Anti-cancer drive blooming
SYMBOLS OF LIFE: PORTION FROM SALES OF SELECTED PLANTS GO TO NGOS HELPING PATIENTS
Roses bring comfort and often hope, into situations of sadness or pain.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and one of the ways that organisations raise money for their work and spread awareness is through plants.
It is a natural fit. Plants remind us of the frailty of life, but also its beauty, especially roses and other flowering plants. Just as roses celebrate love, so a bunch of roses also brings comfort, and often hope, into situations of sadness or pain.
Some years ago, the Reach for Recovery support group, which helps women to cope and recover from breast cancer, adopted the soft pink Reach for Recovery rose as an ambassador for their work.
It is a tall-growing, fragrant hybrid tea rose with full double blooms on long pickable stems that makes a good garden cut rose. For each rose sold, a portion goes to the organisation.
The same applies to the golden Antico Moderno Liz McGrath rose that raises funds for St Luke’s Hospice in Cape Town. It, together with 'Reach for Recovery form part of the White Ribbon Collection of 19 roses – the roses of compassion – that have been put together by rose-grower Ludwig Taschner.
Once a year the money raised from the sale of these roses is paid to the organisations and last year that totalled R27 000, according to Halmar Taschner, managing director of Ludwig’s Roses.
In the same way, PinkDrive, a non-profit organisation to prevent breast cancer, uses small pots of the strongly perfumed dianthus Pink Kisses to spread their message: “Early Detection Saves Lives”.
During September and October, plants are sold through garden centres and a supermarket chain to raise money for the organisation’s activities.
PinkDrive powers mobile women’s health units which provide free services, including mammograms and pap smears, for women who aren’t on medical aid. To date they have provided over 5 000 free mammograms, done over 60 000 clinical breast examinations in community areas, educated over 90 000 and distributed over 100 000 educational pamphlets.
According to Andries Botes of ThreeBushketeers, the growers of Pink Kisses, the amount raised last year was R13 576.80 and they are planning to top that this year. Pink Kisses was chosen because of its colour, fragrance and because it is such a multi-purpose plant. Pots can be used indoors as a living flower arrangement or planted into a bigger pot for the patio or into the garden as a compact, colourful border plant.
Two years ago, Plantimex, growers of indoor plants, chose the bonsai Ficus Ginseng as a fundraiser for the Cancer Association of SA in the Vaal triangle and recently presented it with a cheque for R20 000. For marketing manager, Leonie Coulson, there is a personal connection; she lost her brother to cancer two years ago. “We chose this particular Ficus and called it our tree of life because in Japan this particular bonsai tree represents beauty, simplicity and harmony. A tree has always been a symbol of life and it is when we lose people that we love that we realise how important it is to care for and pay attention to those we love.”
Caring for this bonsai tree, which requires feeding, watering, simple wiring, training and repotting becomes a way of remembering, says Leonie.
It’s the perfect tree for bonsai beginners because it is easy to care for. It can be grown outdoors or indoors as it does not require direct sunlight.