The Conversation

The phoenix factor: what home gardeners can learn from nature's rebirth after fire

Author: Kingsley Dixon, John Curtin Distinguished Professor, Curtin University

A startling phenomenon occurs after a bushfire tears through a landscape. From the blackened soil springs an extraordinary natural revival – synchronised germination that carpets the landscape in flowers and colour.

So what is it in bushfires that gives plants this kiss of life? The answer is smoke, and it is increasingly transforming...

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