Flowers of Sri Lanka:

Preparing the medium

Manoj DISSANAYEKE

THERE are a number of factors to be considered before preparing the medium for your plants. The first is the quantity of each ingredient. This should be correctly measured according to a given scale such as a bucket or basket. Use the same object to measure the quantity of each ingredient.

The second factor to consider is the quality of the ingredients you hope to include in the medium. This means that the soil, cow dung and sand should meet up to the agricultural standards demanded from a medium. Let’s take a look at such qualities that should be found in each of the following ingredients:

Outer layer soil

This includes the first layer of soil on the ground. This soil is nourished with a lot of decayed carbonic objects. The exact depth of the layer included in this category cannot be specified exactly but at times it may include between six inches to two feet.

In places like Sinharaja where there are plenty of decayed leaves, the depth exceeds this level while in places like deserts where there are no plants there is no outer layer soil.

Therefore outer layer soil is not just pebbles and clay. It includes the humus layer, which is infested with microscopic beings and many forms of nourishing ingredients which will enable a healthy growth for plants. It has the capacity to absorb water and air making it an ideal ingredient for all sorts of flowering plants.

Cow dung

Cow dung should be half decayed and dry. Dung which is in liquid form is not suitable. Cow dung adds a lot of nutrients to the medium including nitrogen. It also includes a large amount of positive microscopic beings,

which is likely to enhance the capacity to absorb water and help with keeping the amount of air in tact.

Sand

Sand does not include any nutrients but it is used as a to provide a vented, mild medium to provide a good air passage, increase the temperature of the medium and to improve the drainage system. There are two types

of sand. The type which is used for building construction activities is named as rough sand. This sand has big particles and is found beside river banks. The sand beside the sea which has very small particles (almost as small as dust) is called soft sand. Rough sand is the best form of sand for plant media.

Coir

This is not one of the main ingredients in a medium. This is used for plants, which require a lot of moisture. The plants will be easy targets for diseases if more coir is included in the medium. More moisture means more harmful microscopic beings. So do not include more than the necessary amount.

Coir can be used in plants grown in areas of high temperature. Yet again it has its cons as termites may inhabit it. Make sure that the coir you are using is decayed.

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

Japanese mummies’ canine kiddies

In her spare time, 46-year-old Japanese eye surgeon Toshiko Horikoshi can be seen pushing a pram around elegant department stores as she shops for designer clothes. Stop to coo over the pram, however, and you won’t be greeted by a baby’s smile. You’ll face two small snouts.

Ginger, a teacup poodle, and Tinkerbell, a lively Chihuahua-Pomeranian mix, accompany Horikoshi everywhere she goes. Since the two get exhausted quickly and most department stores don’t admit dogs on a leash, she often chauffeurs them around in a pram.

“He’s mummy’s boy,” Horikoshi says, pointing to Ginger, who wears a frilly little T-shirt. “They’re like babies.”

For Horikoshi, sharing her life with dogs instead of babies is an active choice. She divorced her husband who had asked her to follow Japanese tradition and become a stay-at-home mum; she wanted to pursue her career.

Her current partner has to accept that her dogs and her work are at the centre of her life. A specialist in cataracts, Horikoshi is now at the top of her profession and likes to spend her money on travel, her black Porsche and her dogs. Her friends share her choice.

“My friends - married, one poodle, no child. Married, two Chihuahuas, no child. Married, one Chihuahua, no child,” she counts off her fingers.

With its low birth-rate and rapidly ageing population, Japan is considered a saturated market by many. But Horikoshi’s case shows that fewer births, coupled with an economic recovery and the emergence of women as independent earners and spenders, also create new needs.

Dog Mummies

“I don’t want a family, I want to continue to work hard. I don’t need help, I don’t need a husband. I have a lot of free time, I can do everything by myself,” said Horikoshi. “But sometimes I feel lonely, and now when I come back to my apartment, I can see two dogs.”

Dogs now outnumber children aged 10 and under in Japan - there were 13.1 million dogs in 2006. As the number of humans shrink, the dog population is growing, research firm Euromonitor says, and so is the market for dog-related products.

Fifi & Romeo, a Los Angeles-based boutique that started the celebrity dog fashion trend, expanded into Japan about five years ago through a licensing deal with a local company. There are 11 Fifi & Romeo boutiques in Japan, more than in the United States, and the brand has attracted a cult following.

Horikoshi’s friends hold dog parties in dog cafes, dress their dogs in silk-and-cashmere dog sweaters, and take

 them to hot spring resorts and spas offering dog massages and aromatherapy.

“Dog parents” often have more spare cash for frills and fads than people with children. After all, they don’t have to pay college fees or a mortgage for a big, family-friendly house.

Japan is also acting as a pet fashion trend-setter. Where but in Tokyo would you find a toy poodle in a bumble-bee costume peeking out of a stroller? Or a dog-themed boy-band whose members sport furry hats with dog ears and cradle live pooches?

Harriet Sternstein, an American who owns the Mon Bon Chien boutique in Paris, says while French people like to pamper their dogs, she can’t yet imagine them putting their pets into prams.

But she believes that in terms of accessories, where Japan leads, the rest of the world will follow.

All - night pet shops

While owners, trend spotters and pet care companies rejoice over the small dog craze, not everyone is happy. In Japan, the dogs themselves often suffer. Many are born with deformities due to overbreeding.

Puppy mills churn out one litter after another from the same mother until their fertile lives end and they are abandoned or killed. Most dogs sold in Japan come from such puppy mills.

“Kawaii! (Cute!)” exclaim two young women as they gaze longingly at dozens of puppies in a pet shop, tapping on the glass cages to stir the dogs into action. It is midnight, and the pet shop in Tokyo’s sleazy Roppongi entertainment district is teeming with tipsy party-goers.

A few of the puppies are trying to sleep under the glare of neon striplights. A tiny pug that could fit into the palm of a hand, its eyes the size of 10-cent-coins, stumbles around its cage, disoriented. A Pekinese tears its rug apart in frustration.

The shop is grim, but its offerings are luxurious: Chihuahuas cost upwards of 250,000 yen ($2,105).It stays open until 5 am, catering to the revellers who stumble out of Roppongi’s karaoke parlours and hostess bars.

REUTERS

Nouveau dogs living in the lap of luxury

Leading “a dog’s life” has taken on an entirely new meaning for some of today’s lucky canines who live in the lap of luxury, benefiting from a modern pet boom.

Here are some facts about how life is changing for some dogs around the world who are treated as adored family members rather than humble pets.

Numbers:

* The United States has the world’s biggest pet dog population (61 million) followed by Brazil (30 million) and China (23 million), according to 2006 estimates. Pet-related businesses flourish in economic boom times - with pet insurance companies, grooming parlours and even international trade organisations like Pet Sitters International, which has 7,400 members, taking root as dog care becomes a full-time career.

Names:

* Traditional dog-only names like Rover and Spot are falling out of favour. Many dogs are now more likely to be given human names, in a move analysts says reflects dogs’ new status as family members. In pet-mad Japan, traditional names such as Aiko (little love, beloved) and Eriko (child with a collar), are facing some competition from popular English names. New York’s top five dog’s names were Max, Lucky, Princess, Rocky and Buddy, according to a 2005 New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene listing of registered dogs names.

Fashions:

* With new designs gracing dedicated pet magazines from Beijing to Sydney, dog coats are no longer just for cities whose temperatures plummet below zero. Runway shows, design awards and specials events are all part of the Pet Fashion Week’s campaign to “foster design and innovation” in pet jewellery, collars, leashes, bedding, fragrances and grooming products according its website. Launched in New York in August 2006 to coincide with the holiday buying season, it hires “beautiful dog models” to showcase designer items.

Social Networking Sites:

* Web-savvy canines have infiltrated human online networking sites like Friendster and Facebook to set up profile pages where they can instant message pet friends and post photos and videos over recent years. By Nov. 2006 two Friendster-parodying animal-only sites, Dogster.com, and Catster.com, had attracted more than 300,000 members, bagged US$1 million in funding, and earned thousands in profit mainly through advertising.

Sources: Reuters, Dogster, (www.dogster.com), New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene,

(www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/pr2006/pr122-06.shtml), Pet Food Institute, (www.petfoodinstitute.org/petfoodhistory.htm), Pet Sitters international (www.petsit.com), Pet Fashion Week,

(http://petfashionweek.com), Global pet dog populations for 2006, (www.mapsofworld.com/world-top-ten/countries-with-most-pet-dog-p opulation.html).

REUTERS

Royal Flora flower exhibition at Vihara Maha Devi Park

The Royal Flora flower exhibition will be held at the Vihara Maha Devi Park till September 2. This exhibition including vivid varieties of flower, foliage, fruit and vegetable plants is organised by the cultivators of Ornament plants and by the Negombo Planters Association.

Manure fertiliser, compost conditioner, agro - chemicals, pots, gardening tools and equipment will be on sale for competitive prices. Ornamental fish, birds and local sweet - meats, old stamps and coins will be available. Necessary instructions to strengthen your knowledge on greeneries will be given free of charge.