Park in Profile: Singapore Botanic Gardens

The Gardens at its present site was founded in 1859 by an Agri-Horticultural Society. Planned as a leisure garden and ornamental park, the Society organised flower shows and horticultural fetes. In 1874, the Society handed over management and maintenance of the site to the government. The scientific mission of the Gardens evolved when the colonial government assumed management and deployed Kew-trained botanists and horticulturists to administer the Gardens.

It is fair to say that the history of the Gardens is in many respects the history of its dedicated administrators. The Gardens' first Director, Henry Nicholas Ridley, came to the Gardens in 1888 and worked tirelessly for the next 23 years to usher the Gardens into the twentieth century and its most productive period historically. Ridley's zealous persistence in persuading Malaya's planters to grow rubber trees earned him less than flattering nicknames such as "Mad Ridley" and "Rubber Ridley". During the 1890s and early 1900s, Ridley devised successful propagation methods and also discovered a way to harvest commercial quantities of latex without harming or killing the trees. He advocated the large-scale cultivation of rubber in Malaya. Planters in Malaya largely ignored Ridley until their coffee plantations were devastated by disease and they desperately required a new cash crop.

During this time, demand for rubber soared as the automobile industry boomed. As Ridley had turned the Gardens forest clearings and waste land over to rubber, the Gardens had a ready source of seed supply when the rubber rush came. The Gardens' revenue multiplied greatly as the region became a major market for the rubber trade. The plants at the Botanic Gardens became the basis for Southeast Asia's rubber industry, an industry that generated fortunes.

Read more of park's history: http://www.sbg.org.sg/aboutus/ourhistory.asp

General Information

Address: Singapore Botanic Gardens
               1 Cluny Road
               Singapore 259569

Tel:         (65) 6471 7138 / (65) 6471 7361
Fax:        (65) 6473 7983
E-mail:    NPARKS_SBG_Visitor_Services@NPARKS.GOV.SG 

Link to garden's homepage: http://www.sbg.org.sg/

Golden Gate Park - SF Conservatory & Dahlia Garden

Extending the Gardening Season

Bulletin from the University of Maine's Cooperative Extension providing information on how to extend the gardening season with a variety of mulches, temporary coverings and permanent structures.

Link to bulletin: The University of Maine

Volunteers needed for Food Bank's garden project

The Food Bank of Central Louisiana's Good Food Project, established earlier this year after a $1.1 million donation from Keller Enterprises, focuses on promoting and supporting local gardening efforts in Cenla through classes, models and outreach, said Lori Garton, director of the project.

Earlier this year, the project has already established a demonstration garden using land adjacent to the Food Bank's 3223 Baldwin Ave. headquarters in Alexandria.

The plan for the Good Food Project is to establish and support gardens within Cenla Food Bank's entire 11-parish service area, composed of Allen, Avoyelles, Catahoula, Concordia, Grant, LaSalle, Natchitoches, Rapides, Sabine, Vernon and Winn parishes, Wright-Velez said.

The project also will host a series of classes and workshops at the beginning of the year, officials said. The gardens and gardeners that spring up as a result of the project are not required to donate a portion of their yields to the Food Bank, though officials certainly would not discourage donations.

The Rapides Soil & Water Conservation District has offered $100 donation to as many as 20 participating Rapides Parish schools as a garden start-up grant.

For information about the Good Food Project, call (318) 445-2773. Those interested in volunteering with the project can email Garton at lgarton@fbcenla.org.

Link to more information: TheTownTalk.com

SETTING UP AND RUNNING A SCHOOL GARDEN

Teaching toolkit available from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations on setting up and running a school garden.

Link to Toolkit (pdf file): ftp://ftp.fao.org

USDA Expands People's Garden Initiative to Sow Seeds for Community-Based Agriculture across the Country

WASHINGTON, Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan visited a community garden in Baltimore to announce 10 grants to support 155 People's Gardens in neighborhoods from Maryland to Hawaii, continuing the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) efforts to combat malnutrition while supporting local and regional food systems. These sustainable community gardens will give residents direct access to fresh fruits and vegetables in underserved neighborhoods. A lack of access to fresh and nutritious food fuels obesity and domestic food insecurity—a condition where households experience limited or uncertain access to adequate food.

"The simple act of planting a garden can help unite neighborhoods around a common effort and inspire communities to find solutions to challenges facing our country—from hunger to the environment," said Merrigan. "The People's Garden Initiative has demonstrated that one direct and effective way of improving food access is to plant a garden. Since establishing our People's Garden Initiative, we're excited to see more and more people working together to create nurturing communities around these sources of nutritious food."

BROOKLYN BOTANIC GARDEN - FOCUS ON SCHOOL GARDENS

On Tuesday, November 15, from 6 to 8 p.m., BBG is offering a workshop, How to Grow a School Garden: Winter Planning for Spring Learning. Led by GreenBridge program manager Nina Browne and Brooklyn Urban Gardener (BUG) graduate Michelle Israel, this workshop will provide strategies to New York City parents, teachers, and administrators to ensure that a school garden program is a perennial success. The class is free, but registration is required

About Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Founded in 1910, Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG) is an independent nonprofit institution committed to education, research, and the display of horticulture. Situated on 52 acres in the heart of Brooklyn, the Garden is home to over 12,000 kinds of plants and hosts more than 725,000 visitors annually. Learn more at bbg.org.

Brooklyn Botanic Garden is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The Garden is closed on Mondays except public holidays. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for senior citizens (65 and older) and students with ID. Children under 12, all school groups, and Garden members are admitted free at all times. For directions, please visit bbg.org/visit/directions.

Learn what’s happening at Brooklyn Botanic Garden at bbg.org/visit/calendar, read the Garden’s blog at bbg.org/news, and see photos of current highlights at bbg.org/bloom.

Source: GardenNews.biz

Video on how to Build a Cold Frame

Video from Gardenfork.tv on how to build a cold frame to get a head start on starting seedlings or extending a growing season.

Ben Lomond, CA: Class: How To Start a Winter Vegetable Garden

Tuesday, Aug 18 9:00a to 3:00p at Love Apple Farm, Ben Lomond, CA

Learn how to start and tend a winter vegetable garden. Growing a garden in winter is possible with our mild California climate. Winter gardens are not just limited to greens and cabbage. We will discuss over 20 different kinds of winter vegetables, and sow a flat to take home to tend and transplant. read more

Price: Tuition: $55 Materials: $20
Phone: (831) 588-3801
Age Suitability: Teens and up

Learn how to start and tend a winter vegetable garden. Growing a garden in winter is possible with our mild California climate. Winter gardens are not just limited to greens and cabbage. We will discuss over 20 different kinds of winter vegetables, and sow a flat to take home to tend and transplant.

Using floral preservative for fresh flowers

Floral Design writer for the Examiner, Susan Fogwell shares about the use of floral preservatives in prolonging the life of cut flowers. This applies to both bought flowers as well as fresh cut flowers from the garden. Floral preservatives serves dual purposes, providing food to the cut flowers in the form of sugar, and to prevent bactarial growth in the vase water. Complete article a the Examiner site>

Dallas: Garden Calendar

GARDEN BASICS: A Calloway's class designed for gardeners who need any level of advice. Soil preparation, lighting requirements, plant selection and general care will be covered. Saturday. $10. Classes will be at 2460 Highway 121, Plano, 972-649-6228, and 2651 Hulen St., Fort Worth, 817-923-9979. Register at www.mytexasgarden.com.

VEGETABLE GARDENING: Free class on preparing and planting fall vegetable gardens. 9:30 a.m. Saturday. Petal Pushers Garden Emporium, 813 Straus Road, Cedar Hill. 972-291-7650.

MODERN VICTORY GARDENS: Learn how to maintain or create a backyard vegetable garden. Class will focus on soil basics, organics, home propagation, extending summer crops and starting fall and winter crops. 9 a.m. Saturday. Texas Discovery Gardens, 3601 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. $25. 214-428-7476. texasdiscoverygardens.org.

BLUEBIRD SYMPOSIUM: Statewide event includes presentation by naturalist Keith Kridler, round-table discussions, nest-box installation clinic and gardening to draw bluebirds to your property. 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday. Lakeview Camp and Conference Center, 5128 FM66, Waxahachie. $15 preregistration fee includes lunch. $10 at the door (no lunch). www.texasbluebird society.org.

KIDS' CLINIC: Children are invited to make a mini bird feeder from pine cones. 9:30 a.m. Wednesday. All Calloway's Nursery locations. Free. www.mytexasgarden.com.

Source: Dallas News>

Missouri: Get free six-week training to teach Eating from the Garden curriculum

Classes are coming up for nutrition and gardening enthusiasts who want to teach the Eating from the Garden curriculum at local schools and community centers.

The free six-week training sessions will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on:

• Aug. 12 and Aug. 19 at the MU Extension Center at Pioneer Community College, 2700 E. 18th St.
• Aug. 26 and Sept. 2 at Kansas City Community Gardens, 6917 Kensington Ave.
• Sept. 9 and Sept. 16 at the MU Extension Center, 1106 W. Main St., Blue Springs

Volunteers will receive university training in nutrition, food safety, food preparation, fruit and vegetable production, use of natural fertilizers, pest control and other practical gardening skills.

Once trained, the volunteers teach lessons in nutrition, plant science, hands-on gardening and environmental awareness to encourage fourth and fifth grade children to eat more fruits and vegetables. They also help community groups establish fruit and vegetable gardens.

To apply, contact Molly Fusselman, MU Extension horticulture educator, at fusselmanm@missouri.edu or 816-252-5051.

2009 Event Calendar for Filoli Estate / Garden

Afternoon Tea at Filoli Fourth Wednesdays, February through October*
Art Exhibits February through October
Mother's Day Weekend Flower Show, Teas and Brunches May 7–10
Members-Only Twilight Stroll June 25This event is currently full and we are no longer taking reservations.
Jazz at Filoli Summer Concert Series June–SeptemberTickets on sale now.
Flowers in the Home July 17–19Reservations are being taken now.
An Evening of Wine with Roses July 25This event is currently full and we are no longer taking reservations.
Book Sale to Benefit the Filoli Libraries July 31–August 2
Members-Only Twilight Stroll September 22Reservations may be made beginning August 25.
Autumn at Filoli Festival October 3Tickets may be purchased beginning August 24.
Last day of 2009 Season October 25
Holiday Traditions November 27–December 5Members may purchase tickets beginning September 28; non-members beginning October 19.
*October Afternoon Tea at Filoli is Wednesday, October 21, the third Wednesday of the month.

A growing trend: backyard gardening

Ed Davis for The Flint Journal reports on the growing trend of backyard gards as a means to save money on grocery bills or to gain a sense of community. Regardless of the reason, backyard gardening is on the rise. His article further cites examples of many who have converted more of their backyard space to gardens. Besides backyards, neighorhoods are getting involve with community garders that include churches and schools. Read complete article from the Flint Journal site>

By Tammy Sharp
Leesville Daily Leader

Leesville, La. - Ann Walker is no wall flower when it comes to growing her own. Despite having only a few square feet in which to work, Walker makes the most of what she's got, producing towering tomato plants, statuesque sunflowers and zippy zinnias in her tiny garden. A resident of New Llano Senior Apartments, Walker's garden stretches even into her neighbor's small yard. Of course, it helps that he's her own son. But even as the garden reaches into the courtyard they share with other residents, no one is complaining. Read more>

Down to earth: The real dirt on composting

Anne Mazar/DAILY NEWS CORRESPONDENT

Photo: Jessie Mazar of Mendon uses a "compost crank," a helpful tool for mixing compost piles.

By Anne Mazar
GateHouse News Service

If you don't like to waste anything and enjoy a good bargain, then composting is for you.
It is a fascinating process -- turning yard debris and kitchen scraps into a dark, rich substance that can be used to fertilize your garden soil, lawn and house plants. Plus, it's free.

An astounding 20 percent to 30 percent of household waste comes from the yard and kitchen. It can be satisfying to foster this natural process by recycling your waste in a compost pile and keeping unnecessary waste out of our stressed landfills.

Read more>

A growth opportunity

By KIM PALMER
Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

At 5 p.m. on a recent Tuesday, when many workers were heading home, employees at one downtown Minneapolis public relations firm capped off their workday by getting their hands dirty in a Delano, Minn., farm field. Together, they picked beans and beets, pulled weeds and hoed the pumpkin patch at the organic vegetable garden sponsored by their employer, Haberman & Associates.

"It's an experiment," said co-founder and CEO Fred Haberman, who hatched the idea earlier this year with business partner Liz Morris Otto, who hosts the garden at her hobby farm.

Read more>

Reaping from high value vegetables

By OTUSHABIRE TIBYANGYE

Ruth Nashaba has grown vegetables for 15 years. This has been on a small scale, using basic methods and poor seeds until the intervention of the district agricultural department.

In 1992, Nashaba and her village mates formed a group, Kyabaiba Abamwe Women Group in Nyabikungu Parish Rwampara, to escape poverty by pooling resources together and using proceeds from their small gardens of vegetables. However the income was not sufficient because of poor farming methods. “We were using poor seedlings and poor farming methods of draining the wetland without adding manure to the soils.

Whenever it rained, we would lose some of our crops because of cultivating in the middle of the wetland until the intervention of extension workers,” she recalls. They were taught how to use the wetland sustainably by using the periphery of the wetland. They were also taught the use of the existing rivulets to irrigate their crops using watering cans and taking water to their gardens without draining the water away.

Nashaba and her group proved good students and have started reaping big from their plots of land using high value seeds provided by the project. “We have been given high yield seeds of carrots, egg plants, tomatoes, green pepper, cauliflower and radish among others which have done very well in the first harvest,” she says.

Read more>

August is the time to plant vegetables for fall

By Dr. William Johnson Contributor

The dog days of August soon will arrive. No need to remind you that August is the peak of the heat season in Galveston County, and we have been on the dry side for much of the growing season. However, lawns and other plants in the landscape are looking less parched after the scattered rainfall during the last couple of weeks.Plants in the landscape and garden will require attention if they are to remain vigorous and provide us with many desirable benefits, including color, shade, beauty, etc. Working outside this month tends to be more tolerable during early morning or late evening hours.The gardeners’ calendar of activities for August includes several activities: Read more>

The Only Shrubs You Need to Grow

Providing reliable good looks without a lot of work, these eight plants are a garden unto themselves

by Lynden Miller - Fine Gardening
Photo: Purple smoke bush (Cotinus coggygria cvs)

I've always called any low-maintenance, high-impact plant a “plant that pays the rent.” To me, that means a plant that earns itst keep in the garden by reliably contributing year-round interest. If a plant looks good for only two or three weeks, I don’t use it. As a result, I have come to rely more and more on shrubs—especially these eight—as the main players in my borders. Every gardener wants a garden that is easy to take care of, and shrubs provide long-term impact without all the work of perennials. In fact, you could use just these plants in a border and have an interesting, beautiful planting all year long.

Read more>