Chicago orchid exhibition

http://www.freep.com/article/20140209/FEATURES07/302090009/creager-column-Chicago-Botanical-Garden

Gardens sprout in Parisians’ battle against asphalt jungle

Gardens sprout in Parisians’ battle against asphalt jungle: "Anne-Marie’s garden is 200m long and just 4m wide. It’s not hers alone: she shares it with almost 500 other Paris residents. It is joint plots like this that help Paris urbanites resist the stress of urban living. This one in the Clignancourt district, in the northern part of Paris, is not far from the city’s freeway ring. Anne Marie, a pensioner, is here almost every day, tending to tomato vines, sunflowers and lavender plants. The “Jardins du Ruisseau,” stretched out like a garden hose, is situated in a cutting next to a disused railway track. It is like a broad basin, resembling a canal without any water. Seated on folding chairs in the garden, the view is the walls of apartment buildings rising up into the sky."

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21ST WORLD ORCHID CONFERENCE

"The theme for the WOC21 Conference and Show is "Orchids: Gold in the Green Age" With Johannesburg forming the nucleus of the gold mining industry in the region, the theme pays tribute to this, while drawing inspiration from conservation as the only way forward."

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U.S. Botanic Garden: Where did all those plants come from? - Baltimore Post-Examiner

U.S. Botanic Garden: Where did all those plants come from? - Baltimore Post-Examiner: "Public gardens are common around the world. Most cities and even small towns have gardens for people to stroll in and enjoy the plants and flowers.  The U.S. Botanic Garden is a little different. It is exotic. It has a room just for orchids. Other rooms are for desert plants, medicinal plants, rare and endangered plants, plants from Hawaii, and a jungle. It is rare to see so many different kinds of plants in one place. How did they all get there? "

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Everglades Wonder Gardens Reopened and Renovating | WGCU News

Everglades Wonder Gardens Reopened and Renovating | WGCU News: "Southwest Florida landscape photographer John Brady has re-opened Everglades Wonder Gardens as he continues efforts to change its image from a place for tourists to see exotic wildlife, to a botanical garden and community space. The Gardens in Bonita Springs stood as one of the last remaining examples of the old Florida-style roadside attraction when it closed in April. "

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Late-Evening Opening of the National Botanic Garden of Belgium

Late-Evening Opening of the
National Botanic Garden of Belgium

As part of the Late-Evening Openings of the Brussels Museums, the National Botanic Garden of Belgium will be open from 3 to 17 October 2013 at night.

You can visit the tropical greenhouses in a magical atmosphere and current exhibitions.

Scientific Discovery Could Help Protect Ecosystems From African Palm Oil Boom

Scientific Discovery Could Help Protect Ecosystems From African Palm Oil Boom

As you head south along the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica from Jaco down past Quepos/Manuel Antonio toward Dominical, vast forests of palm trees stretch for miles along the highway.

Lush and thickly planted, with emerald ferns growing on the trunks and a dense carpet of green underneath, the palms always remind me of a tropical enchanted forest.

These immense plantations are African Palms, and their oil production is one of the largest agricultural industries in Costa Rica. Palm oil – not to be confused with coconut oil – is the world’s most consumed vegetable oil. The oil extracted from palm oil kernels (called dates) is used around the world in products ranging from candy and cosmetics to candles, cooking oil, industrial lubricants and even biofuels.