Do you really think they would be interested in our seeds , what about customs and all that ...MM.

When the richest nation on earth cant rebuild one of its cities, complete with public amenities, there is something very wrong here. I know that botanic gardens all over the world depend on private donations, but surely they dont need help from Oz ?

I don't believe anyone was asking for help from us. There are strict quarantine laws which I am sure the botanical gardens will be very aware of and will follow. The original posting was to a US forum. You may not be aware that US GW members are prohibited from posting on our exchange now. Too many people trying to get past the quarantine laws.
I am sure they will get plenty of offers of plants from within their own country. Much of what is asked for is not rare and will be readily available from private gardens.

In my original post on the texas gardening site I said I'd put a copy of jacquelyne8b's post on the australian gardening forum and I also provided a link to the australian botanic gardens web site and suggested she contact them.

Artiew you got it spot on when you said "When the richest nation on earth cant rebuild one of its cities, complete with public amenities, there is something very wrong here."

That's why the gardens have to beg on the net for donations of plants. The joy of being a "free market" society (as america claims to be) is that there is no government assistance for just about anything.

Our business associates in the US complain about paying the taxes that they do pay. They pay a way lower rate of tax than here. Here we see the results in clean, tidy cities, well made roads and pavements, health, education, and our lovely botanic gardens. Sure the govenrment has its faults, both sides, but there is a lot to say for paying a reasonably high rate of tax.
My daughter was complaining about taxes and not even getting a tax return, and I had to explain to her that her tax helped pay her boyfriends dole money :-( I also suggested that I could "rig it" so that she got a great big tax return at the end of the financial year. (She works for us, I do the wages). She liked the idea until someone explained to her that it would involve me taking a much higher rate of tax out during the year, instead of exactly the right amount - LOL
My hubby was appalled at the state of places like Los Angeles airport, and the streets of LA when he was there. Also the number of beggars on the streets. Let's hope it never gets that bad here.
Getting back to gardening, I think it is a great idea for botanical gardens round the world to pull together in such situations, and support each other. I am sure that bot gardens would have special set ups for quarantining plants sent to them. They may even be exempt from some of the costs. I don't think it is a good idea for us here at GW to start sending stuff off willy nilly, unless you are a specialist grower of some of the rarer stuff. It is certainly good to have this situation brought to our notice though. So much is just tucked away and not talked about, after the media have done their big bit to get ratings.

A botanical garden is asking for plants so that means that the US isn't spending enough money to rebuild New Orleans? I don't see how anyone can arrive at that conclusion. Rebuilding a large city is a massive undertaking for ANY country. Unfortunately, botanic gardens probably aren't near the top of the list of priorities when much of the city is still simply unlivable.

Massive public works projects in the US may have gotten a bad reputation in recent years because they always turn into massive money drains - a major reconstruction project of new highways, tunnels, and bridges in Boston ended up costing 7 times the original estimate. They also typically have more expensive problems after they get finished - some of the tunnels in Boston still leak. A lot of people now just assume that any public works project is going to end up costing much more than it is worth.

springa7 said "that means that the US isn't spending enough money to rebuild New Orleans?I don't see how anyone can arrive at that conclusion."

And using the word "gotten" signs you up for being a septic.....

You obviouslyu haven't got TV where you live - everyone around the world gets to see what hasn't been done in New Orleans - hundreds of thousands of houses still rotting inn mud.... tens of thousands of trailers sitting in depots all around the country waiting for the federal government to authorise the release to people who need them in New Orleans.

Darwin was wipred out by a cyclone in 1975 - I don't think we prevaricated and pontificated as much as the terrible USA government in supplying aid. New Orleans went for weeks without power - power was restored to darwin within a week.... I know there's a size difference between darwin and New Orleans, but no greater a proportion than the size of australia compared with the USA

How ironic is it then, to think that the most gas guzzling nation in the world pikes to spend their money on big expensive cars, rather than on paying taxes for roads. Soon there will be no decent roads to drive on so the excess use of oil may ultimately be self limiting?

I know this is mostly OT from the original post but I thought it might be of interest. I emailed the link to this thread to an American friend of mine who lives in Louisiana. Here are some excerpts from the reply I received:

"I just read your last email where you sent me the link to the AU Garden Web forum and I found it so interesting that I just had to reply back to you on my own personal take of the posters' opinions.

As far as the N.O. Botanical Gardens go and their request for replacement seeds and plants, that's a good thing, I suppose. It is a beautiful garden in the springtime and I've been there many times. But all the plants they want to replace are very common and easily available down here (once the plant nurseries get back on their feet which many have already). I'm wondering, tho, how these new plants and seeds are going to be cultivated and maintained without enough people to do it. I'm assuming that there are plenty of volunteers that can at this time. But I am wondering about that. The botanical gardens are located in City Park where they're trying to get FEMA trailers set up and the last I heard, lots of contractors from out of state as well as FEMA people are living in tents there. But that's not what's important anyway. I personally think that the botanical gardens aren't that important right now when you see so many desperate, homeless people that just need something to call a roof over there heads. And I'm an avid gardener myself.

I just have to address the posters who talked about us being the richest nation and we have such poor assistance. Well, you Aussie friends are right on the money. We poor taxpayers here have to take care of the big government as well as take care of those that won't work. All of us here in the US know that if the federal government builds anything, it's half-assed. A perfect example is the levee system in N.O. that broke and caused all the destruction and deaths. It wasn't Katrina that did it, it was the levees breaking. The federal army corp of engineers built those many many years ago and were substandard back then. The same army corp is repairing them right now and promise to be finished by June. They aren't making them any stronger, they're just patching them back to Cat. 3 hurricane protection. Well, I don't think they'd hold a Cat. 3 either and you saw what happened with a Cat. 4. N.O. would have been okay for the most part if the levees hadn't have broken.

Some posters on your forum mentioned not understanding why thousands of FEMA trailers are just sitting empty when so many need them. Aside from the unexcusable fact that FEMA is inept and doesn't know what the hell they're doing and nobody knows the answers from their office headquarters, I'll tell you why people don't have them. FEMA said they cannot and will not set up trailers unless there is proper water, sewer and utilities to hook up to. Well, the lights are still out in the majority of the...

How very sad to read this, but nothing beats getting it from the horses mouth so to speak. Thank you for posting this, it has not enlightened me just makes me know that what I read and hear about this Super Nation is correct. Such a shame when people from N.O. cannot get the help they are intitled too. All I am going to say is.

Thank goodness I am a Australian and live here. The best Country on Earth till the Pollies ruin it...Cheers..MM.

Yes, tis sad to read the posting from the US.

I think it is a lovely idea to start the NO Bot gardens with donations from OZ. In my own little world, I love all the donations from people I have received, it makes me smile to think of all the people's good intentions that have gone into my garden. Its a lovely way to transfer love and care to people who are hurting. A garden is a special place where people can heal and relax and view beautiful images.

Of course the logistics of it all would have to be investigated.

Reilly, I agree with much of your friends posting. The plants, as she said, are mostly common. I think gardens are, however, important as a means of boosting moral and reducing depression in populations of people. Those poor homeless and unemployed could be gainfully employed getting their own citty back on it's feet.
I don't think Americans, as people, are particularly hated. Everyone tells me how nice those they meet are, when they travel to the US. It is their ethic, and their resource greed, but then, we are not far behind them. Any third world country that attempts to attain the standard of living that we enjoy, for the same percentage of their population, will be doomed to failure. It is no longer possible.
As far as taxes go, from what little is available online (I note that the ATO in Aus is the top of the google search engine, but that could be a language problem on my part) the maximum tax rate in the US is around 35c per dollar. That campares very poorly with our maximum rate of 48.5c per $. On top of that, they do not seem to have a tax free threshhold, which means the poor are taxed on everything. Excise tax and sales tax are also way lower. Before you make a mass exodus to live in the US, you should consider the fact that little of this tax goes back into health, roads, poverty, etc. We see so many billions spent on war, and space exploration. Just that money alone, spent on the people of the US would turn the whole country around. It is very sad. Let's hope we don't follow the US example too much further down that road.

On the topic of taxes in the US...I think in lots of areas there, what we would probably think of as Shire rates can be very high. I just did a search on the Real Estate forum and came up with this link, I am glad I don't have to pay some of the figures quoted.
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/realestate/msg110011147734.html

Here is a link that might be useful: Property Tax