PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT . . .

■ Wollemi pine, an endangered tree native to Australia that dates to the dinosaur age. Fewer than 100 full-grown trees remain Down Under, but seedlings are selling like hotcakes at about $99 each. The hardy Wollemis thrive in many climates and stand 80-plus feet tall when mature, with up to 100 trunks.

lawns, and some are switching to artificial grass. This means no more mowing, but “you must sweep or vacuum the surface to remove debris,” says Andrew McNitt, a turf specialist at Pennsylvania State University.

GROWING INTERESTS

■ full-grown plants, for instant impact. “Buyers today are looking to decorate their patios—now!” says Jimmy Turner, director of horticultural research for the Dallas

Arboretum.

■ motorized log splitters that can be wheeled to a stack of wood ■ a greater variety of containers that are lightweight, weather-resistant, and self-watering

■ decorative containers: “It’s just not your mom’s old terra-cotta pots anymore. You can get containers now in all kinds of materials and colors, and even make your own,” says Turner. ■ vegetables anywhere: in containers, mixed into annual beds or perennial borders, and in unexpected colors—e.g., orange eggplant and purple carrots

■ ethnic-recipe herbs, such as cilantro and Thai basil

■ new varieties of wildflowers, such as black-eyed Susan and echinacea

■ tropical plants with knockout foliage and flowers—especially bananas, cannas, tropical hibiscus, ginger, and passionflowers. “More gardeners want to grow a plant they have seen while traveling to warmer locations,” says Susan Jellinek, horticulturist at Thompson & Morgan Seedsmen.

–Cambridge 2000

Signs of the Times

NORTHERN EXPOSURE

Older folks in a few tiny towns in Saskatchewan are taking on a surprising new role—as nude calendar pinups. Some appear knitting, skiing, and swimming, but others pose in political protest. Residents of Leader bared nearly all to call attention to a run-down highway.