Retorts

Wildflowers Worthwhile

I have to admit that I (and others here) were a little surprised at the put-down, "not serious science" tenor of the wildflower article [Nov]. However, that was also once the case with our "alternative grasses" breeding programme, which has now won scientific awards and special government funding as part of the "drought package". Maybe new ideas just need time.

Dr Bill Rumball, DSIR Grasslands

There was no intention to belittle your work. Rather than putting it down as "not serious science", we were trying to emphasise the unusual and novel approach.

The comments we have received have applauded your work as a positive application of lateral thinking, as a sensible use of obviously unutilised resources and as a clever means of making our waste spaces more interesting and more environmentally viable. -- Ed.