May 01, 2024

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GET A GREEN(ER) THUMB

Whether you love digging in the dirt, planting seeds and reaping the bounty that bursts forth, or find the whole idea of gardening intimidating, this spring offers the promise of a fresh start. Growing flowers, vegetables, herbs or anything else need not be endlessly fussy or take up your entire Saturday. As an avid gardener, I'm not opposed to a little sweat, but I much prefer working smart and keeping things easy. Here's a quick guide to minimize your effort and maximize your joy. WHAT IF I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE TO START? When I moved to my current garden, I got a wonderful blank slate, but the beds looked eerily sparse. To create an immediate feeling of `presence,' I planted some scented-leaf pelargoniums (scented geraniums). These shrubby plants are a good starting point, as they grow quickly in a variety of home gardens without lots of attention, and their fragrant leaves come in a vast range of colours, sizes and shapes. I put them all over the garden that first spring and summerBest of all, true to their name, these plants offer exceptional fragrance. Different species carry aromas of lemon, rose, apricot, ginger, chocolate and more. Kate Jayne, co-owner of Sandy Mush Herb Nursery in Leicester, North Carolina, says, "Scented pelargoniums are great planted with vegetables," says Jayne, "as they are fast growing, deter pests, and attract bees and humming- birds." And, she says, their fragrance makes weeding a pleasureStill feeling overwhelmed? Dr Ekta Chaudhary, a Mumbai-based plantscaping expert, who offers professional gardening services through her venture Garden Up, assures that, "No one is born with a green thumb. Put in the time to observe your plants and you will develop an intuition about what makes them tick." Her top tip is to guard against a common rookie mistake--over- or underwatering plants: Stick a finger into the soil and and check if it has moisture. If it does, you can skip watering. Another key element is to observe what sort of plant you have at hand. Plants with fleshy leaves, such as succulents, have adapted to store water so don't need to be watered daily. Plants that have leaves with a large surface area on the other

A MOTHER'S CONVICTION

DR CAROLA VINUESA was in her office at the John Curtain School of Medical Research in Canberra, Australia, one afternoon in August 2018 when she received a call that both changed her life and saved another. As a professor of immunology, Vinuesa immersed herself in the fascinating and complex world of geneticsThe call was from David Wallace, a former student at John Curtain whom she hadn't spoken to in years. He presented Vinuesa with a scenario that was equal parts shocking, intriguing and devastating: An Australian woman named Kathleen Folbigg had been sentenced to decades in prison for murdering her four children, all infants, over a period of 10 years. The case had captivated the nation. Many were abhorred by Folbigg's crimes; others questioned the veracity of her guiltGiven the paucity of evidence used to convict Folbigg, asked Wallace, could Vinuesa's research shed light on what actually happened to the children? Over the next five years, Vinuesa and an international team of scientists would dedicate much of their lives to answering this question. Their findings would shake up Australia's judicial system, raise questions about the treatment of mothers accused of killing their children and shine a light on the misuse of scientific evidence. Folbigg, who was born Kathleen Megan Britton in Balmain, an inner-city suburb of Sydney, on 14 June 1967, was haunted by tragedy, instability and alienation from the very beginning. In December 1968, her father, Thomas Britton, stabbed her mother to death during an argument; he served 15 years in prison before being deported to his native England. Young Kathleen was shipped off to live with her mother's sister in western SydneyAny hopes that Kathleen would have a warm and safe childhood were soon dashed. The girl's aunt, known in court records as `Mrs Platt,' complained to child-welfare authorities in spring 1970 that Kathleen was aggressive, impolite, unclean and preoccupied with masturbation--and that the strain of caring for her niece was causing her marriage to deteriorate. She no longer wanted the girl. Kathleen was not yet three years oldDoctors determined that the girl had likely been abused by her father. She was also found to have an unusually low IQ, largely attributed to her withdrawn and restless nature. In September 1970, she was placed into the care of a foster family, Deirdre and Neville Marlborough, who lived in Newcastle, 120 kilometres north of SydneyAt first she bonded with the family and settled into school. But the legacy of her catastrophic early years took its toll: She was caught shoplifting, left school early and struggled in her relationship with Deirdre. At 17 she