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May 30, 2007
Wollemi Pine
“How marvelous and exciting that we should have discovered this rare survivor from such an ancient past.” – Sir David Attenborough
There are fewer than 100 Wollemi pines in a secret location in Wollemi National Park in New South Wales, Australia. A little more than 10 years ago, these plants were believed to be extinct, until an unfamiliar group of trees was accidentally discovered and compared to a fossil specimen of the Wollemi. The king of the Wollemis, the Bill Tree stands nearly 40 metres tall, towering above the canopy. The grandest Wollemi on the planet, the Bill Tree started life around 1000 years ago, about the time the Vikings made first contact with Native Americans, the Romani people left India and the Chinese invented gunpowder.
Our thanks to Dr. Susan Murch, Assistant Professor and Canadian Research Chair in Natural Products Chemistry, UBC Okanagan, who made possible the donation of Wollemi pines to the UBC Botanical Garden, including a first generation propagation of the magnificent Bill Tree. One of the small Wollemi specimens donated to the Garden was planted at a ceremony on May 24, 2007. This ceremony was attended by Kevin Lamb (Consul & Manager, Austrade, Australian Consulate), Dr. Susan Murch, the Dean of The Faculty of Land and Food Systems, the general public, the Friends of the Garden and garden staff.
This Wollemi Pine will be a great addition to the UBC Botanical Garden collections, and its mandate to assemble, curate and maintain a documented collection of living, temperate plants for the purposes of research, teaching, public display and conservation.
Thank-you to Gideon Singer for submitting these pictures of the ceremony.
Posted by Nadine Diner at 9:12 AM
May 29, 2007
Perennial Plant Sale
On May 13, 2007 the Friends of the Garden (FOG) held their annual Perennial Plant Sale at the UBC Botanical Garden, which as usual offered a great selection of “hard to find plants”', native plants, and garden favourites. The plant sale also included a kid’s tent, UBC Food Services BBQ, garden tours and workshops. Douglas Justice (Associate Director of the Garden) offered a Native Plant workshop; Judy Newton (FOG) offered a Container Garden workshop, while Julie Lane-Gay (FOG) offered a workshop on Perennials for Difficult Locations. In addition, FOG Hort-Line (UBC Botanical Garden Phone Line for plant-related inquiries) representatives had a tent on-site to answer a variety of questions.
The sale was a great success, with a crowd lining up as early as 7:30am to get first pick of the plants. Many groups had wagons and buggies in tow in preparation for a mass purchase.
It is important to note that the plants for this sale are hand grown, not commercially purchased, by the FOGs who spend a considerable number of volunteer hours amassing and caring for this impressive collection of sale plants. Not to mention, the FOGs contribute all proceeds from the sale to research and educational initiatives at the Garden.
Congradulations and thank-you FOGs!!
Posted by Nadine Diner at 3:17 PM
May 27, 2007
Jackie Cuts Down a Tree
In the wrong place, at the wrong time.
As every gardener knows, sometimes a plant is simply not in the right spot and needs to be removed. Unfortunately this was the case with this Caucasian alder (Alnus subcordata) that was planted nearly thirty years ago in what is now part of the developing Carolinian Forest garden. The tree was too large for us to move and it did not fit well within any of the garden's plant collections. So Jackie cut it down.
It is always a little sad when we lose plants, but in this space we can look forward to the growth of our Carolinian groves. There has been some great progress with that garden and several beds are now planted--it is beginning to look like a little forest. I will post some photo updates in the next few weeks.
Posted by Andy Hill at 6:43 PM
May 26, 2007
Hanging Baskets for the Garden Entrance
Horticulturists carefully plant our popular hanging baskets.
Here are a few photos of Kevin and Jackie putting together hanging baskets. Kevin, Jackie and Ron (not in the photos) design them and then grow all the needed plants. The baskets will be at the Nursery for a few more weeks until they are filled out and looking fabulous. Then they'll be brought over to the garden where they will be placed along the entrance boardwalk. There is always a lot of excitement from visitors who are curious about the unusual plants and unique designs, so we do our best to have plant listings available and to answer questions.
Speaking of questions, the garden's Hortline is busy taking phone calls from gardeners who are looking for advice and inspiration. If you have a gardening question you can try 604.822.9666 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays between 12 pm and 3 pm to speak with staff and Friends of the Garden who are keen to help. And, as always, you can join the online discussion and post questions, photos or comments on the UBC Botanical Garden Forums by clicking here.
Posted by Andy Hill at 6:46 PM
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UBC Botanical Garden Blog is a project of the UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research, located in Vancouver, British Columbia Canada. UBC BGCPR is a department within the Faculty of Land and Food Systems at The University of British Columbia.