Here, amid the tilting myrtle-hedged tombs, grow two of the mission's prize trees -- a Mexican fan palm so tall (it was measured at 82 feet back in 1980) that its fronds look like a tuft of parrot feathers sprouting from the outstretched neck of a brontosaurus and a fantastically gnarled and ropy-trunked vintage 1890 Moreton Bay fig whose canopy covers most of the cemetery in dark green shade.
The town has been desperate to protect its prized tree.
That is a concession to private property owners, who may complain if utilities were to trim back a prized tree in their yard, he said.
The hundreds of thousands of people who come here each cherry blossom season to view the prized tree, one of the three oldest in the country and a designated national monument, are largely staying away this year, scared off by the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, just 30 miles away.
His prize-winning tree has been selected to stand in Downing Street for the second year running.
Grand herbaceous borders rule at Glenarm Castle in County Antrim and June Blake's Wicklow garden (pictured); eccentric ruins preside over Heywood in Laois; and prize-winning tree-fern forests at Kells Bay in Kerry overlook a blue sea that could rival Nice.
League Assisteens trotted over to luncheon tables to give winners of the live and silent auctions their prizes, with trees to be picked up at the league clubhouse.
"Before I came to New York, I had never seen a foreign film," she said, aghast, as she accepted her best supporting actress prize for "The Tree of Life," "The Help" and "Take Shelter" at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards on Monday.
Lola Shoneyin's super novel The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives touches on lesbianism, as did Monica Arac De Nyeko's Caine Prize winning "Jambula Tree", which won the Caine in 2007.
So far, its scientists have identified 600 genetic markers in ten species of eucalyptus, acacia and melaleuca, a temperate tree prized for its oils.
