Our plants from South Africa are still at sea but getting much closer
By: Steve Ruddy - 23/03/2010
The ship carrying the plants for Kew's South Africa Landscape at the British Museum is getting closer to the UK. All hands are on deck in preparation for their safe arrival. But will the weather be kind?
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The arrival of our plants from South Africa is imminent...Thursday 25 March we are told. Initially we thought the journey would take around three weeks, but our ship has sailed with a fair wind and saved us a few days.
Next up, we need to make sure that the shipping company in South Africa has released the necessary documents to our agent at the port in the UK. Once this is done, we can go down there and collect them. It's all getting pretty tight and my hair is turning a silver colour as we speak!
Putting plants in a container at the Nursery in South Africa (Photo: Janine Frylinck)
We have lined up some emergency space with a marquee at the UK port, in preparation for the arrival of our container of South African plants. This will help to protect the plants if they are released from the container. This morning for instance, I noted a frost as I was running down the Thames tow path to get to work (I'm training for the London Marathon).
The build phase of Kew's South Africa Landscape at the British Museum starts on 29 March. So all eyes are now on the UK weather. The team at Kew are now geared up to begin shaping the Landscape. Once this work is underway we can start to introduce our new additions from South Africa...
Check back here for more news as it happens – worried of Kew!
- Steve Ruddy -
(Head of Garden Development Unit at Kew)
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Discover more...
- Discover the South Africa Landscape
- South Africa Landscape on Flickr
- Building a global network - Kew's work in Africa
- Explore plants and fungi with Kew
- British Museum
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About the South Africa Landscape
This spring, Kew and the British Museum are bringing a small corner of South Africa to the heart of London. The South Africa Landscape, sponsored by Barclays, which opens on 29 April 2010 on the Museum’s west lawn, will highlight the rich diversity of plant life from South Africa’s Cape region – an area that is home to all three of the country’s internationally renowned biodiversity hotspots. 2010 has been declared International Year of Biodiversity by the United Nations and the Landscape will also coincide with the spotlight on South Africa in the run up to the FIFA World Cup.
Tags: around the world | adventurous | ground breaking
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About Steve, Tony and Richard
Steve Ruddy is Manager of the Garden Development Unit, and is responsible for concept design, planning and delivery of a diverse range of projects, services and activities at Kew.
Tony Hall is responsible for Kew’s Arboretum, managing the globally important plant collections and heritage landscape. Expert in all aspects of plant growth and care, Tony manages the Arboretum Nursery ensuring the collections are safe guarded for the future. You can find out more about his work by following the Arboretum team blog.
Richard Wilford is the Collections Manager in the Hardy Display Section at Kew. His responsibilities include both nursery collections and collections on public display such as the Alpine plants, Grass Garden, Woodland and Rock Garden, and Order Beds at Kew. Richard also frequently contributes to the Alpine and Rock Garden team blog.
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4 comments on 'Our plants from South Africa are still at sea but getting much closer'
Nadia says
14/04/2010 12:00:00 AM | Report abuse
Africa is such a place to be discovered. I guess they call it the Cradle of Humanity for a reason – among more upsetting news from South Africa, a new hominid species was identified, dubbed Australopithecus sediba. A juvenile male and female's remains were found, and classified – this is the kind stuff you would like to donate a payday loans worth or so to science. It helps us better comprehend where we come from, and the elegance of the natural world and the way it works. Regards to the guy who discovered it.
Damian Rafferty says
30/03/2010 12:00:00 AM | Report abuse
Those big container lorries at the British Museum this morning wouldn't have been carrying your precious cargo would they?
says
25/03/2010 12:00:00 AM | Report abuse
Great Work steve. Well done!
says
25/03/2010 12:00:00 AM | Report abuse
Great good, well done steve!