First, a refresher for new visitors. Classie Corner started in an Australian newspaper more than 25 years ago. It has "done a lazarus" about a half dozen times. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the major comeback in 1996 in the Sunshine Coast Daily, Queensland. At its peak in 2001 and 02 the column appeared in nine papers in the APN News and Media group. In 2005, the Rural Press newspaper, the Bayside Bulletin, took up the column. Classie Corner transferred to the Bulletin's sister paper, the Redland Times, in February. John has set up this blog to celebrate the twin anniversaries, the decade and the quarter century. The marvellous community of classified advertising gives lots of inspiration. More about the history and the philosphy appears in the earlier posts, which reprint columns from the past and present. Today's post comes from yesterday's Redland Times.

A DISTINCTIVE mix of colour has been appearing through the Redlands.
Home gardens in suburbs including Wellington Point, Birkdale and Redland Bay have become "like little patches of Bali", courtesy of some innovative marketing in the nursery industry.
The gardens feature the typical mix of plants and the colours – reds, yellows, purples and greens of many hues – that have endeared Bali to many thousands of Australians.
A Balinese tropical garden package advertised in the Classifieds offers 26 mature plants including palms, crotons, bromeliades, cordylines, gingers, grevilleas and birds of paradise for $200.
The package is the brainchild of Bob Kaye, who visited Bali in the 1970s, and then watched the growing attraction of Australians to its culture.
As the threat of more terrorist attacks has stopped the pilgrimage of many Aussies, Bob has noted some buyers wanting more elements of Balinese culture in their lives in the bayside suburbs.
However, he says the Bali style suits any homeowners who simply want lots of colour with low mainentance.
"Everyone seems to want a tropical garden," Bob says.
"The package gardens include groundcover such as mondo and various grasses but generally the plants are about half to two metres high.
"Once they are established the gardens are very easy to look after."
The Redlands is among the major markets for Bob’s Ellengrove Nursery.
Any innovative marketing by Redland Shire nurseries through our Classifieds can have some space in a future column. Email a short description to fourjays@bigpond.com.
TRADE OFFER: The recent column about Capalaba’s Advanced Metal Recyclers exporting to China prompted a reader to ask for more stories about any Redland businesses targeting this huge market.
Again, I would be happy to hear of any such activities. But remember, this column’s focus is the people in the marvellous community of classified advertising.
WATCH UPDATE: The widow searching for her husband’s watch received a glimmer after the Classie Corner report on April 21. Gwen Hall, of Birkdale, found a watch near Birkdale Fair. Gwen called the widow but unfortunately the description did not match. The missing watch apparently slipped from the widow’s bag in the Cleveland shopping area during her lunch break just over a month ago. Loss of the gold Seiko has added to the woman’s grief. Its return would be appreciated.