Gardening events

January 15, 2012

Attending a gardening event is more than just buying plants.

To the social climber.. its about being seen at a ‘green’ event and having the nod of approval by the general population. A lesson all politicians could do with.

For the fashion models.. its time to find out that food is about things that are grown in the ground and are consumed for our health, and I mean consumed!

To the property developer.. its about realising the damage you are doing to the environment and hopefully a ray of enlightenment will befall you, resulting in more considered future urban developments with the best land left for parks and gardens, not high rises and shopping centres. Stop doing green field development.

To city councillors, town planners and engineers.. its about learning the fact that trees cannot successfully grow in a small round hole surrounded by bitumen and that there are more options for street trees and urban landscaping than just lillypillies, lomandra and liriopes. Yes, vegetation is as important, if not MORE important, than tunnels, roads, buildings and bridges.

To sport fanatics… yes, your partner and the majority of the world’s population actually are interested in gardening, rather than sport.

To tourism bodies… national parks, botanic gardens and gardening events bring more people to a location over a year period than most sporting or arts festivals. So why not support these garden events with financial assistance!

But for us who love plants, adore gardens, and admit to be addicted to this hobby, its all about the plants!

For suggestions of events this coming year, check out these listings:

http://www.horti.com.au/events/

http://www.calyx.com.au/eventsdiary.html

Don’t forget the Ipswich Plant Expo on 3rd March 2012 http://plantexpo.com.au/

[this is all tongue in cheek (with a few core messages) so if anyone gets narky about what is written above, get a life!]

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 Health Benefits

 Human health also benefits from properly maintained green space:

  • Recreation - Green spaces provide ideal surfaces for a variety of recreational and sports activity and high use activities including parks and playgrounds.

  • Increased Physical Activity/Reducing Obesity - Access to green space is an important predictor of increased physical activity (“active living”) and reduced risk of obesity. A recent study of over 40 million people in England shows that health disparities between high income and low income people are much narrow in areas with ample green space, possibly because it allows residents to become more physically active and reduce stress.
  • Healthcare/Stress Reduction – Just being in, or viewing, green space for a few minutes reduces stress. This has been demonstrated by medical studies with hospital patients and the general public.

Data compiled for this research (refer to source below) refute the notion that green space is merely ornamental or aesthetic and indicates substantial environmental and human health benefits from healthy, properly maintained green space.

[source: Benefits of Green Space – Recent Research, April 25, 2011, John Heinze, Ph.D. Environmental Health Research Foundation]

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Green Space Benefits

October 30, 2011

Environmental Benefits Healthy, properly maintained green space provides significant benefits to the environment in terms of water and air quality: Erosion Control and Run-Off Prevention – One of most significant functions of green space is to stabilize and protect the soil against water and wind erosion. This is particularly important in preventing nutrient run-off. Healthy, [...]

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Ardisia crenata

October 28, 2011

Botanical: Ardisia crenata Common: Coralberry Plant, Spiceberry Family: Primulaceae Synonym: Ardisia crenulata Tropical shrubs and small trees from Asia and South America, the genus Ardisia has around 300 species. Few however have come into ornamental cultivation. The evergreen Ardisia crenata is native to southern China, southeast Asia, southern Japan, Malaysia and Philippines, found naturally as [...]

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Indigofera decora

October 1, 2011

Indigofera decora Family: Fabaceae Sometimes called Summer Wisteria or Chinese Indigo, it is a soft stemmed low growing plant that has a suckering habit. Leaves and flowers are reminiscent of a wisteria plant, hence the common name. It is native to China, Hong Kong, Japan and the Philippines. Its ease of culture has resulted in [...]

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Ruscus species

September 12, 2011

Botanical: Ruscus species Common: Butcher’s Broom Family: Ruscaceae It grows well in shade to dappled sunlight and is extremely tolerant of root competition. So much so that it can often be found in older Queensland gardens beneath mature jacaranda and poinciana trees. Butcher’s Broom is an evergreen shrub-like perennial growing 1 to 1.2m tall. There are [...]

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Keep or Kill

September 6, 2011

Why save a dead plant! We all do it… we try to keep our garden plants alive spending money on remedies and chemicals to fix the soil/leaves/pests/diseases/etc. We also spend valuable time worrying over the sick plants, tending to them and pouring TLC on them. But what tends to happen to the plants? Truth be [...]

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Pachystachys spicata

September 5, 2011

Pachystachys spicata Family: Acanthaceae Synonym: Justicia spicata, Pachystachys riedeliana Note: there is some confusion officially between this species name and that of Pachystachys coccinea. Some reference call these two plants synomyms, others regard them as different species. Common: Cardinal’s Guard, Chandeleire From southern America and grown in most tropical and subtropical climates as an ornamental [...]

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Fire and Plants

September 5, 2011

Bush Fires and the Garden Many areas of Australia, and overseas, are prone to bush fires. In most cases, bush fires are considered a natural cycle for the wilderness to rejuvinate and to stimulate seeds to germinate. However, these fires are rarely caused by natural occurances (such as lightning) but rather by people who deliberately [...]

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Plectranthus amboinicus

September 5, 2011

Plectranthus amboinicus Common Names: Five in One, Mother of Herbs, Broad-leaf Thyme, Big Thyme (West Indies), Cuban Oregano, Spanish Thyme, Orégano Brujo (Puerto Rico), Indian Borage, Country Borage, Húng chanh (Vietnam), Big Thyme (Grenada) Mexican Thyme and Mexican Mint Family: Lamiaceae Synonym: Coleus amboinicus This fleshy-leaved semi-prostrate herb, thought to be native to Africa, grows [...]

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