Precious plant for a precious person

Families made lifelong memories and were involved in something significant to celebrate Mother's Day on Sunday 8 May 2022, while helping a nationally vulnerable plant to survive.

Murraylands and Riverland Landscape Board Education Officer Cindy Kakoschke said students were able to plant a silver-daisy bush (Olearia pannosa ssp pannosa) with their Mum or special someone on the Mother’s Day weekend to show them how much they care.

"The students showed some extra love by gifting their special someone a nationally vulnerable silver-daisy bush,” Ms Kakoschke said.

"We provided more than 1,100 silver-daisy bushes to 26 schools for students to gift to their special someone for Mother's Day.

This beautiful and unique Mother's Day program was available for students aged between 4 and 12 years and was so popular it was oversubscribed within 2 days.

Each student received supporting resources such as printable wrapping paper, a Mother's Day card, plant care instructions, and the vulnerable plant.

Ms Kakoschke said Mother's Day is a great time to emphasise the importance of planting native alternatives such as the silver-daisy bush.

"Giving a threatened plant as a living gift is a unique way to say thank you. It ensures a daily reminder of your thoughtfulness, helps a threatened species, and creates a natural backyard habitat which boosts local biodiversity.

With only approximately 1,000 silver-daisy bushes remaining in the wild in the Murraylands and Riverland region, conserving a plant by taking care of it in your backyard protects it from threats and increases the population size of the species.

"Students were able to join in, help conserve a native species and thank their precious person all at the same time," Ms Kakoschke said.

The silver-daisy bushes were provided as part of the Precious Plants for Precious People program, which is run by the Murraylands and Riverland Landscape Board’s Education with support of the Landscape Ecology team and the landscape levies.