This fine specimen (Platycerium sp.) belonging to a club member began as single frond in a small hanging basket. It has never been transplanted and thirty years later has a leaf span over 6 feet and a rhizome over 3 feet in diameter. The small basket is still in there – somewhere.
a mighty Staghorn fern

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La Reine VictoriaLa Reine Victoria
An old Bourbon rose propagated in France and named for Queen Victoria. Original Bourbon roses derive from planned and spontaneous hybridization of roses on Reunion Island, known then as, Isle de Bourbon.
Photo from R. Gale
Recreating a 4000-Year Old GardenRecreating a 4000-Year Old Garden
Read and see what an ancient Egyptian garden is thought to have looked like.
Ancient Egyptian Garden – Hamilton Gardens
here is a news story
Recreation of ancient Egyptian garden opens in Hamilton (1news.co.nz)

Plants that sustained the British EmpirePlants that sustained the British Empire
There are many plants that fit this description, e.g. tea, anyone? or cinchona the source of the anti-malarial medicine quinine, but here is one I did not know. Gutta percha. By the late 1800’s the British Empire was the largest to have existed, spanning the globe from England to India, Malaya, Australia and Canada. Communication by boat took weeks or months. The invention of the telegraph and the unique properties of Gutta percha enabled the empire to remain manageable well into the 1900’s.
Enjoy this short video from the BBC