FLOWER POWER: There are many reasons to visit the National Botanical Gardens in Glasnevin, Dublin, and at the moment one of them is to view Macro Plant, an exhibition of photographs by Stephen Lohan.
The exhibition, subtitled A unique study of botanical form and structure, explores the relationship between photography and painting. It runs until May 29th.
HAVE YOUR SAY
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland wants to know whether you think it should fortify food with folic acid. Taking folic acid before conception and in the early stages of pregnancy reduces a woman's chance of having a baby with a neural-tube defect, such as spina bifida. (Ireland currently has one of the highest rates of neural-tube defects in Europe.) The three policy options under consideration include getting manufacturers to add folic acid to bread and flour, on either a mandatory or voluntary basis, or continuing the current practice of running occasional health-promotion campaigns. Have your say by logging on to www.folicacid.ie before June 24th.
Marie-Claire Digby
BLACK MAGIC
Black Phoenix Alchemy Laboratory is a perfume shop with a difference. Creating perfumes and oils inspired by Alice in Wonderland and HP Lovecraft rather than Britney and J.Lo, the online lab has built up a devoted following of people who can't get enough of its exotic and delicious fragrances. Known as Bpal to fans, Black Phoenix Alchemy Laboratory is Gothic in the best, melodramatic way: the scents have names such as Absinthe and Belladonna, and the website looks as if it was designed by Aubrey Beardsley. Its descriptions of the perfumes are so vividly over-the-top that you can almost smell them, especially the collection of oils inspired by the seven deadly sins. Take a trip to the dark side at www.blackphoenix alchemylab.com.
Anna Carey
SIMPLY DIVINE
In the heart of the Jersey countryside, in the region of St Mary, lies La Mare Vineyards. This thriving Channel Island business, which is also a busy tourist attraction, has become as intrinsic a part of Jersey as the cow. The estate, which is managed by Cork man Tim Crowley (above), has won several international awards for its wines, including a silver two years running for its sparkling white Cuvée de la Mare and a bronze for its first vintage pink sparkling, called Lillie. Its distillery, meanwhile, produces the famous Jersey Apple Brandy. Allied to this is La Mare's range of jellies, jams, mustards, fudge, chocolate and must-have black-butter preserves. Indoor and alfresco eating areas neatly finish off any visit (as does a tasting of three estate wines). And don't imagine that Jersey is too far away: Aer Lingus flies there from Dublin four times a week until the end of October. You have no excuse. Check it out at www.lamarevineyards.com.
Tony Clayton-Lea
WISH LIST
If I were a newborn I would be decidedly pleased if someone gave me a pair of the soft alpaca fleece booties sold by www.babywishbox.com. The website has a covetable collection of goodies for new babies (as well as for new mums and dads). Gina Boles started out with the idea of creating little boxes of really special products. Almost everything is organic and even vegan, but don't let that make you think dull. Boles glams her range up by presenting everything in naturally perfumed tissue paper, handmade boxes and organza ribbon. Organic-cotton T-shirts can be a little dull, but she has had them printed with slogans such as "Toothless fairy" and "Can't talk now!" If babies could talk, they might well endorse Boles's baby massage suit, which is printed with symbols that guide you to massage the baby's spine, navel, knees and elbows to help with wind, coughs, colic and dreamy sleeps.
Nicoline Greer
SIGLA SLICK
Online magazines may be two a penny by now, but there is more to creating a decent read than slinging a handful of rants and hastily-written reviews onto a site; and that's where Sigla, the lively and slickly-designed forum launched by three young Irish writers just over a year ago, has an edge over its competition. Though Irish, it is international in its thinking, with contributors from Texas to Tokyo, from Sligo to Sydney, and the mix of articles is intelligent and dynamic - but never stuffy, and never half-baked. Recent additions include a report from an "ordinary Chinese city", a frank look at the tactics of Google, a diary of one year of sobriety, and a look at the beauty myth: the male one, that is. Along with interviews - this month, author Kazuo Ishiguro - there are weekly reviews, ever-active discussion boards, a gallery for photography, illustrations and cartoons, such as the one below, and pages for creative writing - including flash fiction, the challenge being to write a story in 25 words. www.siglamag.com.
Belinda McKeon