The rumor proved all too bitterly true: Park’s hardware, a downtown institution of Orono for over 100 years, would be closing. Locals cross-examined, and begged Lin, the owner of the store, but it seemed useless. Running a small, local, family-owned hardware business was no longer profit maker. The town’s love for Park’s Hardware was just not enough to allow it to compete against the giant warehouse stores.

I was one member of the excited masses that began to walk through Park’s as, day by day, the lettering on the front window changed from “20% OFF EVERYTHING” to “30%,” “40%,” and on and on, until the only things left were the light sockets and doorknobs.

Compared with giant warehouses, a hardware store is special. I recall the time I was exploring in one giant warehouse for a wireless doorbell that Park’s didn’t carry. I found the thing, but didn’t understand the following note on the package: “Red light indicates condition of the battery.” “Excuse me,” I said to a clerk, holding the item out, “I can’t seem to find the red light.” The man examined it, and said, “Neither can I.” I compared this experience with one I usually had at Park’s. “Lin,” I’d beg. “Can you…please…I don’t know…do you think…?” And quicker than one could say, “little red light,” Lin would spring into action and together we’d sit down to find the solution.

I could buy a single screw at Park’s. At a warehouse I have no choice but to buy a box of a hundred screws. But I don’t want a box of a hundred screws when all I need is one. I just want to know the location of the little red light, and now that Park’s is gone, I realize that I never will.

London’s Kew Gardens reopens its Temperate House, the world’s largest Victorian glasshouse.

For the first time in its history, the Grade I-listed structure was restored to bare metal and modernized. More than 5,280 liters of paint was used, enough to cover four football fields, and 15,000 panes of glass was replaced. The house opened to the public on Saturday, May 5.

The large greenhouse is now home to an arranged collection of different plants from areas of temperate (温带的)climates around the world — areas sometimes described as the Goldilocks zone of the planet, where plants are safe from coldness.

These include some of the rarest and most threatened species, for which the botanic (植物的)garden is a final shelter. Among the more than 1,000 different species of temperate plants is the extremely rare South African cycad Encephalartos woodji, a plant that has disappeared from the wild and is now found in botanic gardens and private collections.

This tree has been named “the loneliest plant in the world”, because only male plants remain - each a clone of the specimen at Kew, which was collected in the middle of the 19th century. Some plants contain both male and female parts, but this species requires a female to produce seeds.

Lead gardener Scott Taylor, who is overseeing the Temperate House collection stressed the importance of having an insurance population of one of the world’s most endangered plants.

“ We have an important job to keep all of these things going,” Mr. Taylor said. “For some plants, they are down to a few in the wild — a wildfire, an earthquake, and they’re gone. ’’

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, is perhaps the earliest and most famous example of botanical gardens. Over decades and centuries, many incredible botanical gardens have been established. Here is a list of them.

Orto Botanico di Padova

The Orto Botanico di Padova in Padua, north-eastern Italy, is the oldest academic botanical garden still in its original location. It was founded in 1545 by the Venetian Republic. It is spread across an area of 22,000 square meters. It is particularly known for its historical architecture, as well as the collection of 6000 kinds of plants. The astonishing botanical garden is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden

The Kirstenbosch National botanical Garden is located at the foot of Table Mountain in. Cape Town, South Africa. It is one of South Africa's nine national botanical gardens, which covers five out of six biomes (生物群落)，and the first of its kind in the world. It is famous for exhibiting native plants from different regions.

Botanical Garden and Botanical Museum

The Berlin-Dahlem Botanical Garden and Botanical Museum is located in Berlin, Germany. It has 22,000 different plant species. Among its different plants is a giant bamboo. This astonishing garden has a large scientific library attached to it. The complex has buildings and glasshouses.

Singapore Botanic Garden

The 74 hectare (公顷)Singapore Botanic Garden in Singapore is the only botanic garden that stays open from 5 am to 12 midnight, every day. Its attractions include Rainforest, Botany Centre, Tanglin Gate, Jacob Ballas Children's Garden and other gardens. It has the Tembusu tree, seen on the Singaporean five-dollar bill.