Our celebrity gardener this week is Olivia Newton-John. Olivia, who is deeply concerned about the environment, showed Don around her property in northern NSW. She and horticulturist, Michael Waite, have planted thousands of native rainforest trees on the property to create a wildlife corridor, so that native animals can move safely through the area. Olivia is the face of Planet Ark’s National Tree Day, and she urged everyone to follow her example and help plant one million trees on Sunday, July 28.
Koala Blue wines
After their tour around the property, Olivia introduced Don to her brand new, all Australian, Koala Blue wines. These wines – a Chardonnay and a Shiraz, have been designed to appeal to a wide variety of tastes. Winemaker, Andrew Byers, describes the Chardonnay as a “fruit-driven wine style with tropical, peach and citrus aromas and a structure to please all palates”, and the Shiraz as a “combination of red fruit, cherry and spice flavours with a soft, velvety texture”. Both are suitable for drinking now, or can be cellared for 2-5 years.
Further information
National Tree Day is organised by Planet Ark and Toyota, in association with Conservation Volunteers Australia and the AMP Foundation. It will be held on Sunday, July 28, 2002 (Schools Tree Day is on Friday 26th July 2002). To find out how your school, church or community group can get involved in National Tree Day phone 1800 303 232 (freecall). If you just want to volunteer to lend a hand on the day you can call the 1800 number to find out the details of your nearest tree planting site. If you’re already organising a tree planting site it’s vital that you register the site with Planet Ark. That way your trees and shrubs can be included in the final tally of trees planted on tree day and if you want extra volunteers to lend a hand on your site, they can be directed to your site’s location. If you want more information about National Tree Day then visit the Planet Ark website at www.planetark.org/trees/ Koala Blue wines are priced at $8.95 and are available from Safeway, Woolworths, IGA Supermarkets, Liquorland, and most liquor retailers across Australia. The movie ‘Grease’, distributed by Paramount Pictures, is available to own on video and will be available on DVD in September 2002.
