Flowers of Sri Lanka: Our first step to the world of flora

Manoj DISSANAYEKE

We all love the soothing sight and the sweet fragrance of flowers. Flowers are gifted with the innate quality of possessing captivating colours. Flowers are a gift of nature. They bloom for the sake of their future generation - for pollination.

Flowers have become a great form of economy today. For most of us nature lovers it seems unfair to cut off a flower from its shoot and give it a price. However the present day situations make it a necessity to sell and export flowers for the survival of man. Many families depend on the money they obtain by cultivating flowers. It has become a leading profession in many parts of the world.

The history of flowers go back to many centuries. Rose fossils dating back to 25 billion years have been discovered in research. The chronicles of the Buddha relate many facts connected to various kinds of flowers. These enhance its sacred value and beauty.

(The writer is the Agriculture Instructor of Royal Botanical Gardens, Peradeniya)

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Unusual Cats

The Manx and Scottish Fold breeds certainly look different from the normal tabby and pure breeds. The Manx cat has no tail and the Scottish Fold has ears that fold back. But how did they get like that and what sort of pets do they make?

Scottish Folds

The first Scottish Folds were discovered in a litter of farm cats in Scotland in 1961. As kittens, Scottish Folds are born with straight ears and at three weeks old, they start to fold. A gene mutation is responsible for the folding of the ears.

This dominant gene also affects the development of the spine and legs. So to avoid deformities, Scottish Folds are never bred together. Instead, Scottish Folds are bred with the Scottish or British Shorthair.

As a result, the litters have a mixture of kittens; some with folding ears and some with normal, pointy or “pert” ears.

Having a crossbred cat means it will enjoy better health and live longer. The life expectancy of a Scottish Fold cat is 10-15 years.

Scottish Folds are playful and sociable cats. They love company and hate being left alone for long periods of time. They make great pets for a families to own because they are very affectionate, relaxed and tolerant towards children.

The Scottish Fold, like the Manx Cat, have a double coat. Twenty minutes should be set aside for brushing each week.

Manx Cats

The Manx Cat is a tail less breed of cat, but there are a few variations. Some have a hollow where the tail should be, they’re called “rumpies”.

Others have the beginnings of a tail, they’re called “risers”. Those with a slightly longer remainder of a tail are called “stumpies”. Finally, those with an obvious tail are called “longies”.

The breed originated in the Isle of Man, an island off England’s west coast. The reason for its lack of tail is a genetic mutation. The Manx is a difficult cat to breed successfully.

The gene associated with tailessness is also responsible for the death of kittens before they’re born. Breeders have to ensure they breed rumpies (those with no tails) with risers, stumpies or longies (those with some sort of tail).

Unlike the Scottish Fold, the Manx Cat breed has been around for over 100 years. They have a sturdy build; a round head, broad chest, short front legs and thicker hind legs. They run more like rabbits than cats.

The Manx is an intelligent, long-lived cat that comes in a range of coat and eye colours. Like the Scottish Fold, the Manx Cat has a double coat, which might need extra care with grooming.

Gardening coaches help tame US urban jungles

Summer has arrived in the urban jungle, and for those keen to enjoy life in the garden but who don’t know which end of a lawnmower is up, help is at hand.

Life coaches, who aim to guide soul searchers through the maze of marriage or daily well-being, are now branching out and getting down and dirty with advice and tips on how to make your garden grow.

“People are just overwhelmed. I hold their hand and it makes all the difference in the world,” said gardening coach Susan Harris, who has been initiating clients into the mysteries of their backyards for the past three years.

“A lot of them are new home owners. They have no idea what is a weed. Others don’t know where to start, how to prune the shrubs,” said Harris, who lives in the lush green Washington suburb of Takoma Park, Maryland.

“They don’t want spend a fortune, but they want be a part of it,” she said.

Attorney Kirra Jarratt says her friends are puzzled when she owns up to investing in a garden coach to help whip her muddy strip of a back garden at her new Washington home into shape.

“My friends say, ‘I can’t believe you’ve got a coach’. I say, ‘I think you’ll have one too,’” she laughed.

For 75 dollars an hour, Harris has been showing the young lawyer what is a weed and what is not, how to shape her bushes, drawing up a seasonal plan, offering advice on what to plant and lobbying for organic lawn care.

“She was down in the dirt with me,” said Jarratt, who has remodeled her backyard into a copy of a Japanese garden with a stone pathway and evergreen bushes.

A new-found concern for the environment is also fuelling the interest in hiring a garden coach as home-owners seek alternative ways to beat the bugs, and stave off the snails.

“What might be driving people now is that they want to get off the pesticide treadmill, and overfeeding the lawn,” said Ted Steinberg, a specialist in environmental studies at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio, and author of “The Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Lawn”.

Walk down any suburban street in a US town, and a carpet of green grass runs down to the road as far as the eye can see. Rarely does a property fence or wall mar the view as one front garden runs seamlessly into the next.

“The idea of a perfect lawn supergreen, weed free, monoculture, emerald green lawn if possible, Kentucky Blue grass basically reached its peak in the Sixties. It has now reached a vulnerable period in its history,” said Steinberg.

Americans spend some 40 billion dollars a year on their gardens, which includes the upkeep of golf courses and cemeteries.

But now “green consumers are waking up” and asking “how can I do it more cheaply with fewer chemicals and less energy input,” Steinberg said. And with increasingly busy lives many homeowners want low-maintenance gardens, which are still pleasing to the eye, and call in the gardening coach for help.

“We start out talking about what they like. Lot of times, I’ll ask them when you’re driving up to your house, what would make you smile? What would make you feel like ‘Oh I’m home’,” said Tennessee-based Terry Lea.

The young mother decided to start up her own business this year after realizing that neighbours were always turning to her for free advice. “When you got a green thumb it seems like your friends and family and pretty soon strangers are asking you questions,” she said.

She now has some 20 clients, and although many toy with doing something different, most eventually opt for a conventional look.

“I think it’s great to have your own style, but at the same time most people don’t want to get way out there beyond what the rest of their neighbourhood is like,” said Lea. She also tries to persuade her clients to be environmentally friendly in their approach.

“If we can be gentle on this planet, it’s usually a good thing. I’m concerned about the water run off and the use of fertilizers so I definitely coach my clients through the organic alternative,” she said.

“You can have a beautiful landscape without throwing a thousand dollars of fertiliser additives in it.”

AFP

A few easy steps to a better lawn

Warm-season or cool, all lawns need proper care. Here’s how to give your grass a great start

Fertilise your lawn. Use a complete lawn fertiliser and apply it, following the recommendations printed on the label. Your lawn will be denser, greener, have fewer weeds and will resist insects and diseases.

Adjust your soil pH. If your soil is very acidic (likely, if you have abundant summer rainfall), apply powdered limestone to adjust the pH.

Control weeds. Apply a pre-emergent herbicide, a weed killer that also prevents weeds from reappearing later in the growing season. These herbicides are generally sold in granular form. Do this before weed seeds germinate. Follow all label instructions carefully.

Know when to mow. Mow your lawn only when the grass has grown 30 to 50 percent higher than the recommended mowing height.

For most cool-season grasses, the recommended height is 3 to 4 inches, so you’d cut when it’s 4 to 6 inches high. For most warm-season grasses, the recommended height is 2 to 3 inches, so you’ll mow when it’s 3 to4 1/2 inches high. Mow all season, whenever the grass is 30 to 50 percent taller than the recommended height.

If you don’t let the grass grow too long between mowings, you can leave the clippings on the lawn rather than rake them up. The cut grasses will break down quickly and contribute organic matter and nitrogen to the soil.

Check your irrigation system. Check your irrigation system often to make sure it’s running properly. Repair clogged and broken sprinkler heads, then adjust your sprinklers so that water falls on the lawn instead of on sidewalks, driveways or patios.

Water. Most lawns don’t need much water early in the season, but if the season has been dry, water deeply. You can tell your lawn is drying when the grass begins to lose colour, becoming grey-green or brown.

Also, you’ll notice that blades don’t spring back when you walk across the lawn. Water long enough to wet the soil 6 to 8 inches deep. To measure, push a metal rod into the soil. It will penetrate more easily through moist soil than dry soil, and you can feel the point where the dry soil begins.

Follow these key steps and watch a rich, green carpet of lawn develop at your home.