Bloom 2011 in Photos Part 2
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The team from the Centre for Middle Eastern Plants, part of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh
, are at the start of a three-year programme in partnership with Kabul University to teach a group of 20 students how to identify and conserve plants.
Team member Dr Matthew Hall said the strategy of involving the Afghan people in conservation efforts is quite deliberate. 'I could do it myself, but that's not engaging the botanical community in Afghanistan,' he said. 'We're starting from scratch in training, research concepts and plant identification, but that way we leave a lot more of a legacy than a list with a lot of Latin names on it.'
Afghanistan has one of the richest populations of plants in the world, nearly a fifth of which grow nowhere else. However, more than30 years of war has devastated the environment and put the survival of many species under threat. At the same time the fighting has severely curtailed plant collecting expeditions, so records of many species are limited to single sightings in the 1970s.
The team hopes to travel into the field with the students in selected areas where the situation is more stable to assess populations of wild tulips and irises including the highly rare Iris porphyrochrysa, recorded only once in the Bamia region of central Afghanistan. The information will be used to draw up a Red List of plants in need of protection. At the same time a parallel programme is helping develop the Kabul Botanic Garden.
'I was bowled over by the amount of enthusiasm and concern in Afghanistan about the normal things – the quality of the air, conservation and the environment,' said Matt. 'In Kabul real life has to happen if Afghanistan is going to have a sustainable future – and biodiversity is part of that.'
Chairman Kildare Growers
As a landscaping and gardening industry analyst, I've been appalled in recent years at the way the landscaping and horticulture industry has largely ignored the end user when organising trade events.
The emphasis has always seemed to have been on the product or services supplier's relationship with the ultimate buyer, and the practitioner - the guys and girls who use machinery and products, day in and day out - too often referred to as 'tyre kickers', are all but forgotten in the development and sales process.
It's time that practitioners' experience knowledge is fed back into development and fine tuning of equipment and machinery because they are the ones who get to know, warts and all, how a piece of equipment feels and responds handles or how a product works, during the course of their work.
The day has arrived whereby the practitioner, rightly, is becoming recognised as the driver of the landscape and garden industry - their opinion, views and advice should be ignored at peril.
Managers have had their time and not made a difference: how can someone who sits at a desk all day possibly know what machine to buy when they are not out in the fields and dealing with conditions underfoot? It's all well and good acting as a middleman and feeding information back to developers but as always, something will always get lost in translation.
Machinery, equipment, product developers and manufacturers should have the opportunity to talk directly with the practitioner: The Landscape Juice Network was the first ever landscape and horticulture professional trade network to bring together everyone from the landscaping and garden world and now we are close to launch of our brand new industry Trade Show called Creating Landscapes.
I guess it's a case, proverbially at least, of putting my money where my mouth is.
If you are a product, equipment, machinery or plant supplier, why not come over and participate in landscaping and gardening's specialist industry event?
I'm delighted to welcome Stephen Ingram to the Landscape Juice Network as part of the Creating Landscapes' team.
Stephen is an independent exhibition and event organiser having previously worked within the event market and have organised the likes of The Royal Smithfield Show, The CLA Game Fair, The National Amateur Gardening Show and The Royal Bath & West of England Show.
For further details, you can email Stephen directly at stephen@hale-events.com Keep an eye out for the official launch.
Let's end it here and now. Glee (that's the garden centre and pet product exhibition at NEC Birmingham and not the popular TV programme of the same name) is not, never was and never will be, a place to promote the world of landscaping and horticulture.
The Emap marketing machine has been allowed to generate whirls of positive spin, unchallenged - but aided and abetted by the trade press - for far too long.
I've not read or heard one positive review from a landscaper or gardener who has attended the show and it proves - to me at least - what Dan Thurlow told me about doing more for our industry was just not true (if I'm wrong here Dan, I'd be happy to be shown otherwise).
Emap have got to be honest with us all, and themselves and return the show to grass roots level and that is, first and foremost, as a pet and garden centre event. I told Emap before, we do not want our exhibitions stands to be tucked away behind the pet stands as an afterthought.
Landscaping and gardening is a serious business and it contributes a great deal of money to the UK economy so it deserves to be treated with more respect.
I did a search on the Glee website using the search words "landscape" or "landscaping" and it returned just 10 results.
I know my comments may stimulate a debate amongst Glee supporters that my intention is just to knock other shows because it's mine and Landscape Juice's intention to run our own event.
Let me dispel any of these thoughts before they grow roots. Yes we are going to put on an industry event for landscapers and gardeners in 2011 - and the integral and peripheral businesses that go hand in hand - but Creating Landscapes (as the show will be named) has grown from need: in a way, I've decided to put my money and reputation where my mouth is and I've spent the last eighteen months or more talking and listening to the industry practitioners who feel left out and neglected.
There just isn't an event for landscapers and gardeners that is centric to their needs - Landscape Juice, in conjunction with our partners - Hale Events - have worked hard to research what has been missing so we can deliver a rich and profitable experience.
As always, I want to hear your comments and if you are a landscaper or gardener and you did think it was worthwhile attending or if you are a an exhibitor who sells to landscapers and gardeners and you feel the show was benefit then please do leave a comment.
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After a hugely successful launch in 2009 the Innovators Zone is back bigger and bold for Glee 2010.
To get a head start on seeing the next big thing make sure you visit the Innovators Zone in Hall 5
100's of companies will be launching products and showing you what's new for 2011, including...
Boskke - Turning gardening on its head Defying gravity, Boskke's unique upside-down planter encourages abundant greenery at home and at work, without sacrificing floor space. | |
The sky planter's innovative design allows you to save space, conserve water and transform your view of nature. Make sure you see it first at Glee 2010. Click here for more information.
Blooming High enter the Dragons' Den! Blooming High, who exhibited at Glee for the first time in 2009, bravely stepped into the Dragons' Den this week to pitch their revolutionary stackable planter. They received some great feedback and advice from the Dragons and interest in their product has already soared since they appeared on the show! The Blooming High container can be used individually or stacked to create a tower affect. Watering is no problem for the lower sections as they come with a watering tube to enable watering and feeding of those that are stacked.Click here for more information. | |
Don't miss them at Glee 2010… visit Stand A11 in Hall 5 to see their product first hand!
For the full exhibitor list visit www.gleebirmingham.com