Our partners in Italy Tiziana Volta (WWWV), Antonio Brunori (Pefc Italia) and their  teams have continued to share hibakujumoku germinated from A-Bombed Trees seeds throughout Italy, with it the message of peace and ecology they hold. Since 2022, they have connected with the following projects in Italy:

1. Agrate Brianza, Oasi Vasca Volano di Gae (Celtis, May) 
2. Cartosio (Alessandria), Subject and elementary school (Ginkgo, November)
3. Collevalenza (Perugia), Primary School (Celtis, April) 
4. Ferrara, Garden May 20 and 29, 2012 (Celtis, May) 
5. Genoa, Gardens elementary school district Bolzaneto (Gingko, April) 
6. Rome, Giardini-Vivai San Sisto (Celtis. March) 
7. Rome Zen Center Anshim (Ginkgo, June) 
8. San Vendemmiano, Giardino-Laghetto Fossamerio (Celts, June) 
9. Taranto, Largo Pozzo-Talsano (Celtis, May) 
10. Trissino (Vicenza), Via dalle Ore-Via Verdi-Piazza Mazzini (Celtis, November)

The Hiroshima Tonan Rotary, in a lovely project initiated by GLH's long-standing friend Kanameda sensei, has organized a painting contest among Hiroshima elementary, middle and high schools. More than 400 entries were submitted, and GLH and many other partners joined the Tonan Rotary members in selecting the final candidates in a session on November 25. The awardees will receive their prizes in a ceremony in February 2025. 

The Royal Horticultural Society and Emilios Theodosiou are working hard preparing to raise tree seeds sent by GLH from Hiroshima. The plan is to create displays in their U.K. gardens for 2045, to commemorate 100 years since the atomic bombings. The picture shows pots containing seeds for Gingko Biloba, Camphor, Kurogane Holly, Persimmon, Chinese Hackberry and Oriental Plane Tree. They propose for the full-size trees to be displayed alongside bonsai Gingko also originating from GLH.  The Gingko saplings, currently being turned into bonsai at Herons Bonsai, were donated by Aberdeen City Council.

A ginkgo, nurtured from seed to sapling for seven years, was planted on World Peace Day in Dunedin. Thank you to all of those in New Zealand who have made this planting a reality.

New batch of Ginkgo seeds have safely arrived at our partners at the Leiden University Botanic Garden.

With gratitude to GLH partner Rinny Kooi and her colleagues in Leiden, to David Dowd, James Ross and their colleagues at GLH regional hub at CAFRE, Northern Ireland, to Nakahara-san and the team at the Hiroshima Botanic Garden — and to generations past and present, who have tended to the seeds and saplings, and will do so in the future.

Akiko Perona, UNITAR chief of communications who was instrumental in helping us plant a hibakujumoku sapling at ICRC, sent us photos of the tree as it stands (July 2024) — a magnificent specimen, clearly ICRC gardeners have taken good care of Hiroshima’s green ambassador of peace.

Our partners at the Oslo Botanical Garden sent us pictures of the Hackberry and Japanese Summer Orange hibakujumoku seeds they received in August 2023. They have potted seeds from other species as well (10 in all), totaling 33 seeds in the soil so far; these are the first to sprout.Our partners at the Oslo Botanical Garden sent us pictures of the Hackberry and Japanese Summer Orange hibakujumoku seeds they received in August 2023. They have potted seeds from other species as well (10 in all), totaling 33 seeds in the soil so far; these are the first to sprout.

We are delighted to learn that Jo Brennan of the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria could receive today a batch of hibakujumoku Ginkgo seeds, hand delivered by GLH partners Virginia McNally and Dominic Napoleone of the University of Melbourne. Under a shining sun, a small handover ceremony was set against the backdrop of one of the Gardens' flourishing Ginkgo specimens. The seeds are currently undergoing cold stratification in the Gardens' nursery as they prepare to be sowed. We extend our gratitude to all involved for their efforts to make this exchange happen.

GLH is happy to welcome Kendal at Oberlin, a retirement community near Oberlin College, as a new partner. Their wisteria was cultivated by retired professor Dr. David Benzing since the spring of 2019, from a cutting of the wisteria in Oberlin College's Science Building courtyard. Horticulturist and focal point for GLH Rachel Duncan anticipates its inaugural bloom in a year or two. Winter photos taken in mid-January attest to the tree's hardiness. The plant is part of The John Bartram Arboretum collection (Kendal at Oberlin’s arboretum) with accession #1569.

In June 2017 GLH sent seeds to V.F.F. Institute Mare Nostrum e.V. NPO-Austria, who since have diligently documented the process. Their website features images of the seeds, and the flowchart below, detailing application, arrival and sowing of seeds. It also has a detailed technical analysis that includes step-by-step images and explanations for germinating the seeds. Gratitude for their care and efforts, as well as those of Shuichi Hamatani and colleagues from the Hiroshima Botanical Garden.