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Flowers 'wave' at passing insects
- 8th May 2008 |
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Flowers
"wave" at insects to get their attention,
scientists have discovered. The finding helps explain
why many flowers waft in the breeze, and reveals a
hitherto unknown trick used to attract pollinators. |
| Scientists
made the discovery while studying common wildflowers
known as sea campion on the Welsh coast. Mobile flowers
are visited more often by insects and also produce more
seeds, they report in the Journal of Evolutionary
Biology. |
Source: Matt Walker -
BBC |
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| Nationally important wetland to become a ‘wildlife highway’ |
| 24th April 2008 |
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| One
of the UK’s most important areas of wetland habitat,
the Severn Vale in Gloucestershire, is to be developed
into a (Gloucestershire’s first) ‘wildlife
highway’ to help species move as they adapt to climate
change. |
| The
five year Severn Vale Living Landscape project is the
most ambitious ever undertaken by Gloucestershire
Wildlife Trust, which is unveiling full details for the
first time at an event today. |
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Source: Wildlife
Trust |
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Gardening
in the moonlight - 7th April 2008 |
| RHS
Flower Shows showcase new gardening trend |
|
Gardens that
glow under moonlight are set to be a key gardening trend,
according to designers at this year’s RHS Flower Shows.
Gardens at the RHS Flower Shows at
Cardiff
,
Chelsea
and
Tatton
Park
will feature night-scented plants, strong silhouettes and
plants with luminous colour in order to produce gardens that
offer a magical set of sights, sounds and scents when the sun
goes down.
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| The RHS Spring Flower Show, Cardiff (18 – 20 April 2008) leads the trend with ‘A Taste of the Orient’ designed by Steven Trew for Caerphilly County Borough Council Park Services. The focal point of this Japanese and Chinese-influenced garden is a traditional teahouse situated on the edge of a large pond. Set within the teahouse is a ‘moon window’– from which light spills, creating the appearance of a full moon reflected in the water below. The design also incorporates luminous white flowering plants that glow under moonlight. |
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| RHS appoints Head of Gardens Creative Director
- 3rd April 2008 |
| Matthew
Wilson, Curator and Head of Site at RHS
Garden Harlow Carr, is moving into a
newly created role with the UK’s
leading gardening charity, with
responsibility for creative developments
that will drive visitor growth at the
RHS Gardens. |
|
| Matthew
will take up the new post as Head of
Gardens Creative Development on 2nd
June. Based at the RHS
headquarters in
Vincent Square
, he will work closely with the senior
managers at the RHS gardens and with the
marketing, PR, fundraising, publications
and online teams to create and exploit opportunities
for events, activities, exhibits and
features that will lead to visitor
growth. He will report to Jill
Cherry, Director of RHS Gardens &
Estates. |
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| Jill
Cherry said, “This post has been created in
response to the exciting and challenging
opportunities emerging from our plans to develop our
gardens as visitor attractions and put in place long
term masterplans for each garden.
Matthew will play a leading role in shaping and co-ordinating
the creative development of all our gardens. I
am delighted that he has accepted this transfer,
which happily will also allow him to move closer to
his family.” |
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| Matthew
joined the RHS in 2000 as curator of RHS Garden Hyde
Hall, where he developed the renowned
Dry
Garden
and developed its eco-friendly ethos. He
transferred to his present role at Harlow Carr in
2004 where he has made a major contribution to its
development and visitor appeal. In his new
role he will continue to be closely involved in the
development of the planned Harlow Carr Learning
Centre and Library. |
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| A
new Head of Site will be recruited at Harlow Carr
to lead this flourishing garden into its next
exciting phase of development. |
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Great Dixter gets lottery funding
- 27th March 2008 |
| The
Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has earmarked more than £4
million towards a £7 million project to safeguard the
future of Great Dixter, internationally famed for its
garden and its Grade 1-listed timber-framed house, for
the continued enjoyment of the nation. |
| Great
Dixter contains one of the largest surviving medieval
timber-framed halls in the country. The inspirational
garden was established and maintained by the Lloyd
family over the 20th and 21st centuries. |
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Source: RHS |
| Link:
Gardens
to Visit |
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RHS Chelsea Flower Show tickets selling fast
- 14th March 2008 |
| With two months still to go until the world’s most famous flower show opens its gates to visitors, the RHS announces that tickets are selling fast. All full day tickets for the opening day (Tuesday 20th May) of the 2008 RHS Chelsea Flower Show, sponsored by Marshalls Landscapes
PLC, have now sold out, and full day tickets for Wednesday 21st May are selling quickly. |
| But don’t panic. Garden lovers are still able to buy tickets for the remainder of the show (Thursday 22nd – Saturday 24th May), and RHS members still have the chance to purchase afternoon or evening tickets for the Tuesday and Wednesday, which are special RHS members’ days. Tickets are available to buy online at
www.rhs.org.uk/chelsea or by calling 0870 842 2234. |
| The 2008 RHS Chelsea Flower Show is the ultimate event in the gardening year. It sets the latest gardening trends, features the newest and most desirable gardening products and creates an explosion of colours and scents. Visitors will see spectacular show gardens designed by some of the world’s most famous garden designers; small gardens which are the perfect source of inspiration for gardeners with small spaces; and hundreds of floral displays in the Great Pavilion. |
| Link:
Chelsea
Flower Show |
| Link:
Pictures
of previous Chelsea Flower Shows |
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Gardeners urged
not to move frogspawn
- 7th March 2008 |
| Wildlife-lovers
may not think twice about handing over 'excess'
frogspawn from their urban ponds to other gardeners to
give frogs a new home. |
| But
today conservationists urged home-owners not to indulge
in 'spawn-swapping' this spring because of the harmful
diseases and invasive plants that can hitch a ride with
the eggs. |
| Froglife
said that instead of moving frogspawn around
artificially, gardeners should make their gardens
attractive and accessible to frogs to encourage natural
movement of amphibians and other animals |
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| Link:
FrogLife |
| Link:
Amphibians |
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Plant roots 'have a sense of touch'
- 1st March 2008 |
| Plantroots
have a sense of touch and are able to ‘feel’ their
way past obstacles in the soil, a study has shown. |
| The
discovery explains how plants colonise poor soils and
germinating seedlings burrow down into the earth without
dislodging themselves. Roots are covered with a fuzzy
coat of hairs which act as sensitive ‘fingers’,
researchers found. The root hairs explore the soil in
much the same way as a person trying to navigate in the
dark. |
| When
they encounter an obstacle, such as a stone, they feel
their way around until an opening is discovered through
which growing can continue. In the meantime, the
gripping hairs anchor the plant in the soil. |
| ‘We
have identified a growth control mechanism that enables
these hairs to find their way and to elongate when their
path is clear,’ said study leader Professor Liam
Dolan, from the John Innes Centre in Norwich. |
| The
mechanism uses a protein at the tip of the root hairs to
stimulate the uptake of calcium from the soil, said the
researchers. |
| Calcium
then stimulates more activity by the protein. When an
obstacle blocks the hair's path, the cycle is broken and
growth starts in another direction. |
| ‘This
remarkable system gives plants the flexibility to
explore a complex environment and to colonise even the
most unpromising soils,’ said Prof Dolan. ‘It also
explains how seedlings are able to grow so quickly once
they have established.’ |
| Understanding
the processes involved could assist the development of
crops able to grow in inhospitable environments, say the
researchers in the journal Science. |
| ©
The Press Association, All Rights Reserved |
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Best ever year for Large Blue Butterfly
- 16th February 2008 |
| Last year was the most successful year for the rare Large Blue butterfly since it was re-introduced at the National Trust’s Collard Hill in Somerset in 2000. |
| More
than 350 butterflies were recorded during the flight
season, easily surpassing the previous highest number.
The summer of 2007 was the longest flight season on
record for the Large Blue butterfly at Collard Hill –
the first butterfly was seen on the 2 June, the earliest
recorded sighting, and the flight season lasted
thirty-three days. |
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Source: The National Trust |
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Small, but perfectly formed gardens
- 10th February 2008 |
| For
the first time in 2008, small gardens at the RHS Chelsea
Flower show will be grouped together according to
whether they present a modern urban retreat, or a
countryside idyll. |
| In
previous years small gardens have been described as
courtyard, city, chic or roof, and have been grouped as
such in the showground. The new 'urban garden' category
brings together all small gardens that would fit into a
modern, urban setting, encompassing the city, chic,
front and roof gardens. The 'courtyard gardens' provide
a contrast with design ideas for a rural setting. These
remain a separate category. |
| There
will be 22 small gardens at the 2008 RHS Chelsea Flower
Show, so there will be something to inspire every
visitor with small space of their own. Highlights
include an urban garden designed by Kazuyuki Ishihara of
AOA Corporation, who has designed a roof garden inspired
childhood games of building dens leading to secret
worlds. In contrast, Sue Hayward of Earthly Garden
Designs, has designed a courtyard garden to reflect the
costal existence of a Sheltland crofter. |
| Source:
RHS |
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Currys axes patio heaters
- 31st January 2008 |
| Electrical
chain Currys has announced it’s to stop selling patio
heaters. |
| The
company says the move has been prompted by increasing
concerns over the environmental impact of the heaters. |
| Currys
has already stopped selling the heaters online and will
now phase them out at its 550 UK stores. |
| Currys
Head of Brand Amanda Clift said: ‘Currys is committed
to making progress on the green agenda and we are
concerned with how widely available these products are. |
| ‘These
products make it all too easy to turn to a gas canister
to keep warm and we hope that other retailers will
follow suit.’ |
| Recent
reports estimate that using a patio heater for two hours
produces the same amount of carbon dioxide as a car
produces in an average day. |
|
Source: WHICH |
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Medicinal plants 'facing threat'
- 19th January 2008 |
| Hundreds
of medicinal plants are at risk of extinction,
threatening the discovery of future cures for disease,
according to experts. |
| Over
50% of prescription drugs are derived from chemicals
first identified in plants. |
| But
the Botanic Gardens Conservation International said many
were at risk from over-collection and deforestation. |
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Source: BBC |
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Help needed as wildlife moves habitat
- 7th January 2008 |
Much-loved
species such as the dormouse, bats and butterflies will
need help
moving to new habitats as climate change brings warmer
temperatures to the UK, the Wildlife Trusts warned
today. |
Animals,
birds and even plants such as the bluebell will need to
move their
range north and westwards across the British Isles in
search of suitable homes
and food as weather patterns change. |
Some
species are already shifting, such as the traditionally
southern comma
butterfly which has been seen further north, while
European species are adapting to life in the UK. |
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Source: Wildlife
Trust |
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Campaign to turn
Christmas cards into trees
- 3rd January 2008 |
| Britons
are being urged to recycle 100m Christmas cards to raise
money to plant thousands of trees. |
| The
Woodland Trust and campaign group Recycle Now want to
turn enough used cards into other paper products to fund
24,000 trees. |
| Saving
the cards from landfill will also save 2,600 tonnes of
greenhouse gases, equivalent to taking 800 cars off the
road, Recycle Now said. |
| Cards
can be donated at WHSmith, Tesco, TK Maxx and Marks and
Spencer. |
| Collections
bins will be in place throughout January. |
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Source: BBC |
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