Plant of the Day blog attracts an international audience!

Dr Jill Raggett of Writtle School of Design is the owner of the very popular imagery blog entitled ‘Plant of the Day’ on social media site Tumblr.

Started in September 2013, Dr Raggett takes time out of her extremely busy schedule to upload one plant per day. The image will always be an original photograph taken during the previous week and this level of dedication helps to ensure the blog is seasonally relevant. The image will also include a fact or comment about cultivation, history, use or design!

Dr Raggett, who is a lecturer in landscape architecture and garden design, explains why she created the blog and why she believes it has an international appeal…

“I devised the blog as a means to encourage students to look at plants wherever they are, whether that is in gardens, parks, public spaces, on the street, or even in supermarket car parks, to observe how plants can be used and add value.

The majority of blog followers are people worldwide who enjoy plants and gardens – from students in community colleges in USA and Canada, students studying landscape design in Canada, Argentinian landscape architects, people interested in plants in Korea and Japan, and the very proactive students of the prestigious Longwood Gardens in the USA, with people in Italy, Romania and Poland.

There is clearly a global appeal for English plants and gardens. I believe the tradition and heritage associated with horticulture in the UK makes the blog particularly desirable to the international followers. 

My hope for the blog is that the ‘Archive’ section will be useful especially to horticultural and design students as it is seasonal (for the UK) and they can view plants by the relevant month of their display value to help inspire and inform with their designs!”

Visit Dr Raggett’s Plant of the Day blog on Tumblr: www.jillraggett.tumblr.com

Visit Writtle School of Design: www.writtle.ac.uk/design

Visit Writtle College: www.writtle.ac.uk

120 years of Writtle College

With 2013 drawing to a close, Writtle College continued to celebrate its 120th year of educational excellence in style. Here we look back at how the students got involved to mark this success.

Established in 1893, the College has a proud history and is extremely delighted to have reached this landmark. Last Wednesday (4th December) saw students from various study levels, backgrounds and subject areas come together to mark this accomplishment by taking part in a unique photo shoot.

Students begin to gather outside the College's main building.

With the photo taking place outside the front of the College's impressive main building, this provided the perfect setting to capture the moment on camera.

There were a large number of students wanting to take part in this photo, which really reflected the level of appreciation for the College achieving this landmark.

Students arrived from programmes including Agriculture, Sport, Horticulture, Conservation and Animal Care. There was also the delightful surprise of the College's Floristry students arriving with beautiful bouquets! What a fantastic addition this was.

Eye-catching bouquets created by floristry students.

There have been a lot of highlights during 2013. These include winning Small and Specialist Students’ Union of the Year in the NUS Awards, as well as having its innovative research featured on the popular BBC television programme 'Countryfile'. 

The photo turned out perfectly and really was a moment to remember.

For more information on Writtle and its history go to www.writtle.ac.uk/120