iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Sam Gamblin @samlkg.bsky.social · 22/06/2025

A very hot #SummerSolstice here in Birmingham but the golden hour was truly spectacular! These Chandos Beauty roses also have glorious scent. And a solstice visit from this beautiful Hummingbird Hawkmoth 😍 #GreenHeart #Gardening #Moth #BloomScrolling #Roses #UrbanWildlife #RedValerian

Hummingbird hawkmoth by some red valerian

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Sam Gamblin @samlkg.bsky.social · 29/05/2025

I finally understand why it's called a Tulip Tree! This is a tree flower that makes a statement... It is in our therapeutic gardens, but can be seen from the main park of Kings Heath park. #LiriodendronTulipifera #BloomScrolling #GreenHeart #Gardening #TulipTree

A pale green and yellow tulip tree flower which is shaped like an actual tulip! It has some orange banding I. The lower petals.

Large tulip tree with fence in front of it and glasshouse to the left.

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Sam Gamblin @samlkg.bsky.social · 08/05/2025

Hey #Bloomscrollers - how about this selection of coastal wildflowers in Corsica? What a beautiful walk - wish I could send the smell to you too 💚 #Bloomscrolling #Corsica #Maquis #Wildflowers

Mediterranean linseed - white and pink small flowers

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Reposted by Sam Gamblin

Highbury Park Friends @highburyprkfriends.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

Our beautiful Handkerchief tree is in full bloom with its gorgeous white bracts - have you found it yet?

A blue sky with white blossoms of the tree

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Sam Gamblin @samlkg.bsky.social · 02/05/2025

Welcome to Blue sky @highburyprkfriends.bsky.social 💚💚💚 Here's a photo taken in the park at 7am this morning. Just a couple of friends hanging out... #Corvids #Parakeet

Same birds further away! In a horse chestnut tree

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Sam Gamblin @samlkg.bsky.social · 02/05/2025

The wisteria is out in the Thrive garden! I don't think I've ever appreciated it properly before - the scent is just gorgeous 💜 Not the best photo as I was too close, sniffing 😂 #BloomScrolling #GreenHeart #Gardening #Wisteria

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Sam Gamblin @samlkg.bsky.social · 04/04/2025

Boo! there is also a "get gardening" newsletter you could sign up to x

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Sam Gamblin @samlkg.bsky.social · 04/04/2025

I don't know if you can access it from where you are but try your app store for "Cultivating wellbeing". It helps you discover and plan activities with gentle motivation. Made by the not-for-profit I work for. www.thrive.org.uk/app

thrive.org.uk

App (home) - Thrive

We are excited to bring you Cultivating Wellbeing, a brand-new app from Thrive. Create and follow your personalised gardening and nature wellbeing plan. Find out more.

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Sam Gamblin @samlkg.bsky.social · 04/04/2025

Amazing work! That looked like quite an intimidating plot to start on

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Sam Gamblin @samlkg.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

Ah, lily has told me 😂

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Reposted by Sam Gamblin

Susie Dent @susiedentwords.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

Word of the day is ‘foxy’ (19th century), used of weather that misleads you into thinking it’s extremely warm when in reality it’s pretty chilly.

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Reposted by Sam Gamblin

RSPB @rspb.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

Inspection time! A Chaffinch has dropped by your feed to keep an eye on things... 👀 📷 @kiransimpson.bsky.social

A Chaffinch stands proudly on a mossy perch, its chest puffed out and head held high, as if overseeing an important inspection. Its warm orange breast contrasts with its soft grey-blue head, while its sharp gaze gives the impression that it’s carefully assessing the scene.

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Sam Gamblin @samlkg.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

I love I have absolutely no idea what this means! X

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Sam Gamblin @samlkg.bsky.social · 29/03/2025

A lovely birthday spent visiting the 1000+ year old Major Oak in Sherwood Forest. Yes, the one where Robin Hood is supposed to have hidden out. Spectacular tree, and ancient oaks galore in the forest around 💚 #AncientTrees #Oak #EnglishOak #QuercusRobur #RobinHood

The huge major oak with limbs propped up by posts

A bizarre short stump of some long gone ancient tree with 2 small shoots coming out of the opposite sides

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Sam Gamblin @samlkg.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

I thought exactly the same and even googled "iris daffodil"!

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Sam Gamblin @samlkg.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

Look at this absolute beauty! Not entirely sure what it is - the closest I can find is Narcissus Cassata. Never seen one like it 💛 The gardens and park are full of #daffodils and #narcissus, big and small - it's a joyous sight after a long cold winter. #BloomScrolling #Spring #GreenHeart #Gardens

Lily looking narcissus! Lemon yellow with pale yellow rear petals

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Sam Gamblin @samlkg.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

It was quite hard to take it was moving so quickly! 😂

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Sam Gamblin @samlkg.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

I love #crocuses; probably the most important reason is that they're packed full of pollen for early bumblebees. This buff-tailed bumble was excitedly diving into flower after flower. #Bumblebees are struggling with the climate - try @katebradbury.bsky.social for tips to help them out! #Gardening

Buff tailed bumblebee head first in a crocus

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Sam Gamblin @samlkg.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

And some just emerging crocuses - I think crocus tomasina

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Sam Gamblin @samlkg.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

Thank you! I was very pleased with the sight of it too 😊

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Sam Gamblin @samlkg.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

I am stuck in my kitchen working, but what a view! Planting bulbs in autumn is an activity which encapsulates the hope involved in #gardening ...all done in anticipation of how much joy those flowers might bring in many months time 💚 #GreenHeart #bloomscrolling #Iris #Spring #Bulbs

Blue iris reticulata and mauve crocuses in a blue pot

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Sam Gamblin @samlkg.bsky.social · 22/02/2025

I had 2 open at the start of the day and 6 at the end! 💚

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Sam Gamblin @samlkg.bsky.social · 22/02/2025

What a day! Finally a day of the backdoor open and being outside most of the day. Irises filling the pot, the first cherry blossom and clearing out the bird box with wonder at the Great Tits' work from last year. Rewarded with the first evening black bird song of the year 💚💚💚 #Greenheart #Garden

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Sam Gamblin @samlkg.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

Seedlings and more seedlings! The joy of gardening in February is the hope of what's to come. All of our client gardeners sow seeds and watch them develop so there is a complex system of labelling! #STH #GreenHeart #TherapeuticGardening #Garden #Hope #Spring

Rows of seedlings at various stages of growth

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Sam Gamblin @samlkg.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

A little walk round the gardens today to lift the spirits on this grey old day. Spring flowers and robins serenading us at every corner #GreenHeart #Gardening #Gardens #BloomScrolling #Spring #Robin

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Sam Gamblin @samlkg.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

It was a bitterly cold lunchtime dog walk at Holders Woods, but as well as this blackbird who sat observing me for some time, I watched some woodpecker territory action high up in the canopy. Only one counts for my @ecorecord.bsky.social Feb bird count though! #Birmingham

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Sam Gamblin @samlkg.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

A beautiful show of aconites and cyclamen in the gardens this morning. Just the cheer we need on this grey and bitter day. #aconites #cyclamen #SpringFlowers #greenheart #gardening #Birmingham #GardeningForWellbeing

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Sam Gamblin @samlkg.bsky.social · 01/02/2025

I've taken @ecorecord.bsky.social up on their 28 Birds Later February bird spotting challenge. Prepare for blurry camera phone photos...No 1 today - one of the many Carrion Crows of Highbury Park, who then proceeded to hassle the dog! #birds #CityPark #Birmingham #Corvids

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Sam Gamblin @samlkg.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

I love buying seeds from @higgledygarden.bsky.social - it's all about the personal touch. And I couldn't resist trying out some "Rainbow Hippy Lovechild" as I definitely fall into that category myself 😍 #GreenHeart #Gardening #Seeds #Rainbow

Seed packet with Higgledy Garden stamp, seed name and handwritten message "Happy sowing Sam!"

Postcard of dog on canal boat covered in flowers with text "with thanks from Flash, Casper and Benjamin"

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Sam Gamblin @samlkg.bsky.social · 26/01/2025

Birds that came to our during garden the @rspb.bsky.social #BigGardenBirdwatch - 8 house sparrows, 2 each of blue tits, great tits, robins, coal tits, wood pigeons, 1 blackbird, 1 dunnock, 1 wren and 1 goldcrest! I was pretty pleased for a suburban garden in Brum altho' no sign of 3 other regulars 🙂

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Sam Gamblin @samlkg.bsky.social · 26/01/2025

Might take some postage to get to you! I'm interested to know if you can get rhubarb near you?

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Sam Gamblin @samlkg.bsky.social · 25/01/2025

The rhubarb's on its way! We've got about 3 times this much in the gardens, and some is now being forced. I love rhubarb so hoping there will be some spare 😁💚 #GreenHeart #Gardening #Rhubarb #STH

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Sam Gamblin @samlkg.bsky.social · 11/01/2025

What a weird wether day. Drove through alternating thick fog and blue sky from Brum to Nottingham. Stopped at the Attenborough Nature Reserve expecting to see lots of birds, but instead it was ice in many different spectacular forms! #Ice #Weather #Winter

Ice at the bottom of reed beds suspended over lake

Vertical ice sheet with enclosed vegetation

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Sam Gamblin @samlkg.bsky.social · 09/01/2025

An icy but beautiful start here today at our therapeutic gardens in Birmingham. Phlomis seed heads, tall grasses and silver birch looking spectacular. Even the walk down to the gardens was pretty stunning 😍💚 #GreenHeart #Garden #Gardening #TherapyGarden #STH #CityPark

Phlomis seed heads covered in ice with tall grasses behind

Silver birches catching low sun with blue sky

Pink tinged dawn sky with path and park buildings

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Sam Gamblin @samlkg.bsky.social · 08/01/2025

A glimpse of colour in our therapeutic gardens today. Some gorgeous cyclamen are popping out of the rockery, with hellebores close behind 💚 #GreenHeart

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Sam Gamblin @samlkg.bsky.social · 28/12/2024

One of the hidden green gems of Birmingham - the Harborne Walkway. Surrounded by allotments, Chad Brooke, huge gardens and a nature reserve it's an amazing green corridor and part of what makes this a City of Nature. #LoveBrum

Cindy the dog at the end of a corrugated tunnel

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Sam Gamblin @samlkg.bsky.social · 28/12/2024

Not one, but 2 copies of the Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai (thanks for the lovely ribbon BTW - keeping that copy!)

2 books side by side, one with blue ribbon tied round

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Sam Gamblin @samlkg.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

Today's spots in Highbury Park.

A line of small white fungi peeking out from pine needles

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Sam Gamblin @samlkg.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

Yes, I was told it was down to my shoddy preparation - very funny story from one of our volunteers about stringy cream of celery soup 😂

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