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Gardening & Wildlife News

Gardening & Wildlife News
All the latest news stories from the world of gardening and wildlife.

Flowers 'wave' at passing insects - 8th May 2008

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

Nationally important wetland to become a ‘wildlife highway’
24th April 2008
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.
Source: Wildlife Trust

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.

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.

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 Wilson

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.
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.”
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.
A new Head of Site will be recruited at Harlow Carr to lead this flourishing garden into its next exciting phase of development.

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.
Source: RHS
Link: Gardens to Visit

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

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
Link: FrogLife
Link: Amphibians

Tree roots sprawling accross the temple at Angkor Wat, Cambodia.

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

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.
Source: The National Trust

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

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

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.
Source: BBC

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.
Source: Wildlife Trust

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.
Source: BBC

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