To Not Come back or Not Get There

I would say that considering someone flaky is not a compliment.  I heard that one of the applicants to be in the MARS One crew was 80 years old. I would consider this to be a flaky person - wacky, unconventional and off-beat. And it makes me wonder about the Mars One selecting team and what their criteria were.  There is an extensive list of requirements - with categories resiliency, adaptability, curiosity, ability to trust, creativity/ resourcefulness , and then age (18 or older), medical and physical requirements, country of origin and language.   From Round One: Among the people that were selected to move on to round two, 159 have a master's degree, 347 have bachelor's degrees and 29 have Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degrees. The majority of the applicants are under 36 and well educated. Round Two: Medically cleared candidates were interviewed, and 50 men and 50 women of the total pool of 660 from around the world were selected to move on. Applicants are mostly from the U.S. The youngest is a 20-year-old and the oldest is 61. Round Three:  The company had intended to have a reality television show documenting group challenges, but no TV deal has been reached.  The audience was to select one winner per region, and experts select additional participants.   40 people will be selected. Round Four:  This is the isolation test - the forty candidates will spend nine days in an isolation unit.  (that's 9 days vs 7 months it will take to reach Mars). Thirty will be selected. Round Five: This is the Mars Settler Suitability Interview.  Supposedly to last 4 hours, to measure suitability for long-duration space missions and Mars settlement.  Twenty-four candidates would be selected. Then we move on to the section in the Wikipedia article on Bankruptcy HERE.  The company was permanently dissolved in January 2019 with a total debt of $1 million Euros. Back to flaky - here's what German former astronaut Ulrich Walter had to say in January 2014,  He estimated the probability of reaching Mars alive at only 30%, and that of surviving there more than three months at less than 20%. He said, "They don't care what happens to those people in space... If my tax money were used for such a mission, I would organize a protest." Two pictures today - one that we will never see on Mars, but can see at a model railroad show.  And then Brian's favourite new seedling that won in the Lily Show this summer.

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Royal Botanical Garden New Atrium

I was at the Ontario Regional Lily Society Annual Flower Show on the weekend and it was held in the new Atrium at the RBG. What a space - elegance and simplicity in the architectural design, beautiful warm wood and full of natural light. The living wall is the immediate view when you enter the hall.

The lily stems were in natural light for the first time displaying their colours and luminescence. A highlight of the show for me was on Sunday afternoon when Dr. Laking, one of the ORLS founding members came to the exhibit and spoke at the awards ceremony.

Next Lily event is October 4th 1:00pm at the RBG for the lily bulb sale and auction!

Lilycrest Garden in Full Bloom!

Welcome to this Monday!

My brother, Dr. Brian Bergman, is a lily hybridizer with a large hybridizing and growing field near St. Catharines. The name of the field and hybridizing activity is Lilycrest Garden.

One of his hybrids is named Blue Flash, as it has a blue luminescence on the petals and this image captures that special quality. We were in the field yesterday, amongst the tens of thousands of blooms. This is the prime season of lily bloom right now! For more information on his work go to:

http://www.lilycrestgarden.shutterfly.com/

If you want to see everything in lilies there is to see, then next weekend is for you! Running on July 11th and 12th is the Ontario Regional Lily Society's annual flower show. It's held at the Royal Botanical Gardens on Plains Road, in the main atrium. There will be over 300 lily stems on display from members' gardens. The show always contains a floral competition with beautiful displays using lilies. For more information on the show times and events, go to their website at:

http://www.orls.ca

I hope you come out to the show and enjoy the RBG and its gardens!