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Re: One Man's Weed, another's Treasure

At 12:57 PM 3/20/98 -0800, R. Beer wrote:
>If any of you travel to Greece or Turkey, don't be surprised when you see
>none of the things we treasure from that region growing in any public
>plantings.  Those are weeds.  There, what people grow are, besides
>edible things, Jasmine, Pelargoniums, Freesias, Wisterias, and
>Basil. (I don't include Basil among the edibles because there it never
>occurs to anyone to eat it - you might as well suggest that they eat their
>philodendron.)  Out on the street the only thing native you might see is
>Olive, Russian Olive, and Pine.  Otherwise it's Jacaranda, Eucalyptus,
>Oleander.  Cistus?  Vitex?  Melia?  Forget it!  
>
>Lest we seem surprised, just compare the attitude here towards Goldenrod
>with that in England, where they are popular in gardens.  
>
>Bob

Hi Bob (and everyone) - 

This brought to mind the most recent issue of The Mediterranean
Garden (the journal of the Mediterranean Garden Society), which
contains a message from president Heidi Gildemeister where she
outlines the current activities of the Society.  The is apparently
a large and growing group of members in Greece and they are
getting into various activities to promote understanding and
appreciation of their region's native plants.  There are also
more activities taking place in the French, Italian, and Spanish
groups - it is certainly worth connecting with the MGS if you live
in or visit the Mediterranean at all.  The MGS rank and file also
contains more and more members in other parts of the world which
enjoy our climate profile, and they are gearing their operations
towards an international scheme (e.g. the presidency will change
countries while the Society stays centered in Greece).  Those of
you who are still not members of the MGS might check them out
and reap the benefits of this imporant resource.  Look at the MGS
pages I'm creating to get an idea:

   http://www.support.net/Medit-Plants/groups/mgs.html

Feel free to give my feedback on this and the related pages - they
are still in development so your input is welcomed!  But do consider
joining the MGS - I'm enjoying their journal very much!!!

 Sean A. O'Hara                     sean.ohara@ucop.edu
 710 Jean Street                    (510) 987-0577
 Oakland, California 94610-1459     h o r t u l u s   a p t u s
 U.S.A.                             'a garden suited to its purpose'
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