yn yr ardd (in the garden)
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News tidbits of the Welsh
October 09, 2007
New York, NY- Sir Martin Evans, Professor of Mammalian Genetics at Cardiff University, was yesterday awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine for gene manipulation. Sir Martin received the American Lasker Award in 2001 and was knighted in 2003. He is generally considered to be the chief architect of stem-cell research.
Sir Martin was honored along with two US citizens - Italian born Mario Capecchi and UK born Oliver Smithies. The award of $1.54m recognized the team's work on introducing genetic changes in mice using embryonic stem-cells. The breakthrough, known as gene targeting, is helping the drive to develop new treatments for human illnesses.
November 3, 2007
The wreck of a rare WWII American fighter plane has appeared on a North Wales beach because of a change in the beach levels. Experts from the US have confirmed that there are no other examples of the aircraft -- a Lockheed-P38 Lightning -- in Europe. Gwynedd Council’s maritime division is to protect the site while the restoration of the plane is being arranged.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/north_west/7076941.stm
November 10, 2007
The grandson of a Carmarthenshire sheep farmer is the new Lord Mayor of London, is proud of his background, and is learning Welsh.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/7088901.stm
December 17, 2007
The Ceredigion County Council ended up apologizing to residents for a calendar that was distributed to every county household – St. David’s Day was inadvertently left off. Other directories produced by the printing company, whose contract has been discontinued, included the Welsh patron saint’s day.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/mid/7147085.stm
December 28, 2007
Trefor Owen, who makes hand-crafted clogs, says a growing interest in traditional Welsh folk dancing, particularly among men, has prompted him to move his business from West Yorkshire to Gwynedd. According to Mr. Owens, who has been making clogs for 30 years and turns out a new pair daily, clog stepping in Wales, especially with all the tricks and acrobatics, is seen as macho.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/north_west/7162566.stm
yn yr ardd (in the garden) |
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Imagine strolling through the Chadwick Arboretum Learning Gardens in front of Howlett Hall on the Ohio State University campus on a warm September afternoon, admiring the plants and flowers and stopping periodically to read a plant tag. Now, step closer to inspect a plant with eye-catching blossoms that seem to “glow” with their own energy – deep orange-red petals with a velvety appearance, satiny-looking dark green leaves, interesting seed pods – Bishop of Llandaff!!
A series of Dahlias was named for chosen Bishops and Joshua Pritchard Hughes, Bishop 1905-1931, was honored in 1924 with the naming of this Dahlia which won the prestigious Award of Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society in 1928 and made the 2004 RHS list of their top plants of the last 200 years.
The Diocese of Llandaff covers most of the County of Glamorgan in South Wales. The Bishop’s seat is located in the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul (the site of a church wrongly said to have been founded in 560 by Saint Teilo) in the village of Llandaff, just northwest of the City of Cardiff. The old village has streets so narrow that, with today’s traffic, many are designated as one-way.
The Bishop of Llandaff is not one of the giant Dahlias, but is a miniature and is referred to as a “peony” Dahlia. The bbc.co.uk Gardening page calls it “one of the best known gardening varieties for bedding and borders...valued for its late summer colour which extends well into autumn and is a popular cut flower.”
The plant’s flowers and foliage are variously described as: “vibrant vermilion semi-double blooms with dark bronze-green foliage,” “a semidouble rich rust-red,” and “bronzy-black dark mahogany foliage” with “garnet red flowers” – apparently it depends on exactly how much sun the plant receives and whether you are looking at new or older blooms and foliage. Although pictures do not do it justice, you can see this plant on the following websites:
1-- http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/plants/plant_finder/plant_pages/254.shtml
2-- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahlia_'Bishop_of_Llandaff'
3-- http://plantfacts.osu.edu and put “Bishop of Llandaff” in the Search box, click on the name in the “list” of results, click on the picture and then click on “View image” to see a larger picture.
This Dahlia won’t survive central Ohio winters outside but your newsletter editor can’t resist and has one on order to put in a porch pot – easier than digging it up every autumn.