Press Release

Wollemi Weekends

Kew Gardens – 30 September & 1 October 2006
Wakehurst Place – 14 & 15 October 2006

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is about to become the first place in the UK where you can pick up a Wollemi Pine ! To celebrate, Kew is holding two Wollemi Weekends, at Kew Gardens on 30 September and 1 October, and at its country garden, Wakehurst Place, on 14 and 15 October.

Kew Gardens

Join the Head of Kew's Arboretum, Tony Kirkham, expert growers from Kernock Park Plants and their Jurassic friends (and we don't just mean the trees!) in the new Garden Shop to learn about the fascinating story of the Wollemi Pine, Wollemia nobilis, and how you can participate in this unique conservation effort when you purchase a tree.

Wakehurst Place

Join expert growers from Kernock Park Plants and their Jurassic friends (and we don't just mean the trees!) in the Plant Sales Area to learn about the fascinating story of the Wollemi Pine, Wollemia nobilis, and how you can participate in this unique conservation effort when you purchase a tree.

The release of the Wollemi Pine is an innovative case study for the world in how to protect and ensure the long term survival of a threatened species through public participation . Growing the Wollemi Pine in homes, gardens and parks throughout the world is an important step to help conserve this remarkable and endangered species and it is one way that everyone who wishes to care for a Wollemi Pine can participate in the global conservation effort.

The Wollemi Pine, the ultimate survivor, has proven to be hardy and versatile in cultivation. Tony Kirkham and the arboretum team at Kew have been monitoring the hardiness and growth habits of the Wollemi Pine in Kew Gardens for the past 18 months. At the Wollemi Weekend you will be able to find out first hand the best horticultural advice and learn about the growth habits of these unusual plants.

Not only is the tree hardy, adapting to a diverse range of climatic conditions, but it is attractive and striking in appearance, and is easy to grow and low maintenance . The Wollemi Pine therefore makes an ideal feature tree for large gardens and parklands, but can also be maintained in a pot on patios, verandas or in courtyards. It can also be used as indoor decoration in well lit areas and tolerates air-conditioning.

3 litre trees (c. 1 metre high) will be available to buy at Kew Gardens and Wakehurst place from 12 September priced at £97. Each Wollemi Pine comes with a stylish pot, information booklet, care label, sachet of mycorrhizal "friendly" fungi to help the growth of your Pine and also a certificate of authenticity to prove that you have purchased a piece of genuine Jurassic history.

A royalty from the sale of each Wollemi Pine in 2006 will be donated to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew to help fund vital work in conserving other plant species around the world on the brink of extinction.

Notes to Editors:

The Wollemi Pine can also be ordered at www.wollemipine.co.uk.

For further information and images please contact Lauren Bird, Oliver Basciano or Anna Quenby in the RBG Kew press office on 020 8332 5607 or email pr@kew.org.

High resolution images are available to download at http://www.kew.org/press/images/wollemi.html. Please contact the press office for a username and password.

The Wollemi Pine
A conifer, with attractive, unusual green foliage, bubbly bark and multiple trunks, the Wollemi Pine is one of the world's oldest and rarest trees. It belongs to the 200 million year old Araucariaceae family, and was known only from fossil record until 1994, when it was discovered 200km west of Sydney in a rainforest gorge within the 500,000 hectare Wollemi National Park in the Blue Mountains . It was discovered by David Noble, a NSW National Parks and Wildlife Officer, and avid bushwalker. Now less than 100 mature trees survive in the wild, in a remote gorge in the Blue Mountains in New South Wales, Australia.

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a world famous scientific organisation, internationally respected for its outstanding living collection of plants and world-class herbarium as well as its scientific expertise in plant diversity, conservation and sustainable development in the UK and around the world. Kew Gardens is a major international visitor attraction and its 132 hectares of landscaped gardens attract over one million visitors per year. Kew was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July 2003 and represents over 250 years of historical landscape. For further information please visit www.kew.org.

Kernock Park Plants
Kernock Park Plants are primarily a plant propagator and wholesale supplier of young plants based in Cornwall, selling wholesale through the nursery and gardening trade. We are a member of Proven Winners™ Europe, which consists of eight large, innovative and influential European young plant producers; whose goal is to search for new, special and high-quality varieties, and introduce them successfully to the market. W e are proud to have been appointed by Wollemi Australia Pty Ltd as the sole licensed grower of the Wollemi Pine in the United Kingdom . For further information please visit www.kernock.co.uk.

The relationship between Kernock Park Plants and Kew
When Kernock Park Plants were appointed the sole licensed grower of the Wollemi Pine for the UK in December 2005, the Royal Botanical Gardens Kew already had 15 Wollemi Pines, which had been planted in the spring of that year. These are in different secret locations in the arboretum at Kew Gardens and also at Wakehurst Place. The trial results from these plantings have given valuable information regarding the conditions under which the Wollemi Pine should be grown in the UK. In recognition of Kew's provision of expertise through Tony Kirkham and his team and the continuing assistance in the cultivation of the Wollemi Pine, Kernock Park Plants has agreed to pay Kew a royalty for every Wollemi Pine sold in 2006. This will help fund vital work in conserving other plant species around the world on the brink of extinction.

For further Press information please contact: