International Ideas, Tips & Guides

A new report from a federal watchdog calls the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) into question over its 2018 decision to register three dicamba herbicides. 

“Impossibly unaffordable” are two words that Californians are probably less than thrilled to hear. In a recent report from Chapman University in Orange, California, and the Frontier Centre of Public Policy (FCPP) in Canada, that’s exactly how four California metros are described. The 2024 edition of Demographia International Housing Affordability shows San Jose, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego listed among the top 10 least affordable housing markets—not just in the United States, but worldwide. 

Header image: ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet playing with an arrival of French delicacy macaroons on the International Space Station during his six-month Proxima mission in 2017. Image credit: ESA/NASA

A long-running dispute between the United States and Canada over dairy imports reached new heights this week, as the Biden administration triggered a formal review of the issue under the still-young trade treaty that officially replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) this past summer.

The napkins, cushion cover and table cloth seen here in Ivy Green

Familiar in South America, but lesser known on British shores, Asado is more than just a way to cook - it's a tradition deeply woven into Argentina's national identity. Celebrated globally for its unique grilling experience, Asado is often considered the king of the grilling methods. 

It seems that everyone wants to get away for summer, ditching their routines for a blissful retreat abroad. But the key to a relaxing mood all summer long might just be doing the opposite—by bringing the vacation atmosphere into your home. There are so many ancient design legacies across the world that can enhance your abode and turn it into a space you’ll never want to escape. 

Diana Miller / Getty Images

Header image: Window View of Astronaut Holding DoubleTree Cookie. Image credit: Hilton

Nobody likes the presence of ants in their kitchen and pantries. But before using harsh chemical pesticides, you must try some household hacks. Learn about them with us!

Home is where the heart is—and where all my favorite decor items are, too. Being a design writer means I take creating a comfortable, stylish home seriously. I’m well aware of the transformative power a cozy-as-can-be throw blanket or brilliant organizational item has.  In case you are in the market for decor that balances fun with functionality, I recently took stock of my favorite home items, ones with my forever stamp of approval. Some are investments, some are steals, and all make my house feel a little homier.  Scroll on for 12 of my must-have home products. 

Image: West Dean Gardens. Credit: West Dean Gardens May we know them, may we be them, may we raise them. To celebrate International Women’s Day, we’re going to share some of the most influential women within horticulture and their stories.

Dumping manure in public spaces, hurling eggs at government buildings, blocking major roads—the European farmers who have taken to the streets to challenge free trade policies sure know how to raise a ruckus. Beginning with German farmers in January earlier this year, to then include French and Belgian producers, the continent-wide protest movement has expanded into Spain and Italy as of mid-February. Their public disruption has also produced results.

Header image: Tokyo Bekana Chinese cabbage leaves prior to harvest aboard the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA

Header image: NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio uses a video camera to photograph the Ant Forage Habitat. Image credit: NASA

Sixty years ago today, Yuri Gagarin launched us into the era of human spaceflight. The Russian cosmonaut achieved a major milestone in the Space Race when he orbited the Earth in the Vostok 1 capsule. This amazing achievement came less than four years after the launch of the first satellite, Sputnik 1.

Join Emma the Space Gardener as she explores gardening on Earth… and beyond! Emma’s guest on this week’s show is Dr Gioia Massa, a Project Scientist at the NASA Kennedy Space Center, working on the Veggie growing system on the International Space Station. Gioia talks about the challenges of growing plants in space, those blooming space zinnias, and when we might see astronauts eating their first space tomato!

When it landed on the Moon, the Eagle lunar lander bore a plaque inscribed with the message “Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the moon, July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind.” But Armstrong and Aldrin planted an American flag on the Moon. Initially it was thought that a United Nations flag would be better, because it wouldn’t imply that the US was claiming possession of the Moon – the United Nations Treaty on Outer Space prevents any territorial claims. So the flag-raising was strictly a symbolic activity, but Congress amended NASA’s appropriations bill to prevent astronauts from placing flags of other nations, or those of international associations, on the Moon during missions funded solely by the United States.

Header image: NASA / Tracy Caldwell Dyson

Four new plant experiments launched to the International Space Station (ISS) on the SpaceX CRS-24 cargo mission: APEX-07, MVP-Plant-01, Plant Habitat-05 and Veggie PONDS-03R.

Header image: the launch of NASA SpaceX Crew-5 to the International Space Station. Image credit: NASA

It’s some years since I last visited the garden festival at Chaumont and my goodness it has upped its game in the intervening years. Last time I went it was more concept than realisation – and the chateau gardens beyond the festival were nothing remarkable. This year it’s an event of a different order – the majority of the twenty nine Festival Gardens are well-designed and well-planted and meet the challenge of looking good for 6 months rather than the week most show gardens need to last.  The French do like their gardens to be thought-provoking – this year’s theme is Collector’s Gardens- which is interpreted in very diverse ways from La serre de victorias a lovely intrepretation of a traditional French greenhouse (in plastic!) filled with giant waterlilies  to Le Jardin du Teinturier (The Dyer’s Garden) that is based on the tanneries of Marrakesh. Each garden has an explanation at the

Roses are one of the most commonly cultivated and extensively managed plants in the world.There are hundreds of registered hybrids and cultivars alread