Dede Sophie

  It is easy, or at least relatively so, to create a cold-hardy, tropical effect garden, but is it still possible to produce a tropical effect garden if you experience extremely cold winters? By that I mean parts of the world where winter temperatures can drop to around – 15 degrees celsius or 5 degrees Fahrenheit in old money! Well the answer is of course yes, however there will be some more cultural work involved with some of the plants in my following selection to give them a helping hand over the finish line of survival. To promote the effect add canna and dahlias which can be lifted and brought in under protection each year. Also consider growing salvias and tobacco plants as cheap annuals for their vibrant colours and architectural effect.  Palms Trachycarpus fortunei ‘Chinese Windmill Palm’ -15 Celsius Bismarck Palm ‘Bismarckia nobilis’ -9 Celsius (my absolute favourite) Mediterranean Fan Palm ‘Chamaerops humilis’ -12 celsius Bamboo  Phyllostachys aurea -15 to possibly -20 Celsi

The Papua New Guinea Electoral Commissioner Simon Sinai says ballot papers produced earlier for the seven electorates that were split with the creation of seven new ones will be publicly destroyed this weekend. Papua New Guinea Electoral Commissioner Simon Sinai[NBC photo] Mr. Sinai, in a statement last night, says the ballot papers, about 1,305,000, were initially printed for 111 electorates and sent to Port Moresby on the 3rd and 4th of April this year. He says this was before Parliament adopted the Electoral Boundaries Commission report and voted for the creation of the seven new electorates, to be included in this national election. Mr. Sinai says they had to seek Australia’s assistance again to cater for the increase in the number of Parliamentary seats, and reprint the ballot papers for the seven affected electorates and the seven new electorates.  The electorates are Komo-Magarima in Hela Province, Lagaip Porgera in Enga, South Fly in Western, Kairuku-Hiri in Central, Sohe in No