A quick search of the internet also brings up many sites detailing the advances made in survival rates of these plants (80% plus ) the licensing and licence details of the Australian government bodies that regulate extraction of wild flora, the success in replanting some of these plants following development or road building or pipeline laying.
It would seem to me, that the Australians in general are taking the preservation of their indiginous flora at least as seriously as we do in the UK and possibly more so.
If plants that would otherwise have been destroyed by developement can be given a second chance then where is the problem? in much the same way that tree ferns from New Zealand were brought into cultivation when they were cleared from the forests.
I would ask people to read further on the subject before making some of the more sensationalist claims and emotive comments. Words such as perverse, disgusting obscene and crime are unnecessary.
Perhaps my language was a bit strong, and a bit emotive, but my reaction was to do with using such a plant for a two week exhibition. I don't like the way Chelsea has developed. some exhibits get more and more extravagant by the year, and some rather ridiculous,but then I am a boring traditionalist. I imagined this plant being used as a wow element, only to be moved again when the show finishes. They used to argue something similar to justify zoos,high minded arguments about saving the rescued baby tiger from misery in the wild, educational arguments etc. I know there are arguments for and against. It just doesnt fit with my gardening philosophy and I told it as I felt it.
I completley agree. The process of moving a plant within a city in Australia, with the intention of it prospering in a park, is completely different to transporting it halfway around the world, for a 2 week exhibition. I highly doubt they included the (minimum) 1 cubic meter of root ball (probably more for larger plants), considered necessary for the plants long term survival, let alone how the plant from an arid region, will continue to survive if it is left in the UK (once they have there award I doubt they will be shipping it back).
Tootsietim, please provide the source of your data. I'm not sure where you are getting the 80% survival rate from, and I doubt there is any research group, investigating the survival rate of these plants which are sold in nursarys, to home growers, especially over the long term (often they do not die quickly).
The information I've seen (from the Australian Native Plants Society), has indicated the complete opposite.
My admitedly brief search encompassed the New South Wales Government's Native Vegetation Act of 2003 and a number of Australian commercial horticultural suppliers.
For instance Grasstrees Australia, who were finalists in the Western Australia Environmental Awards for Small Business Leading by Example.
In response to the specific point of your original statement, which I misconstrued, regarding the removal of an originally wild plant from Australia and bringing it to London for a garden show, I should be very interested to see if we can find out what is going to happen to the plants involved. If it is to be wasted then I share your unease.
The designer, Phillip Johnson appears to be entirely rooted in sustainable gardening and so one would be worried if he were condoning the death of a grass tree for chelsea, but I don't think we can necessarily judge on the information that we have.
Perhaps Mr Titchmarsh could be contacted to see if he can determine the origin and destination of this plant.
So sorry to hear it. I think exhibition's are so over-rated,we just don't need them,unless it is to do with our own flora and fauna.It's just another modern day way of making money and i'm afraid the world's economy will always come before the bird's,the bee's,the flower's and the tree's!!! Keep it native people. I might be a little out-spoken but i care about what makes this world tick and it certainly aint us and money!!!
Pippin2, you may be interested in the following reply I have recently received from Flemmings Nursery as to the provinance of their dsiplay plants used at Chelsea this year.
Hi Tim,
Thanks for taking the time to check the facts about the trees that we used at Chelsea. We have heard of a number of negative messages out there, but not many people have bothered to check what the story really is. It is pleasing to see though that there are people who care enough about the plants to be outraged at the concept of them being illegally harvested and treated as disposable items - we would be similarly horrified if this was happening. All of the plants that were used in the 2013 Trailfinders Australian Garden presented by Fleming's were sourced from nurseries in Italy, Spain and England. Some of them, particularly the Xanthorrhoea and Dicksonia would originally have been exported from Australia to Europe. The Australian government at state and federal levels have a very strict licensing system that governs the harvesting of Australian native plants from both public and private land. There are also very strict export regulations associated with exporting Australian native plants to ensure that only those that have been legally harvested can be exported. In the vast majority of cases it is only possible to harvest plants from areas that will be cleared for other approved purposes. We had initially hoped that we would be able to use some boabs (Adansonia gregorii) that were to be cleared in Western Australia as part of the expansion of an irrigation scheme, but despite months of negotiations we were unable to finalise the licence to take these within our timeframe, even though the approval for clearing them had been granted. The harvest of Australian native plants is very strictly controlled and it is not possible to simply 'rip things from the wild'. Like all plants the long term survivability of the Xanthorrhoea is dependent on a number of factors. Once a plant has been shipped from the Southern hemisphere to the Northern hemisphere it can take several seasons for them to adjust to the change in seasons. In order for Australian native plants to be of a standard suitable for display at Chelsea they need to have been growing in the northern hemisphere for a number of years. Given that all of the trees that we used have been growing in pots in Europe for an extended period of time there is no reason to suggest that they will in any way suffer from being displayed at Chelsea. The Xanthorrhoea that were used in our garden were all still in their pots, so suffered no disturbance to their root system. Post Chelsea all plants were either sold, returned to a nursery or donated to a garden project. As a nursery who specialise in trees we well aware of the importance and environmental value of all plants, but particularly trees - it would not sit at all comfortably with us to have these items destroyed. Perhaps this answers some of your concerns?
Additionally, if you go to the website for copperconsultancy.com, you can find a little more about what happens to Chelsea show gardens after the gates close.
Posts
A quick search of the internet also brings up many sites detailing the advances made in survival rates of these plants (80% plus ) the licensing and licence details of the Australian government bodies that regulate extraction of wild flora, the success in replanting some of these plants following development or road building or pipeline laying.
It would seem to me, that the Australians in general are taking the preservation of their indiginous flora at least as seriously as we do in the UK and possibly more so.
If plants that would otherwise have been destroyed by developement can be given a second chance then where is the problem? in much the same way that tree ferns from New Zealand were brought into cultivation when they were cleared from the forests.
I would ask people to read further on the subject before making some of the more sensationalist claims and emotive comments. Words such as perverse, disgusting obscene and crime are unnecessary.
Perhaps my language was a bit strong, and a bit emotive, but my reaction was to do with using such a plant for a two week exhibition. I don't like the way Chelsea has developed. some exhibits get more and more extravagant by the year, and some rather ridiculous,but then I am a boring traditionalist. I imagined this plant being used as a wow element, only to be moved again when the show finishes. They used to argue something similar to justify zoos,high minded arguments about saving the rescued baby tiger from misery in the wild, educational arguments etc. I know there are arguments for and against. It just doesnt fit with my gardening philosophy and I told it as I felt it.
I completley agree. The process of moving a plant within a city in Australia, with the intention of it prospering in a park, is completely different to transporting it halfway around the world, for a 2 week exhibition. I highly doubt they included the (minimum) 1 cubic meter of root ball (probably more for larger plants), considered necessary for the plants long term survival, let alone how the plant from an arid region, will continue to survive if it is left in the UK (once they have there award I doubt they will be shipping it back).
Tootsietim, please provide the source of your data. I'm not sure where you are getting the 80% survival rate from, and I doubt there is any research group, investigating the survival rate of these plants which are sold in nursarys, to home growers, especially over the long term (often they do not die quickly).
The information I've seen (from the Australian Native Plants Society), has indicated the complete opposite.
http://asgap.org.au/apol33/mar04-5.html
My admitedly brief search encompassed the New South Wales Government's Native Vegetation Act of 2003 and a number of Australian commercial horticultural suppliers.
For instance Grasstrees Australia, who were finalists in the Western Australia Environmental Awards for Small Business Leading by Example.
In response to the specific point of your original statement, which I misconstrued, regarding the removal of an originally wild plant from Australia and bringing it to London for a garden show, I should be very interested to see if we can find out what is going to happen to the plants involved. If it is to be wasted then I share your unease.
The designer, Phillip Johnson appears to be entirely rooted in sustainable gardening and so one would be worried if he were condoning the death of a grass tree for chelsea, but I don't think we can necessarily judge on the information that we have.
Perhaps Mr Titchmarsh could be contacted to see if he can determine the origin and destination of this plant.
So sorry to hear it. I think exhibition's are so over-rated,we just don't need them,unless it is to do with our own flora and fauna.It's just another modern day way of making money and i'm afraid the world's economy will always come before the bird's,the bee's,the flower's and the tree's!!! Keep it native people.
I might be a little out-spoken but i care about what makes this world tick and it certainly aint us and money!!!
Pippin2, you may be interested in the following reply I have recently received from Flemmings Nursery as to the provinance of their dsiplay plants used at Chelsea this year.
Hi Tim,
Thanks for taking the time to check the facts about the trees that we used at Chelsea. We have heard of a number of negative messages out there, but not many people have bothered to check what the story really is. It is pleasing to see though that there are people who care enough about the plants to be outraged at the concept of them being illegally harvested and treated as disposable items - we would be similarly horrified if this was happening. All of the plants that were used in the 2013 Trailfinders Australian Garden presented by Fleming's were sourced from nurseries in Italy, Spain and England. Some of them, particularly the Xanthorrhoea and Dicksonia would originally have been exported from Australia to Europe. The Australian government at state and federal levels have a very strict licensing system that governs the harvesting of Australian native plants from both public and private land. There are also very strict export regulations associated with exporting Australian native plants to ensure that only those that have been legally harvested can be exported. In the vast majority of cases it is only possible to harvest plants from areas that will be cleared for other approved purposes. We had initially hoped that we would be able to use some boabs (Adansonia gregorii) that were to be cleared in Western Australia as part of the expansion of an irrigation scheme, but despite months of negotiations we were unable to finalise the licence to take these within our timeframe, even though the approval for clearing them had been granted. The harvest of Australian native plants is very strictly controlled and it is not possible to simply 'rip things from the wild'. Like all plants the long term survivability of the Xanthorrhoea is dependent on a number of factors. Once a plant has been shipped from the Southern hemisphere to the Northern hemisphere it can take several seasons for them to adjust to the change in seasons. In order for Australian native plants to be of a standard suitable for display at Chelsea they need to have been growing in the northern hemisphere for a number of years. Given that all of the trees that we used have been growing in pots in Europe for an extended period of time there is no reason to suggest that they will in any way suffer from being displayed at Chelsea. The Xanthorrhoea that were used in our garden were all still in their pots, so suffered no disturbance to their root system. Post Chelsea all plants were either sold, returned to a nursery or donated to a garden project. As a nursery who specialise in trees we well aware of the importance and environmental value of all plants, but particularly trees - it would not sit at all comfortably with us to have these items destroyed. Perhaps this answers some of your concerns?Additionally, if you go to the website for copperconsultancy.com, you can find a little more about what happens to Chelsea show gardens after the gates close.
Fair dinkum, I reckon.