Googling the garden

In my case, I’ve filed ‘garden’ as the news alert topic I want to receive notifications on. The Google search robot scans millions of webpages for the latest updates pertaining to the topic and sends links to relevant pages daily. It’s a handy and free service.

Over the past few weeks I’ve learned the following:

The December issue of House & Garden magazine was the last. The 106-year-old icon has ceased publishing those mouth-watering pages filled with photos of elegant homes. The magazine had close to 1,000,000 subscribers but faced stiff competition from newer magazines these past few years.

Here’s an idea for a revenue generator for municipalities. Kansas City has boosted its price to $300 for weddings held at Loose Parks Rose Garden. The price increase (up $50) is the first in five years. Last year, 120 weddings and 47 rehearsals were held at the garden, generating $36,600 in fees.

Convenience stores and gas stations aren’t the only businesses subject to dangerous thieves. In Swansea, U.K., masked robbers armed with what was believed to be a gun and a baseball bat terrorized staff at a garden centre before leaving with takings from the safe.

And also in the U.K., a 23-year-old Flimby woman was evicted for not keeping her garden tidy and failing to pay the rent. One wonders which was the greater offense.

A spokesman for the tenancy enforcement and rents teams said: “We hope this sends out a clear message that we will take action if residents fail to pay their rent or keep their homes and gardens tidy.”

In Soisy-sous-Montmorency, Paris, the charred remains of a man were found in a garden. The suburb is on the flight path of the nearby Charles de Gaulle airport and officials believe the man may have tried stowing away in the landing gear of a plane.

There was a more appropriate garden to fall in.

In Hong Kong the 900-square metre Cape Collinson Garden of Remembrance now accepts applications for the free scattering of ashes. A wall has been erected for mounting plaques in memory of the deceased and a memorial ritual can be arranged at the garden before ashes are scattered.

That’s all for this update but I may share some other google gleanings in the future.

If you’d like to comment on any of the above or have ideas for 2008 topics, email me at callen@thevanguard.ca