The heatwave may be bad news for plants one Spanish city is doing its bit after setting up a hotel and health spa for plants to have a relaxing break while their owners are away on holiday.
Spain has been experiencing a severe heatwave this summer with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius as well as affecting wildlife has also been detrimental to plants, with dehydration, wilting, and even death.
The initiative set up by the municipality council of Pozuelo de Alarcon, near the Spanish capital Madrid, is aiming to also help plants and has proven so popular over the holiday period that they have now expanded it with a special hospital to treat sick plants and a regular clinic visit specialists with their green pals.
So far, only people living in Pozuelo de Alarcon can have access to this free service and it remains at the moment the only city council in Spain with this free service that works intensity from 15th June to 15th September.
Every summer, thousands of plants spend their summer season in the Educational Environment Department of Pozuelo de Alarcon, where the plant kindergarten is located. There is also a hospital to recover from diseases if needed.
Paloma Tejero, the mayor of this municipality, told local media that “it is like spa for them”.
Local media reported that a lot of people with large gardens and lots of plants that need caring are located in the neighbourhood of Humera where the daycare centre and hospital are also located.
Workers of the kindergarten jot down the personal data of the families arriving at the kindergarten along with a date that they will return to collect their plants.
The plants have their own label with their owners’ details and they are put in the greenhouse.
Carnivorous plants are located in a special separate room with ponds for aquatic plants.
When the plants arrive at the kindergarten they are checked to make sure they do not have any diseases and if they do, they are transferred to hospital.
Once there, they are put in a climate-controlled greenhouse if it is the winter and in summer, placed in an area with the appropriate amount of shade or sunlight and microdifusion irrigation.
The hospital also has two intensive care units for plants that need emergency assistance.
People who worry about a particular plant can bring their potted pals along every Wednesday for a check-up.
The hospital is attended by expert Oscar Dominguez and several environment teachers and a team of 20 volunteers.
Bernardino Rodrigues, one of the volunteers warns that the main cause of death of plants is too much water.
He explained to local media that if the situation of the plant is not serious, owners could bring them back home, but if it is very sick, it is left hospitalized in the intensive care unit with a treatment ordered by Dominguez.
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Story By: Ana Lacasa, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency: Newsflash
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