The summer might have washed away; the rain stopping us from bringing our wine and cheese filled picnic hampers to the flowery meadows. But just because we can't enjoy them right now that doesn't mean we should stop thinking about our beautiful British wildflowers.

Wildflowers play a crucial role in the eco system by providing nectar and pollen for bees and butterflies. So it goes without saying that the meadows need a bit of TLC all year round to keep healthy - after all there is always next summer!

To mark their support of Natural England and to launch a bid to preserve 2,100 acres of British wildflower meadows, wine brand - and long-time eco-friend - Banrock Station has created the world's first living billboard made up of 800 native British plants from 14 species! The wine maker is also launching a special edition wine which will give Natural England £30,000 to help protect and enhance wildflower meadows.

Made with 80% post-industrial recycled material, the board is currently on display outside the Westfield Shopping Centre and aside from offering a colourful view it encourages shoppers to 'give nature a helping hand' and water the flowers to help them grow. If you want to test your green fingers you have to hurry though; it's only up until the end of the Bank Holiday weekend! Afterwards the flowers will be replanted in local communities to ensure they can flourish long after you have finished your bottle of wine.

Simon Huguet, Principal Adviser for National Nature Reserves at Natural England said; "We are delighted to work with Banrock Station and thrilled at their support for wildflower meadows on our National Nature Reserves. Home to many rare plants, traditional meadows provide vital habitat for birds, bees and small animals and are wonderful places to visit. In recent years they have become a rare sight across our countryside and it is great to see these special places getting a helping hand."

So there you go, now you can enjoy wine AND do good! And if you want to get some free seeds courtesy of Banrock Station to grow your own flowers for bees and butterflies check out their Facebook page. You can also see a video of how the flower wall was made by clicking here.

Don't worry, no flowers were harmed in the making of this article.

Summer is fastening its grip yet again, the flowers are in bloom and people appear to be much happier - amazing what some sunshine and warm weather can do!

With flowers also come bees and as you are preparing your garden for the summer season it could be worth keeping the humble bumble bee in mind. While you might want your garden to look fashionable with large and colourful plants, it's important to remember that bees, and other insects, live in your flowerbeds and these amazing looking plants can be "hostile" towards insects making it difficult for them to access the pollen and nectar. If you are an avid gardener check out The Royal Horticultural Society's (RHS) 'Perfect for Pollinators Plant List' to find out which plants and flowers are best for the insects that live on your plot of land.

Many of the UK's 24 bumble bee species are today endangered - two species even became extinct in the last 70 years! You can do your bit by choosing plants that have this new 'bee label' - it's shaped like a bee - that indicate which flowers and plants are best to help bees and butterflies.

All bees are vital to our food chain, in fact one third of the food we eat would not be available was it not for the keen workers. The economic value of honey and bumble bees as pollinators of commercially grown insect pollinated crops in the UK has been estimated at over £200 million per year! (www.bbka.org.uk)

Bees are in danger of disappearing, and while you can ensure their continued well-being by planting the right flowers you could also consider taking up beekeeping. Honey bees are under attack from the varroa mite and only treatment and care provided by beekeepers can keep their colonies alive.

However, to keep bees you need some equipment - some to keep you safe when handling the bees - and also a hive for the bees to live in. There is a wide choice of hives available on the market, but we particularly like this cute 'Bee Station' on Eco Age that is designed to support British bees!

Produced by a pottery in Stoke-on-Trent, the Bee Station is described as a "bee refuelling and nesting site that sits on your flowers bed". The design is spacious enough for two species of bee to nest for their full fourteen weeks and holes for sugary drink to provide sustenance. And it will look great in your garden too!

For more information on how to keep honey or bumble bees visit The British Beekeepers Association website.

The last few decades have been dominated by urbanisation, digitalisation and an admiration for consumption. These days, you'll find a growing number of counter-movements springing up that advocating for a more sustainable and responsible way of dealing with our environment and bringing nature back to our cities.

My Green City - Back to Nature with Attitude and Style (Gestalten, £35.00) is a compilation of the ideas and projects from around the world that are promoting a more environmentally friendly lifestyle - from urban farming initiatives and architectural visions that are changing our cities, to furniture and other everyday objects that can make our streets and homes greener.

Among the many inspirational projects included in this book, some of our favourites are: Vacant Lot allotment garden by What if: projects (Shoreditch, London May 2007) which took use of vacant and unloved city spaces and turned them into temporary allotment gardens; the Ann Demeulemeester shop in Seoul, Korea by Mass Studies which is covered in grass on the exterior surfaces; the many varieties of seed bombs - the munitions of guerrilla gardeners in the fight against the neglect of public spaces. In fact, there are far too many great eco-friendly ideas to mention!

We liked the book so much that we have teamed up with Gestalten to give one lucky Hippyshopper reader the chance to add 'My Green City' to their book collection.

TO ENTER

To enter the competition simply Like Hippyshopper's Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/Hippyshopper and leave us a comment below telling us which city in the world you think is greenest and why. We'll pick the winner based on our favourite message, so don't be shy!

COMPETITION CONDITIONS

- Competition closes on Friday 27th May 2011 at 23:59.

- Only Hippyshopper Facebook page fans will be eligible to win the prize.

You might have head of green burial sites or maybe not, as most people don't think about funeral related issues until it's absolutely necessary.

Spanish designer Martin Azua has created an eco-solution to help people leave this world in a greener way. Reintroducing the human being to the natural circle of life, returning to nature, the Bios Urn is a biodegradable urn made from coconut shell, compacted peat and cellulose. Inside it contains the seed of a tree, so that once planted - with the remains of the person who has departed - the seed begins to grow.

As with the more traditional gravestones, you have the choice to pick the type of plant you would like to become.

Did you know that a plant on your desk will make you happier and healthier at work? According to an Australian Facebook campaign by the Nursery & Garden Industry of Australia designed to help people improve their plant/life balance, having a plant around will "brighten up your workspace, help reduce office noise, improve air quality and heaps more."

Earlier this week, on March 2, the people behind Put A Plan On Your Desk gave away over 20,000 plants at major train stations across Australia, with each plant having a special code that has to be activated through a Facebook app.

The app then teaches you how to care for a plant on your desk at works, and challenges you, your friends and co-workers to be part of a 12 week experience. Being part of this growing community of plant enthusiasts - and keeping your little green friend alive! - could also win you some great prizes, including a holiday to The Daintree Eco Lodge & Spa in Cairns (somehow we think this competition is only open to Australian residents...).

If you don't have a plant and don't know which one to get, the app also has a matchmaking feature that finds the perfect plant for your personality! No excuses anymore.

Help raise money for tree planting in urban areas with Trees for Cities Summer auction. Due to run until July 10th, the auction comprises several great lots including the following:

* A meal at your home for ten people cooked by Tom Aikens, Michelin-starred chef of the Tom Aikens Restaurant, Chelsea (reserve £6,000)
* Jamie Oliver's back catalogue of ten books, all signed (£300)
* Two tickets to Latitude festival 15 to 18 July, featuring Vampire Weekend and Florence + The Machine
* Three tickets to watch the filming of Britain's Got Talent at the O2 on the 11 July from a private box (£600)

People can also make donations of any size, or purchase gifts from the shop on the Trees for Cities website. They can also come along to planting events from autumn to spring and help plant trees across London, Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield. They can also run the Tree-Athlon 5ks at UK cities.

Proceeds go to further urban tree planting activities in the UK and abroad. According to the charity, tree cover and green space have been shown to promote healthy lifestyles and lower crime levels by creating more welcoming streets and parks.

For more information, see the auction launch page here http://www.treesforcities.org/page.php?id=468 or Google 'Trees for Cities Summer Auction'.

If you're a reader from Norfolk, then the Norfolk Wildlife Trust need you. They're starting a hunt for the great parasite of yuletide - no not that annoying relative who wangles their way round for christmas dinner each year - but the wonderfully snog-inducing Mistletoe.

The survey has been created in order to find out whether the plant is in decline in the county - which would clearly be a worry for any sickle wielding modern-day Getafix. It's a shame that the survey isn't country-wide, but it doesn't stop all of us looking out for it anyway, as it is quite splendid.

So if you do live in the environs of Norfolk and spot some Mistletoe, the Trust want to know when and where you found it, and on what tree it was growing. You can tell them by filling in an online form. It's easy as mince pie, and you can even upload photos! Such is the magic of Christmas.

[via Green Jelly Bean]

Beating nature at its own game is the story of the human race: we overcame gravity and flew to the Moon; we made mice grow ears on their backs; we even bettered the mighty earthquake by killing thousands of people with atom bombs. And now, reports the New Scientist, it looks like we're about to create a 'super-photosynthesizing leaf that will produce more leaf matter, using less solar energy and fewer nutrients'.

So is the dawn of the bionic leaf upon us? A leaf that will better nature's own 'poor' attempts at photosynthesis? No. Though I'm no scientist myself, it seems that all researchers at the University of Illinois have done is create a computer model of how a leaf works, fiddled with numbers to alter its constituent parts and noted the outcome.

Like I say, I'm no scientist, but isn't it a bit like running a computer model of the London Underground, taking out half of the commuters and announcing that it runs more smoothly. No, probably not.

The fight for allotment space has become so frantic, it seems, that some are having to resort to getting their fix online. At least, that was what I assumed when I first discovered Growveg.com

On a closer inspection it is not, in fact, a playground for frustrated would-be allotment owners: it's more a tool for those who want to take their real vegetable plot to their desk. The site lets you draw a virtual model of your garden, selecting fruit and veg you want to grow, and it gives you heaps of info on how to care for those particular crops, including how much space they need, feeding, natural pest control advice and much more. It's a great idea for a site and playing with it is a lot of fun even if (like me) your 'garden' amounts to a neglected balcony.

Liking the idea of presiding godlike over your own plantation? You can sign up for a free 30-day trial here!

They're more attractive than plastic trees, they don't shed like cut trees, you can reuse them, and they help the environment too. Gone are the days of destroying Norwegian forests in order to get hold of trees - you can buy them from sustainable plantations in England, with every tree taken replaced. The Christmas tree "farms" themselves protect eco-systems by acting as a buffer against erosion and contamination from nearby waterways, as well as absorbing C02 emissions. When the tree finally dies, it becomes useful compost - rather than just ending up as landfill like a plastic tree. Visit The British Christmas Tree Growers Association for more information.

I know some of you super-organised people out there will already have started thinking about decorating your homes in anticipation of the festive season - and I imagine the suddenly rather wintery weather may well have been a catalyst! If you like to go overboard in the run-up to Christmas, but aren't so keen on the idea of the usual plastic, planet-pillaging decor, keep reading... Instead of tinsel and baubles, use potted poinsettias, rosemary, thyme and sage, branches of mistletoe and holly wreaths. Eschewing a tacky plastic tree is also better for the environment, as well as being far more aesthetically pleasing. If you look after it properly, you can use a living, potted tree year after year, and it won't get tatty round the edges like its artificial counterparts, or shed its needles like a cut tree.

If you need further inspiration on what to use and how, there's plenty of help out there. For instance, leafing (ho ho) through the latest Royal Horticultural Society Diary of Events this morning, I spotted a flower-arranging demonstration entitled 'A merry floral Christmas' taking place in Lawrence Hall on Greycoat Street in London on the 9th November - the demonstration takes place at 2.15pm, and is repeated at 4.15pm. If you're considering getting yourself a living Christmas tree, these tips should help you keep it healthy.

Did you know the cut flower business in the UK is worth as staggering £1.5bn a year? Yet only a tiny percentage of companies offer locally grown, seasonal flowers while most (85%) are imported from places like Kenya. Last year alone 19,000 tonnes of flowers were flown in from Africa which equates to a whopping 33,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions

If you love flowers, but want to keep your carbon footprint low you should buy from Wiggly Wrigglers. They are one of the few UK companies who ensure their flowers are sourced locally, and are totally seasonal. You can order bouquets for yourself, or as a gift for your loved one. They are wrapped in craft gift paper and a free card is available for your personal message. Obviously you have to factor in the courier delivery when you consider the carbon footprint of the bouquets, but it's a whole lot smaller than a flight from Kenya! Prices start from £35.

We're coming into October, and now is the time for thinking about next year’s garden. It may seem that this year’s crop is only just ending, but with frosts predicted for this weekend, the Autumn is well and truly here and it’s time to start planning those bulbs for next Spring, the over-wintering onions, peas and garlic, planting those raspberry canes and ordering next year’s seeds.

That’s where the 2008 Organic Gardening Catalogue comes in handy and makes you spend more money than you’d planned.
In case you’ve not come across it before, the Organic Gardening Catalogue has everything you could possibly need – and many things you didn’t know you needed – for organic gardening, at home and in the allotment. This is the place for organic seeds, heritage varieties of plants, green manures, organic fertilisers, biological pest controls, tools, books, and even Christmas gifts for the enthusiastic gardener in your life.

Composting has to be one of the ultimate green activities. It stops tons of waste being put in landfill and makes a useful product that can return nutrients to the earth and help grow lots of lovely fruit and veg at home. What more could you ask?

And yet, many people don't compost. Why could this be? One very common reason is that they don't know how, especially how to get started. That is where compost clinics and workshops come in.

I know it shouldn't really matter what your compost bin looks like, but if money was no object I'd treat myself to one of these Baby Beehives from Wiggly Wrigglers. It's much more aesthetically pleasing than the big black plastic ones the council provide and more importantly it is made from 100% sustainable wood. The baby Beehive has a little drawer at the bottom so you can easily access your compost when you need it, and for those bigger jobs each section is removable so you can use more at once. It's cleverly designed to allow air circulation and will hold around 200 litres. It's available in plain wood, white or blue but you can have one custom painted from a choice of seven colours upon request. It will cost you £100 for plain and £125 for coloured. Pretty!

Related: 163 things you can compost from PlanTea