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[17 Feb 2011 | No Comment | ]
Using Nature’s Genius in Architecture

Waste is an opportunity not a problem.

Great to see Michael Pawlyn phrasing things in terms of opportunities rather than problems. Talking about factor 10, 100 or even 1000 times improvement in resource efficiency by examining the 3 Billion years of R&D that mother nature has performed. Some good examples. Also turning linear models into closed loop systems.

A friend called Mark who owned an amazing organic farm in England near Stonehenge used to get paid by an instant coffee producer to dump their sterilized coffee bean waste on his farm. It was wonderful organic sterile material that he needed for his farm. He got paid to accept it and the manufacturer got to dump it for cheaper. Win win situations like that are so wonderful.

Headline »

[20 Oct 2010 | No Comment | ]
Plants are Intelligent

Fantastic speech by Stefano Mancuso on plant intelligence.
Plants behave in some oddly intelligent ways: fighting predators, maximizing food opportunities … But can we think of them as actually having a form of intelligence of their own? Italian botanist Stefano Mancuso presents intriguing evidence.

Dracaena Draco, Headline »

[21 Jul 2010 | No Comment | ]
Amazing Draco Story of Survival Against the Odds

Mike form the UK, posted the following comment. I hope you enjoy his wonderful story as much as I did.

Hi all, I’d just like to mention my story, I’m from the U.K. where there is little sun or correct temperature. 25 years ago I bought some Draco seeds from a gift shop in the Canary Islands (it was my honey moon!). When I got back I planted these seeds in my new home starting my new life as it were. I have to admit that I kind of did it half hearted and put 5 seeds in one 5″ diameter pot using quite a clay type of soil (I was not too keen on gardening at this time of my life). Not really expecting any to grow I just left it there on the window sill in an unused back room.

Cactus, For Sale, Headline, San Pedro »

[27 Apr 2010 | 6 Comments | ]
Massive San Pedro Sale

A friend is leaving Melbourne and sadly isn’t able to take his cacti collection with him. He’s asked me to put his cacti up for sale and we decided to start with a massive sale of his huge potted San Pedros. Many of which are the largest flowering San Pedros in pots I’ve ever seen.
These Trichocereus Pachanoi are beautiful specimens, most of them flower regularly.
Here’s the deal. The following plants will be delivered for free to anywhere in Melbourne. Depending on where you live that could take up to two weeks, …

Garden, Headline »

[11 Aug 2009 | No Comment | ]
My Old Cactus Garden

As I upgrade this site I thought I’d take you on a journey of the evolution of my cactus garden. This photo is from September 2001, the cacti and succulents in this garden had been there for 4-5 years at that point. Looking out my window now I find it hard to imagine how all those exotic plants managed to squeeze into one garden. My old cactus garden. Cacti and succulents intermingled with other drought tolerant plants like sea side daisy.