The oldest living botanic garden on the African continent and Durban’s oldest public institute, The Durban Botanic Garden is a glorious testament to more than 160 years of commitment, perseverance and care by a generation of curators. The Durban Botanic Gardens has been one of many of Botanic Gardens at the forefront of human knowledge and understanding of plants and the habitat in which they live. This essay will provide a brief history, and describe the purpose and philosophy of the Botanic Garden. As well analyzing the landscape, orientation, function and plant life.
The Durban Botanic Gardens is situated in the city of Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The very first garden was established in December 1849 by Dr Charles Johnston, on
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Also as a station for the trial of agricultural crops. The park also includes educational programmes to help educate people on the importance of plant life, environmental interpretation, and the cultural heritage of the gardens. The programmes include courses like an alien invasive plant garden, school greening as well as curriculum school guided programmes, permaculture courses to help promote the idea that food should be culturally and nutritionally important. There is also a garden for the blind. Today the Gardens have developed and grown as part of a system of botanic gardens globally to focus on fundamental areas of heritage, education, research, horticultural excellence, green revolution and biodiversity. Over the years, generations of guardians of the Garden have left an important and precious resource in the form of plant collections in the Gardens all over the world. The Durban Botanic Gardens Trust is an independent fund raising association that aims to support the Durban Botanic Gardens with botanical and agricultural maintenance, development and capacity development in order to guarantee that this unique habitation of botanic culture is
In the first section, titled, ‘Planting Sweetgrass’, Kimmerer highlights the strong bond between humans and the natural world, tying in stories that exemplify the indigenous view of plants and animals as kin. In the chapter ‘Learning the Grammar of Animacy’, Kimmerer challenges the notion of plants and animals as objects, stressing the need to view them as a ‘who’ rather than an ‘it’, which rekindles moral responsibility to other living creatures on our planet, reducing overexploitation. She emphasizes the importance of passing down traditional ecological knowledge and learning her native language that is at risk of extinction. Throughout the novel, Kimmerer challenges overconsumption and the excess of capitalism, especially in her third section titled ‘Picking Sweetgrass.’ She highlights traditional ways of cultivating and gathering, and their sustainability compared to a capitalist world that is disconnected from where their products come
However, the claim of finding and harvesting the extinct seeds in a clay vessel is false. Through expert consultation with David Wrone, it was revealed that the seeds were never extinct to have been discovered in the first place. Rather, the seeds planted by the university students were received from the White Earth Seed Library. By contrasting MyModernMet’s article to a peer-reviewed paper, it revealed the lack of significant information in MyModernMet’s article, thereby decreasing its credibility. Furthermore, scientific literature on seed expiration and preservation decreased significantly the likelihood of harvesting the seeds claimed in the story. By discrediting the two major claims in MyModernMet’s article, it can be concluded the 800-year-old seeds found and harvested had never existed. In spite of this, the article does show the importance of seed preservation in our heritage, as a cultural practice, and as a means to preserve plant
Throughout this composition I intend to shed light onto the present day agricultural practices and the key natural components of this planet that support life and sustain biodiversity.
Some aspects of Abigail Nguyen's design reference back to several great landscapes of history, such as Ancient Persia's Pasargadae or the Roman peristyle gardens. However, Ms. Nguyen does not just haphazardly imitate any forms and concepts that characterize these great landscapes. Instead, she thoughtfully considers how to properly translate them into a contemporary garden and therefore, chooses features that are appropriate to contemporary life. This demonstrates that Abigail Nguyen is not only a good designer, but well educated in her landscaping field.
Demons in Eden: The Paradox of Plant Diversity by Jonathan Silvertown is a scientific, nonfiction book that reads a lot like a botanist’s travel journal. It showcases many plant species’ habitats; such as the desert-like climate of Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands and the Kew Gardens in London, when explaining the evolution of plants. However, according to Silvertown (2005), a paradox arises in Darwin’s argument when trying to explain a plant’s evolutionary processes. Darwin’s argument states that organisms that have the most progeny are favored by natural selection. The progeny, adapting their parent’s advantages, will start to reproduce more and more advantageous characteristics until other organisms dwindle to extinction.
As the quote mentions, the study of plants is really important and can be very exciting. Before digging deeper into the quote from They Came before Columbus by Ivan Van Sertima, I was not aware of how important relationships between plants and their environments were. Simple examples include a cactus to the desert climate, or a more complex example; the sunflower being native to both North and South America. This quote proves that botany is not just a simple science of plants, but very complex, for it opens up information that travels way back in time. Plants have been around since the beginning of life and are very important to the life of humans. The information from the slide titled “Did you know” is extremely important to the world of botany.
Botanicals are an appealing way to introduce science to children while pleasing and engaging the senses. At all ages, it is important to orientate children towards native plants and wildlife. Learning about the importance, function, and preservation of native species not only teaches science concepts, but also encourages environmental stewardship. The Botanical Gardens walking and hiking trails are an opportunity to exercise while studying diverse flora and fauna. In addition to nature education opprotunities, Chicago Botanical Gardens has model train exhibit.
Michael Pollan, author of The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s View of the World, addresses four major plant groups that have both changed for human needs and simultaneously changed human’s needs. While most gardeners, genetic engineers and other plant related professionals have long-believed that plants have evolved based on what we want or need to survive and in other words what we have “domesticated”, Pollan appeals to the plant’s view. Plants’ survival has been solely based on what humans desire both depending on their visual and stimulatory appeal along with their appeal to an appetite. Conversely, plants have used humans as a strategy for “getting us to move and think for them (page xx)”. Many plants have successfully maneuvered humans for
The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollen uses examples of four plants including the apple ,tulip, marijuana, and the potato, to describe evolution and how mankind works to help plants reproduce. We are a slave to things of sweetness, beauty, intoxication, and control. These four things are described by the different plant chapters in the book. We as people are driven to these kind of things because of the product we get, we subconsciously are working to make these plants more fit and therefore helping in their reproduction and evolution. With each plant chapter Pollen goes into depth about its contribution to the world and history behind the plant within human evolution. By using the examples he provides in the book helps demonstrate the ideas of how these plants contribute to the human body systems, evolution and ecology. To further explain these topics I chose to explore the apple, tulip and cannabis plants.
Community garden is not just a place to grow veggies .It is also a good place for enjoyable healthy outdoor exercise and for connecting with neighbours, recreation with family members, safe for pets and kids (Jackson, 2007). The first community garden was initiated in 1970s in Nunawadding which is one of the suburb in melbourne city (Grayson, 2000)
Mawsynram, another city in India, averages at 467 inches of rain every year, so it is known as the “wettest place on Earth.” Plants in the climate region: What are they and how are they unique? How have they adapted to this region’s weather? Talk about many plants but pick one to focus on when talking about adaptations and uniqueness.
Due to laws regarding coloured people, until 1994, almost 80 percent of the population had less than 20 percent of the land to farm, which lead to the over use of the soil and the low yield rate. In the mid 1990’s issues around this law were looked at by the government, with regrades to the reforms of apartheid (ita 2004).
Ross’ (2000) article ‘Curriculum Gardening’ explores the notion of a garden as a metaphor for curriculum in education. According to the Catholic Education Office Sydney (2014), the curriculum is not just a document, but a framework that is put in place to nurture student learning and allow students to be engaged in meaningful and purposeful learning experiences that will create life-long learners. It is Ross’ view that ‘Curriculum Gardening’ is a sound metaphor, because just like a garden students are given the chance to grow and learn.
Savannas are important, it has a lot of fascinating plant and animals. It is also the home of a lot of fascinating plants and animals. The animals that live in the savanna would probably be extinct without the savanna because it's their home. They rely on this biome for food and water. The animals can't just go live somewhere else because their habitats are in the savanna and they’ve adapted their life to survival here. This paper will discuss and outline the important components of a savanna including the climate, landforms, location, and other important and interesting facts regarding the savannas across the world.
Ruskin Bond has vividly and extensively explored the fascinating world of flora. His knowledge of the world of flora is astounding. He has been trekking up the Himalayan foothills since long. The way he describes hundreds of species of trees, plants, shrubs, and flowers, leaves his readers amazed. He writes like an expert botanist, but what is more important, he writes like a highly eco-sensitive being who is in love with all creations of the cosmos. While describing the flora on the mountains, he informs his readers how the flora changes dramatically while ascending the foothills. His stories revolve round these beautiful surroundings of Himalayan landscape. In his books he gives far-reaching details about the plants that are found there, right from their botanical