The 2024 VMGA Christmas Puzzle

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Across
  1. 1. A container to store winter rains for a drier time
  2. 4. A tough plant material deposited in cell walls, especially in wood
  3. 7. The author of the best selling book 'Nature's Best Hope'
  4. 9. Who was awarded the 'Golden Trowel Award' in 2024?
  5. 10. A horizontal stem growing above ground that may form roots at its tip or at nodes
  6. 11. The pollen bearing part of a stamen
  7. 12. A region of parenchyma cells at the centre of a stem
  8. 17. A common vining invasive weed we all see in our nightmares
  9. 20. What is inside an apple that has a small black puncture hole?
  10. 22. The minimum number of 'bee visits' it takes to effectively pollinate a squash flower
  11. 24. A short swollen underground stem in which food is stored
  12. 25. The science of 'plant partnerships'
  13. 28. The first step when pruning is to cut out any 'dead, damaged and _______' branches
  14. 30. The act of cutting a shrub down to ground level to stimulate new growth, often for ornamental stem colour
  15. 32. A mixture of sand, silt and clay
  16. 33. Your garden is an _______
  17. 34. An abnormal swelling caused by an invading organism
  18. 35. How many VMGA members are celebrating 25 years of service in 2025?
Down
  1. 2. What slugs leave behind
  2. 3. The vital plant process stops when the air temperature is too cool (5C), or too hot (35C)
  3. 5. What is the first step in effective pest management?
  4. 6. A grassroots organization dedicated to the elimination of a yellow flowered invasive species
  5. 8. Why 2025 is a special year for the VMGA
  6. 12. The food conducting tissue of a plant
  7. 13. A gardening tool that does, well pretty much everything!
  8. 14. The release of chemicals by a plant to discourage the growth of other plants nearby
  9. 15. A beautiful, pink, deer resistant, fall flowering perennial
  10. 16. A weather phenomenon that did a lot of damage in our gardens last winter
  11. 18. A large genus of plants that are consistently deer resistant, mostly due to their odorous nature
  12. 19. A very common 'sucking' insect pest
  13. 21. The union of a piece of one plant to another
  14. 23. An herbaceous perennial which produces tubular flowers arranged in a sphere
  15. 26. Leave the _______
  16. 27. An association between a fungus and the roots of a higher plant
  17. 29. A reproductive cell that grows directly into a new plant
  18. 31. A cute name for 'aphid poo'