with green-herb wall and window boxes packed with vegetables, dominates the garden.

He added: 'The idea with the window boxes is that we're saying no matter how small or unconventional your space is, there's always an opportunity to grow your own food.'

The chance to grow food in small spaces has been taken up by primary school pupils around the country. Schools were supplied with compost, containers and grow bags, and produced tomatoes, cabbages, corn and cauliflowers which are now on display at the Chelsea show.

New heights: The garden is designed to illustrate the diversity of edible plants - 90 per cent of our food comes from just 20 plant species

Stewart Knight, who put the garden together, said the idea was to encourage children into gardening.

'The basic idea to get across is that you can grow things in a very small environment, in small spaces.'

Elsewhere in the show, a celebrity gardener is taking gardening to new heights too. 

Diarmuid Gavin will unveil his spectacular 'Irish Sky Garden' - suspended in mid air.

The unique creation floats above the ground and overlooks London's River Thames and includes a 16 meter long garden pod which will be raised to 25 metres with the help of a giant crane.

Mr Gavin said he hoped his Irish sky garden would "grab some attention" and show that his country had "a little bit of imagination".

The Dubliner added: 'It's a hanging garden or a flying garden - the first garden truly in the sky at Chelsea.'

Those lucky enough to enjoy the full experience will step into a pod - named the Wonkavator - sit on a traditional garden bench and attach themselves to a harness before take-off.

'You're given a new view of a garden - the Irish Sky Garden will look different as the surroundings change - and then you elevate over Chelsea first of all, very slowly, and then over the whole of London and the river,' he said.

Mr Gavin added that the idea came from the floating islands of Pandora, created for James Cameron's sci-fi epic Avatar.

Hanging garden: Diarmuid Gavin's suspended Irish Sky Garden hangs above the trees ahead of the opening of the Chelsea Flower Show

Tourism Malaysia garden designer James Wong revealed that the strict temperature requirements of blue water lilies meant they had to be transported from south-east Asia by a medical courier, which normally carries vital organs.

'Their water temperature, so we're told, can't drop below 28C,' he said.

'Each of them is in a specially heated pot. It's basically a giant thermos flask with a heater inside it.'

Among the other gardens is the M&G show garden which is a modern take on the traditional kitchen garden, mingling flowers such as clematis and roses with cabbages, beans and herbs, as well as features such as a glass platform.

Among the "artisan gardens", A Child's Garden In Wales evokes the year 1947 in the Welsh valleys when fuel shortages meant food could not be transported and people were still being encouraged to grow their own.

 Where is that stone? Worker Matt Attwood looks for stones on the floor of the pool in the Homebase garden display

Meanwhile the importance of water power is demonstrated by Leeds City Council's garden, which contains a working water wheel inspired by a mill.

This weekend workers spent hours putting the finishing touches to the 17 show gardens, 15 small gardens and hundreds of exhibits ahead of the opening tomorrow.

The Queen and senior royals will tour the event in private later today, while celebrities will also get a first look.

Some 157,000 visitors will see the sold-out show, which opens to the public for five days from tomorrow.

Finishing touches: Green-fingered workers arrange the final few flowers ahead of the opening day

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1389765/Chelsea-Tower-Show-Vertical-gardening-bloomin-marvellous-years-event.html#ixzz1N9Wp8Z2a

US invades Buckingham Palace... again. We are not amused!

The car that thinks it's a tank: Inside Obama's 'Beast' Cadillac that is being flown from the U.S. to drive down the Mall

By CHRIS GREENWOOD and REBECCA ENGLISH

Last updated at 12:52 AM on 23rd May 2011

An extraordinary entourage will accompany President Obama and his wife Michelle when they sweep into London tomorrow.

The team of at least 500 will include White House aides, a six-doctor medical team and a squad of personal chefs. There will be more than 200 secret service agents, many of them armed.

The President will travel in ‘The Beast’, his gigantic bomb-proof General Motors Cadillac with eight-inch thick armour-plating on its doors. The limousine will be accompanied by a motorcade of at least 20 vehicles plus a dozen police motorcycle outriders.

MR PRESIDENT, THE LITTLE PIRATE

He will land in Britain on Air Force One. But if this picture is anything to go by, Barack Obama might prefer journeying by sea rather than plane.

Dressed in a pirate hat, eyepatch and striped red shirt, the ten-year-old Obama was posing before a Hallowe’en party. He is also decked out with a homemade sword, earrings – and a drawn-on moustache and beard.

The photo is part of an exhibition by residents of flats in Honolulu, Hawaii, where Mr Obama lived as a boy.

After the breakdown of his parents’ marriage, his father, a Harvard scholar, returned to his home country, Kenya.

Mr Obama moved to Indonesia with his mother Ann, but aged ten returned to Honolulu, where he lived with his grandparents until going to university.

Such is the emphasis on security that Mr Obama’s team has even asked to fit bomb-proof double glazing to the windows of his guest suite at Buckingham Palace.

The moves to increase the First Couple’s safety come in the wake of the killing of Osama Bin Laden three weeks ago.

Also joining the President on the trip will be one military officer carrying a suitcase containing America’s nuclear missile launch codes, plus representatives of six departments of state.

Mr Obama himself will fly on Air Force One, which doubles as a flying luxury hotel and command post complete with an operating theatre and gym.

The customised Boeing 747-200B, which is accompanied by a decoy aircraft, is said to cost around £110,000 an hour to run. The President and his wife, who are visiting Ireland today, will arrive at Stansted Airport tomorrow to be greeted by Prince Charles and Duchess of Cornwall. 

After lunch with the Queen, the President will lay a wreath at Westminster Abbey before attending an evening banquet hosted by the Queen at Buckingham Palace. On Wednesday Mr Obama will meet David Cameron and then address both Houses of Parliament in Westminster Hall. Meanwhile Mrs Obama will join girls from Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School – the North London school she visited in 2009 – on a visit to Oxford University.

That evening Mr Obama will host a dinner for the Queen at the home of the U.S. ambassador to Britain, before leaving on Thursday.

Buckingham Palace staff have left nothing to chance in anticipation of the high-profile trip.

Aides admit, however, they were slightly taken aback a few weeks ago when Mr Obama’s security team demanded to be allowed to bring along their own portable double glazing-style glass to cover the windows in his bedroom as a temporary measure.

The Obamas will stay in the opulent Belgian Suite, which has hosted leaders including Nelson Mandela and President Kennedy.

A source said: ‘The Household does everything to make palace guests feel comfortable and there is little that we baulk at. That said, special requests are normally restricted to a certain type of tea or coffee or wheat-free bread for breakfast.

‘We like to think that our security measures would suffice, but if the President of the United States wants his own windows, then that is what he will have.’

By all accounts, so many Obama aides want to stay at the palace that some of the Queen’s own staff have to be kicked out of their rooms to accommodate them.

Another source said the U.S. team was setting up military-style beds in the basement and installing their own communication hardware.

‘The President’s team are running around the palace brandishing their guns as if they own the place – it’s like something out of that TV programme 24,’ they said.

‘They are also setting up a kind of mini clinic with hospital machines, including supplies of the President’s blood in case of emergencies.’

But sources say the White House team is ‘not nearly as demanding’ as those working for George W. Bush, who stayed at the palace in 2003.

His security team apparently wanted all 760 palace windows be replaced, while the helicopters Mr Bush used were, said the source, ‘so large that they shook the trees and plants to smithereens. The Queen was furious’.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1389825/The-car-thinks-tank-Inside-Obamas-Beast-Cadillac-flown-U-S-drive-Mall.html#ixzz1N8Zw5XZ6

Russian newsreader giggles over pot farm guarded by pigs...

May 13th 2011 By Ali Plumb

VIDEO: Russian newsreader gets the giggles over Canadian marijuana farm story

God good we love a good giggle. Be it an amazing double-entendre executed live on-air ("Long, stabby thing", anyone?), a Swiss politician cracking up for no good reason or Natalie Portman being utterly adorable, giggles are amazing. And now we've got another beauty, and it's from Russia, and it involves bears, marijuana, pigs and "a big dog".

The victim of the giggle attack was one Ms. Tatiana Subbotina, who was delivering a report about a marijuana farm in Canada. It seems what was making her erupt into chuckles was the fact that this farm was guarded by bears, dogs and pot-bellied pigs.

That's right, bears, dogs and pot-bellied pigs. Even if we weren't in charge of a farm that grew illegal substances, we'd love to have a bear guarding our office. Would stop the junk mail, that's for sure.

Anyway, as you'll see from the handy subtitles to the video below, there were 13 bears keeping watch over the British Columbia ranch, but what really got Tatiana was the news of a pig also kicking about.

"What the hell is a pig doing there?!", she shouts. Then she makes a few jokes, has some banter with the behind-the-scenes staff, makes some faces and somehow makes it through.

In other words, it's a lady giggling, joking about bears smoking weed, and still trundling along. That, ladies and gentlemen, is professionalism. Kind of. Maybe.

Read more: http://www.asylum.co.uk/2011/05/13/russian-newsreader-gets-the-giggles-over-canadian-marijuana-farm/#ixzz1N5Kv3aZG

'Healthy' granola has more sugar than coke and more....

That 'healthy' bowl of granola has more sugar than coke... and more fat than fries: Busting the diet food myths

By ALICE SMELLIE

Last updated at 10:00 PM on 21st May 2011

Combining rolled oats, brown sugar or honey, dried fruit, and nuts, granola is undoubtedly a delicious breakfast option. But is it a healthy one? Advice from experts is: Make sure you read the box carefully.

‘Most granolas are classified as high sugar, with more than 12.5g of sugar per 100g, much of which has been deliberately added to make it taste more palatable than the granola once found in health food shops,’ says Anna Raymond, dietician and spokesperson for the British Dietetic Association. ‘Health guidelines recommend consuming no more than 90g of sugar in a day. Don’t be fooled by the addition of honey – it’s still a sugar, and no more healthy.’ With this in mind we asked Anna to examine six leading granolas available on the High Street, and give her verdict. The results may come as a surprise...

Healthy: A bowl of granola has more sugar than coke and more fat than fries

SULTANA AND NUTS GRANOLA BY PERTWOOD ORGANIC, £3.71, 500g

Ingredients: Oat flakes, sugar, sultanas, rapeseed oil, coconut, hazelnuts, honey, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds.

Nutrition (all figures given for 100g without milk unless indicated otherwise): 416 calories, 9.4g protein, 59.5g carbohydrate, (of which 23.8g is sugars), 15.6g fat (of which 4.8g is saturates), 7.6g fibre, 0.006g sodium.

Highest saturated fat: Although this initially looks healthy it has coconut in it which makes it more unhealthy

ANNA SAYS: Although this initially looks healthy, it has the highest saturated fat content of them all, which comes from the addition of coconut. A large portion of McDonald’s fries has only 2g of saturated fat and a hamburger just 3g. A bowl of this could contain half your saturated fat for the day.

However, the granola has good fibre content and the addition of seeds makes it healthier and more likely to fill you up compared to a fast-food breakfast.

HONEY GRANOLA BY DORSET CEREALS, £3.99, 600g

Think twice: Anna says this will not help you lose weight because of the high calorie intake

Ingredients: Oats, honey, sunflower seeds, blanched flaked almonds, rye flakes, grape seed oil, pecans, pumpkin seeds, natural vanilla extract, salt.

Nutrition: 484 calories, 12.6g protein, 51.2g carbohydrate (of which 13.1g is sugars), 25.4g fat (of which 2.8g is saturates), 5.6g fibre, <0.1g sodium.

ANNA SAYS: Roughly a third of your daily fat intake is in just 100g. But 100g doesn’t look like much – you’ll probably be putting around twice as much in their bowl. You could easily consume half your daily calorie allowance at breakfast. If you’re trying to lose weight, think twice before opting for this and if you do, make sure you weigh it out, or you may as well eat poached eggs and grilled bacon, which will have fewer calories and less fat.

PRET A MANGER HOT & WARMING GRANOLA, £1.99, 226g

Ingredients: Oats, wheatgerm, almonds, hazelnuts, raisins, dried cranberries, cinnamon, maple syrup.

Nutrition (includes semi-skimmed milk): 256 calories, 6.4g protein, 38.4g carbohydrate (of which 21.9g sugar), 8.8g fat (of which 1.8g is saturates), 3.5g fibre, 0.04g sodium.

ANNA SAYS: Government guidelines recommend that only 35 per cent of your calorie intake is fat. The 226g pot contains nearly a third of your daily allowance.

By grabbing this on the way to work, you’re also consuming almost a third of your daily calories in one go, which is fine if you don’t snack during the day – but most of us do. This also has the lowest level of fibre, you would be better off eating a bowl of muesli. A Starbucks chocolate muffin with chocolate sauce contains less fat and calories. The granola has added dried fruit and nuts so the addition of maple syrup seems extraneous. 

High intake: This pot of granola, left, contains nearly a third of your calorie intake and the Super Nutty Granola has more fat content than a McDonald's bacon muffin

QUAKER OAT GRANOLA, £1.89, 600g

Ingredients: Rolled oats, sugar, softened raisins (raisins 9.8 per cent, humectant: glycerol), glucose syrup, vegetable oil, cereal pieces (rice flour, wheat flour, sugar), honey, colour (plain caramel) natural flavouring.

Nutrition: 420 calories, 8g protein, 72g carbohydrate (of which 23g are sugars), 9.5g fat (of which saturates 1.2g), 6.5g fibre, sodium, a trace.

ANNA SAYS: There are loads of other ingredients going on here and three different sorts of sugar added. A bowl of this could easily contain more sugar than a can of Coca-Cola. It has a lower saturated fat content than the others, but probably because there aren’t any nuts, meaning that the only beneficial ingredients are the cholesterol lowering oats and the raisins. You would be much better off eating a simpler and less sugary breakfast such as Weetabix, which also contains more fibre. 

Good choice: The oats, fruit and nuts means it has a low Glycemic Index

FIG AND CRANBERRY GRANOLA BY THE FOOD DOCTOR, £2.99, 425g

Ingredients: Oat flakes, concentrated apple juice, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, golden linseeds, figs, juice-infused cranberries, rapeseed oil, chicory inulin.

Nutrition: 463 calories, 14.1g protein, 47.8g carbohydrates (of which 19.9g is sugars), 22.3g fat (of which 3.1g is saturates), 7.4g fibre, sodium, a trace.

ANNA SAYS: A good choice. The oats, fruit and nuts means it has a low Glycemic Index – the measure of how quickly glucose is absorbed into the blood stream. A low GI means you feel fuller for longer. The seeds are a good source of Omega 3 and 6, ideal if you’re vegetarian or vegan. Rapeseed oil is polyunsaturated fat, and the cereal is high in fibre – 24g is the recommended daily amount, so this gives you a great start.

JORDAN’S SUPER NUTTY GRANOLA, £3.99, 750g

Ingredients: British conservation grade wholegrain oat flakes, raw cane sugar, nuts (16 per cent) vegetable oil (rapeseed oil, certified sustainable palm oil), honey, sunflower seeds, natural flavouring.

Nutrition: 463 calories, 9.9g protein, carbohydrate 60.4g (of which 18.5g are sugars), 20.2g fat (of which 3.9g are saturates), 6.6g fibre, 0.1g sodium.

ANNA SAYS: Very high fat content – a McDonald’s bacon muffin contains less saturated fat. Granola is low sodium, which is a bonus, and to be fair much of the fat does come from nuts, providing better types of fat. Keep a tight control on portion sizes as a bowl of Coco Pops would probably contain less sugar.

Sugary: This could easily contain more sugar than a can of Coca-Cola but has lower saturated fat content than the others

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1389515/That-healthy-bowl-granola-sugar-coke--fat-fries-Busting-diet-food-myths.html#ixzz1N5GlS5Lr

Toy tiger sparks armed response and helicopters.

Toy tiger sparks armed police alert in Southampton

Police are today trying to trace the owner of a toy life-size tiger which sparked a major operation involving armed officers and a force helicopter.

The life-size toy sparked a major operation involving armed officers and a force helicopter Photo: PA

11:28AM BST 22 May 2011

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The alert was raised by several members of the public yesterday afternoon when they spotted what they believed to be a live white tiger in a field near Hedge End, Southampton, Hampshire.

The police helicopter was scrambled and a golf course cleared after police arrived at the scene and confirmed the sighting.

Armed police were called to the scene in case the animal came too close to members of the public.

Specialist staff from nearby Marwell Zoo also attended to advise and potentially tranquilise the wild animal.

A local golf course was evacuated and plans were put in place to close the nearby M27 motorway if necessary in case the tiger moved in that direction.

But as police officers carefully approached the ''wild animal'' they realised it was not moving and the helicopter crew, using thermal imaging equipment, realised there was no heat source coming from it.

A spokeswoman for the force said: ''After a brief stalk through the Hedge End savannah, the officer realised the tiger was not moving and the air support using their cameras realised there was a lack of heat source.

''The tiger then rolled over in the down draft and it was at that point it became obvious it was a stuffed life-size toy.

''This incident will definitely be the highlight of our day. The CCTV footage convinced us all we were dealing with a real tiger.

''It's not often an incident leaves our staff with a smile on their face and it just goes to show the diverse type of incident we are called to deal with.''

Releasing a photo of the toy tiger, a force spokeswoman said: ''The toy tiger is life-size and is like one that you would win at a fair.

''It is being treated as lost property but we don't know how it came to be in the field and whether it may have been a hoax.''

New York's skinniest house at 9.5ft wide on sale for $4.3m

Squeeze inside New York's skinniest house as it goes on sale for a whopping $4.3m (twice what it sold for in 2010)

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Last updated at 3:07 AM on 22nd May 2011

Enlarge 

Size isn't everything: The Millay House at 75 1/2 Bedford St in New York City

It's New York's skinniest house, but you will need to have a fat wallet if you want to live there. 

The narrowest house in the city, once home to Cary Grant and a modern tourist attraction in its own right, has gone on sale for a whopping $4.3million - double what it sold for just one year ago. 

The hefty price increase is down to the renovations at number 75 1/2 Bedford St - though at just 9.5ft wide and 30ft deep, it's hard to envision what sort of renovations could have justified such a cost. 

But the broker claims The Millay House has been 'meticulously restored' - and its colourful history and position firmly on the city's tourist trail will help. 

Along with Grant, the property has been home to actor John Barrymore, poet Edna St Vincent Millay and cartoonist William Steig - none of whom, clearly, ever suffered from claustrophobia. 

The house's unique size is due to the fact it was built in the mid-1800s after its neighbours simply to fill in a carriage entrance way leading to the stables behind the next door property.

Now a well-known stop-off on the tourist trail in Bohemian Greenwich Village its fame is a far cry from its past use as a shoemaker's shop and a sweet factory.

The skinny house even came close to demolition in 1950, before a lawyer stepped in to save it and its neighbours from being razed. 

But its future appears assured for now. It sold for $1.6million in 2000 and $2.175million in 2010 - now the owners have listed it with an asking price of $4.3million. 

Not much room to swing a cat: Inside New York's skinniest house

But there's room for a bathtub! The house is just 9.5ft wide

That's some $4,343 per square foot. 

The broker gave a detailed description of the renovations to justify the leap in price: 'Flooring throughout is reclaimed rift and quarter-sawn antique oak,' the listing stated. 

'The beautifully appointed kitchen features white oak cabinetry, custom millwork, Crema Ella Italian marble countertops and backsplash. 

'Meticulously renovated': The house comes with a $4.3million price tag

Narrow your view: Plans show the interior of the historic townhouse, once owned by Cary Grant

'The windowed master bath, with a balcony overlooking the planted garden, is exquisitely designed with a claw foot tub, separate shower, mosaic tiles, Italian marble and English Lefroy Brooks fixtures. 

'Each fireplace is framed with natural Travertine marble. 

'All of these modern conveniences have been seamlessly integrated, including central air, washer/dryer and new radiators throughout. The 2nd bath features Dolomite and Calacatta marble.'

Anyone dreaming of a slimmed-down lifestyle in their own skinny property can beat New York's offering by heading further south to Virginia.

The Wedge in Richmond is just 7.5ft wide at the front and is rented out for a snip at $950 (£585) a month.

Room with a view: The house comes complete with patio and garden

Gawkers: The house has become part of New York's tourist trail

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1389449/New-Yorks-skinniest-house-75-1-2-Bedford-St-goes-sale--4-3million.html#ixzz1N5DAdEAh