Watch out for this pretty flower
Green thumbs are being asked to watch out for a beautiful but toxic flower that could be growing in their backyards.
What you need to know:
- Every part of the plant is poisonous, and can cause gastroenteritis, thirst, paralysis, blindness, and heart and kidney failure.
- This plant is hardy and normal pest control efforts are often not enough to eradicate.
- The cape tulip, growing up to 90cm high with one strap-like leaf, was introduced to Aotearoa in the 1940s, the Ministry for Primary Industries’ manager for pest management John Sanson said. “Cape tulips, like many of these invasive weeds, are really attractive ornamental species ...but they escape over people’s backyard fences and into pasture, as these things often do,”
- It was classified as a noxious plant in the late 1970s after they were discovered to cause harm to livestock and humans, even killing animals when too much as ingested.
- The salmon-pink flowers bloom for about two days a year between June and December, and have previously been an ornamental species for keen gardeners.
Sanson urged people who believed they had the weed growing on their property to leave it untouched and contact Biosecurity New New Zealand’s Exotic Pest and Disease on 0800 80 99 66.
Once a site was confirmed, manual removal or chemical treatment would start.
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What's your favourite recipe for gooseberry?
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Workshop: Sewing Machine Parts & Maintenance
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Auckland Library of Tools (ALoT) in collaboration with Repair Cafe Aotearoa NZ (RCANZ) are excited to bring you free 1st Thursdays repair and maintenance workshops at Hackland Makerspace, just behind ALoT! Koha is appreciated, to help us continue to bring you repair cafés and workshops.
Thursday November 7 will be a basic sewing machine parts and maintenance workshop. Come learn the parts of a standard sewing machine, what they do, and how to care for them so they run smoothly for years to come. No need to bring your machine, but you are welcome to bring it if you want to get hands-on!
There will be nibbles and tea on hand, but contributions of food and beverage are always very welcome. Koha always appreciated.
Getting here:
Bus stops on Ponsonby Rd (InnerLink, 20, 105, 106, 866), Great North Rd (11T/W, 18, 20, 195), and Karangahape Rd (WX1)
We are also near the northwestern cycleway.
Limited free parking is available in the lot next door (nevermind the signs) or on side streets. There is no parking in front of ALoT/Hackland.
These workshops are part of the Repair & Share project, a weekly repair cafe hosted by ALoT, RCANZ, and Hackland and supported by Auckland Council.
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If you would like to help out at any of our workshops or repair cafes, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. You do not need repair skills to get involved. Send us a message to see how you can help. We look forward to it!