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| Thursday, 28th June
2001, 10 am and the 'taxi' arrived in Whitworth, Lancashire (now where
have you seen that before?) to collect my trusty navigator, Cliff Booker
who had, only hours before, returned home from his hugely successful
tour-leading duties in the Dolomites. Much has happened in the 10 years since Warwick but the enthusiasm for all things alpine was just as strong, if not stronger and the anticipation of what lay ahead over the next five days was the main topic of conversation. The 250 mile journey paled into insignificance when compared to the distances some of the delegates had travelled but at least the airline pilots have a better understanding of geography than the affable Mr. Booker. Nevertheless, we did arrive some 5 hours later (well we HAD to visit at least one pub along the way.....and one pub was about all we saw on the A74!!!).... and drove into the Heriot-Watt Campus, to see hundreds of alpine enthusiasts, laden beyond any health and safety advice, with suitcases, plants, travel bags and the like. This was indeed the place and for once, the navigation was impeccable. |
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So who's looking after YOUR garden then?????? |
| Having made a 'round the
world' trip to Edinburgh Airport (Cliff was once again the
navigator*grin*) we returned with the two representatives of SAJA
(the
French Alpine Garden Society), Mesdames
Claude Roy and Daniela Goll, whose command, thankfully, of the English
language was vastly superior to our basic school-taught French.
Once back on campus, we registered and received the 'Welcome Pack' which included, amongst other things, our name badges, the Conference schedule, pen and a brochure containing some interesting eating places which, had we been at Warwick might have come in useful but the quality and selection of food provided by our Scottish hosts was to prove quite excellent.
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| THURSDAY EVENING |
| Having taken the
customary shower, changed into something more appropriate than the
casual travel wear that had taken us the 250 miles and perused the
evening's schedule, it was time to go for dinner....a leisurely
stroll through the well tended gardens of the University and along the 'corridors of power' of the conference centre into the queue of ravenous
delegates. And what a queue!!!!!! This was the one and only occasion
(except for the Conference Dinner) when all 515 delegates decided to eat
at the same time. A word here of congratulations to the members of the catering staff
who were efficient and polite at all times. I doubt that anyone had any
complaints during the entire week.
This was of course the first chance
to meet old and new friends and to put names to faces and no time was
wasted in accomplishing this. Within minutes, I had bumped into...well
in all honesty HE bumped into me.... quite literally...Frank
Pratt from Alaska and his delightful and charming wife, Verna....
both of whom I had corresponded with for a number of years and who are
busy preparing for the NARGS 2002 Conference in Alaska. This is indeed
what these events are about and although Ian & Carole Bainbridge
will undoubtedly disagree with me, the conferences should be held more often. Well, with dinner over and a gradual dispersion of the crowd, it was off to the auditorium for the opening of the Conference. As was to be expected, Ian Young, President of the SRGC and Rod Leeds, President of the AGS, gave us a very warm welcome in their opening speeches and set the scene for the first lecture of ALPINES 2001, "Beima Shan to Berwickshire" presented by probably the only person qualified to open an Edinburgh 'festival', that true Scot and plantsman par excellence, Ron McBeath of Lamberton Nursery. His delivery, with expert knowledge, excellent photography and his usual sense of humour, was flawless. With China becoming more accessible to tourists, the need for information about its flora is long overdue and Ron introduced us to some wonderful plants and no shortage of cultural details. The precedent had been established for what was to come. There was no doubt this was going to be a very good conference indeed. And that left only the unpleasant
task of having to spend the next few hours in the bar but I braved the
situation for the sake of TAG members and alpine enthusiasts world-wide,
in order to bring you a comprehensive report. I do hope you appreciate
this !!!!!
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| FRIDAY MORNING |
| .................and up
with the lark. (Do they have larks in Edinburgh???). Well they certainly
have rabbits and squirrels and geese and other assorted wildlife. Have
you any idea how loud geese sound the morning after a night on the
tiles???? I somehow recall a suggestion from the previous evening that we all meet in the foyer to go down to breakfast but anyway, I wasn't the only one who couldn't remember what time had been stipulated so I sat and waited in the lounge area until one by one, delegates appeared from the stairs and the elevator. One of the favourite pastimes at these events is reading people's name badges as they go by.......what a marvellous invention!! .........and it soon became obvious that this was truly an international conference. I am told that 21 countries were represented.......so it was a case of Bonjour, Guten Morgen and Good Morning in as many different dialects as I could master. Futile really because everyone I spoke to was more than fluent in my native tongue....especially the East Lancs stalwarts, Mavis Meekings, Madge Roberts, Ken and Margaret Mellows and the old man himself, James Lever who vows to be at the 2011 conference......and if Jim says he'll be there, he'll be there. Making a quick beeline for the breakfast hall, we were premature in our belief that there would be another enormous queue.........just a few minutes and we were within sniffing distance of those wonderful bacon rashers and the fresh orange juice......OK, OK, I know I should eat fresh fruit and other such healthy food but I was on vacation !!! As usual, the conversation at table was stimulating and made more so with the arrival of Diane Clement, whose wit was as sharp as the knives we were using...and that day-tripper from 'just down the road' Martin Rogerson both of Alpine-L fame (more about that later). Feeling full from the delights of the first meal of the day, it was time to head for the auditorium and enjoy what was, for me, the highlight of the lecture sessions. "All The Way From America".......a series of talks on the flora of North and South America. Introduced by Joyce Fingerut, President of NARGS and co-author of that wonderful book "Creating And Planting Garden Troughs", the session commenced with "Way Out West - Alpines From The North-West USA" by Baldassare Mineo, owner of Siskiyou Rare Plant Nursery in Oregon and author of "Rock Garden Plants - A Color Encyclopedia" (Note the American spelling). Baldassare showed us some wonderful alpine plants including many that had been introduced by his nursery including, Eriogonum umbellatum 'Siskiyou Gold', Trillium 'Del Norte' and Lewisia 'Siskiyou White'. His journey took us from the Rockies in Colorado to the Siskiyou Mountains of Oregon via such mouth-watering area as the Big Horns of Wyoming, Yellowstone National Park, Beartooth Mountains and The Wenatchee Mountains of Washington, not necessarily in that order. The photos were excellent. spoiled only by the poor projection facilities of the conference centre. Not a criticism of the organisors but certainly something which future hosts should pay particular attention to. Coffee time was, as proved to be always the case, hectic, as delegates rushed to meet other delegates, discuss the previous lecture, head for the toilets.....some not caring or oblivious to the gender on the door, or just quietly nibbling away on the shortbread biscuits....whilst others made a direct course for the fresh air and the chance to have a quick cigarette....not that I would ever do a thing like that of course!!!! 11 am and the one I had been waiting
for. Verna Pratt's introduction to "Alaska's Arctic Alpines".
I had long been interested in these after receiving copies of Verna's
excellent "Field
Guide to Alaskan Wildflowers" series of books, which if aren't
in your library already, should be. Frank and Verna are hosting the NARGS
2002 Conference in Alaska and assure you of the very best in North
American hospitality together with trips to see some of their impressive
Alaskan wildflowers and if Verna's talk is anything to go by, this is
not to be missed. One of the problems with desiring these North American plants is that often they are lost because they were cultivated incorrectly. One man who has proved his skills as a cultivator, propagator and exhibitor over many years is the UK's Graham Nicholls, who is the owner of Graham's Hardy Plants Nursery in Somerset. The final lecture of the morning gave good practical advice on how to get the best results from the many fine plants we had seen over the course of the previous two lectures and was presented in Graham's inimitable style of humour and west country dialect. It was a difficult decision to choose between lunch and another visit to Graham's plant stall in the exhibition hall. Following lunch, the southern part of the Americas was represented with a journey through the Southern Andes in the expert hands of Peter Erskine. The flora of two areas were illustrated with some wonderful slides of many of the world's most intractable alpines..intractable in cultivation, that is.....but desirable nonetheless. Using twin projectors, we were treated to such beauties as Viola auricolor, Calceolaria polyrrhiza, Oxalis loricata and Ranunculus semiverticillatus......all of which I have tried at some time or another but with very little success and I am in awe of those who have mastered the cultivation of these plants. It may be significant that Peter failed to show a slide that wasn't on my wants list or it could just be that his delivery and obvious enthusiasm for this flora has his audience hungering for more. Significant too that John Watson's seed was in great demand after the lecture. |
| SHOW AWARDS |
| The afternoon session drew to a close with the presentation of the Show awards. Despite being so late in the season, there were some fine exhibits on display in the show hall, none more so than the Best In Show exhibited by Ian Kidman of Newcastle, who was at home at the time and hastily hot-footed it over the border to receive the coveted award for his plant of Campanula zoysii. The plant thoroughly deserved the accolade as you will see and was duly awarded the joint Forrest and Farrer Medal. Congratulations Ian !!!! |
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Campanula zoysii exhibited by Ian Kidman |
| Some other plants from the show......... |
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Tritelia laxa "Congesta": Award Of Merit Grown by Bob and Rannveig Wallis |
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Campanula thessala: Award Of Merit Grown by Mavis Allanson |
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Arisaema candidissimum |
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A Display Of Orchids |
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Physoplexis comosa |
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Aberconwy Nursery's Silver Medal Award |
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A part of the show hall |
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The Silver Medal Award Trough Display by Susan Band For a more detailed summary of all the awards and award plants, see the SRGC website. |
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Dinner was early today but no less nourishing. The conversation was of course alpines....we had had our first full day and were still catching our breath......and waiting in the wings was a trip to the Royal Botanical Gardens in Edinburgh......arguably the world's finest. FRIDAY EVENING Six double-decker buses were waiting outside to transport us to the famous gardens where we would be lavishly entertained by the staff and management. Alighting from the buses we walked to the main reception area where we were 'piped' in by a piper in his full regalia....sporran and dirk included. Yes I know they are included in the regalia but I thought I'd throw it in for emphasis. We were met on the lawn by Professor Stephen Blackmore the Regius Keeper of the garden who introduced us to his staff who would give us the grand tour........
.............they also provided everyone with a selection of wines and whiskeys, which of course I didn't want to have to drink but felt obliged to be courteous. The party was split
into groups......I was in the Orange group.......have you tried whiskey
and orange??? Highly recommended. OK back to the plot. |
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| I tried to persuade
Brian Walker to stand on one of the Lily pads to have his photograph
taken but was chastised by Jo. Apparently he is too obliging !!!!
We left the glasshouse just in time for the rain to come down..........a mere shower not lasting more than a few minutes but enough to soak yours truly. The gardens were (as was to be
expected) quite outstanding, well cared for and in pristine condition
for the time of year, as the following photographs will testify. |
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| At 9-30 pm we boarded
the bus back to Heriot-Watt after what was the most stimulating and
interesting visit. Yes, it's wonderful to see all those slides of
alpines....but so much better to see the real thing. Our thanks to
Stephen Blackmore and to his staff for their hospitality and courtesy.
It was a memorable outing.
Back at the campus, it was time to be dragged kicking and screaming into the bar again....but what's this??? The bar is closed. Have I been saved???? Not a chance!!! They opened another bar in another part of the building. Now here's one for the breakfast table....they actually threw us out of the bar. Not that we were rowdy or anything like that.......seems they had to close at 11 pm and we were slow to finish our drinks.....so we were ushered next door. Ah well....one early night, at least. |
| SATURDAY MORNING |
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My previous experience with the Warwick Conference in 1991 taught me, that it is impossible, for me at least, to sit through EVERY lecture during the week and so having decided that the morning's programme was of less interest to me than some of the others, I took time out to visit Edinburgh. However, John Good has written a Conference report for Alpine-L and has kindly allowed me to paste his report into mine. Thanks John. His report of the morning session follows: The third morning of the conference was devoted to the exploration of alpines in the wild in Asia and at home in our European gardens. Kenneth Cox, representing the third generation of his family to hunt for plants in China and grow them fin Scotland, gave a stunning lecture with tales of derring-do in high places, following in the footsteps of Kingdon-Ward as described in his book 'The Riddle of the Tsangpo Gorges' . At times the slides reminded one of those taken by Arctic explorers, so severe were the weather conditions on the high passes of S.E. Tibet which must be crossed if the best and rarest alpine rhododendrons, which are the Cox's obsession, are to be found. But Kenneth showed many other mouthwatering plants in addition to his beloved rhodos, including a primula which is truly one to die for, namely P. falcifolia. When the slide of this staggeringly beautiful primula, which enticingly is not in cultivation, came up on the screen, there was a sharp communal in-drawing of breath. The large, fully-rounded, lemon-yellow flowers, 3cm across and borne on stems only 15 cm high were a sight to behold. Next came David Rankin from Edinburgh who gave a very informative and thought-provoking talk on the old chestnut of why ericaceous plants in general and rhododendrons in particular can in general not be grown successfully in limey soils. He presented good evidence to show that in the wild ericaceous plants frequently grow in soils replete with lime and suggested that in many instances at least it is shortage of manganese which prevents their satisfactory growth in high pH soils in which the manganese, if present, is 'locked up'. Lime-induced chlorosis, can in such cases be reversed by application of fertilisers containing 'sequestered' manganese. The last lecture of the morning was a real eye-opener for most of us. Finn Haugli, Director of the Tromso Botanic Garden in N. Norway gave us a splendid talk on the cultivation of Asian alpines in this far northern ((Lat. 70 degrees N) outpost of alpine gardening. It was staggering to see informal drifts of a wide range of Meconopsis species and cultivars growing together as if they were on some Himalayan hillside. Finn told us that M. delavayi, which is barely in cultivation in Britain, and which is one of the gems of a truly aristocratic genus with its short-stemmed purple flowers lit by brilliant yellow anthers, is firmly perennial outside without protection in Tromso. Equally happy were a range of rare and beautiful primulas, such as P. involucrata with yellow-eyed, white flowers on tall but dainty stems over crowded compact leaves. Apparently this primula has a wonderful scent, but how many of us will ever be able to experience it in our gardens?. Clearly, if you have the right climate and soils, and good horticulturists, you can make the alpine meadows of the Himalayas come alive in your garden. |
| Lunch was taken with the usual mixture
of good conversation and good company before heading off to hear Harry
Jans from Holland describe his "21st Century Gardening and Growing
Techniques". Harry's garden is ultra modern in its design.....tufa walls, with elaborate watering systems, abound and his alpine house is state of the art. Possibly not to everyone's liking but there's no doubting his ability and skill when cultivating some of the exquisite plants that many of us could only dream of growing. His exceptionally well grown Dionysias have long been admired by the alpine fraternity and no-one grows Jankaeas to the high standard or indeed the vast quantity that Harry does. In addition to many slides of his own garden, we were shown similar innovative designs in Holland, Germany and the Czech Republic. Although I admire Harry enormously, I can't help wondering about the aesthetics of some of these new-fangled ideas which seem more at home in a theme park than in a garden...but there's no doubting that they work for the plants. |
| Six workshops, of which only one could
be chosen, were available for the delegates and there was some hard
decision making about to take place.
Meconopsis: Identification
and Cultivation Those who know me well enough would
no doubt have expected me to plump for the Trough Workshop but I am
intrigued by Czech gardening and I couldn't possibly have missed the
talk by ZZ and Panayoti....and neither could almost a hundred others. And so ended the afternoon session...for me anyway. There was an informal talk entitled "Sorting Out The Big Perennial Blue Poppies" but for me, the beauty is in the plants and not the taxonomy. It was an opportunity to get some more 'fresh air'. Dinner was, as always a pleasure and the chance to meet even more people and enjoy some stimulating conversation about alpines and any other topic that emerged and also time to reflect on what had passed and what was still yet to come and the anticipation of the evening lecture, not just for me but for the whole assembly, was filling the air. By now there was a distinct buzz about the place. the conference was really warming up. |
| SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER |
| Words are difficult to
find to describe our next speaker. Few if any are as eloquent as
Robert Rolfe. Even fewer are as knowledgeable about alpine plants. It
is surprising therefore that he rarely speaks in public but such is
the respect with which he is held, that the whole conference awaited
his talk with baited breath......it had been the topic of conversation
all day long. Now, sitting quietly (for once) whilst Kit Grey Wilson
introduced him, he was about to take centre stage and the applause,
before he had even uttered a word, brought out the best in him. Flawless is the only way to describe his talk. There may have been prompt cards but I didn't see him refer to them. Neither did I hear him pause for breath whilst describing some beautiful new introductions with the authority of a master speaker. The audience was attentive to the point of adulation as slide after slide was accompanied by a full and interesting dialogue, interspersed with the unique brand of Rolfe humour. Only when he received his 5 minute warning did we realise that that the lecture actually had an ending. It seemed as though it could go on forever. It COULD have gone on forever and we would still be in awe. Not only does he grow his plants to perfection but Robert's love of his subject was there for all to see. The applause was rapturous and well deserved. A fitting end to what had been another excellent day. And so, once more unto the bar. This time, I needed no persuasion. It was a very late session. |
| SUNDAY MORNING |
| Up bright and early
and decided to take a walk around the grounds. It was a pleasant
morning and the rabbits were doing what rabbits do, so not wishing to
disturb them, I strolled around the sunken gardens and admired what
little flowers were left on the rhododendrons before returning to meet
the group in the foyer prior to breakfast. Today was scheduled as
"The World Of Bulbs", the first session commencing with a
talk on "Mediterranean Monocots" by Rannveig Wallis, owner
of "Buried Treasures" a bulb nursery in the heart of Wales
and herself a much awarded grower of bulbs (See the Tritelia
Certificate of Merit plant above). From the dwarf and much varied
narcissi to the saturated colours of Romulea, the bulbs were a sight
to behold and brought back fond memories of my time in the Med. There were many amongst the audience who rated this as one of the best lectures of the week. In order to make an early exit, the talk by Chris Grey-Wilson was brought forward to the morning session. Chris was away later in the day to China (Seems Ron McBeath's talk had been more impressive than first thought*grin*). 'Kit' is the current editor of the AGS Bulletin and a world renowned expert on alpine plants. His talk "A Greek Miscellany" was full of exquisite plants from this wonderland of flora. I myself had been there only 8 months previously to see the crocus and cyclamen in the Peloponese region and it is certainly somewhere I would like to go back to in the Spring. There followed a "Bulb Question Time" chaired by Jack Brownless and delegates questions were comfortably handled by Rannveig, Kit and Ian Young who was to speak later in the day. |
| SUNDAY
AFTERNOON
Lunch was something special today. We were joined by Joy Bishop and others and the conversation became very much an Alpine-L forum. It seemed everyone from the electronic rock garden society had sat at the same table this time. The suggestion that we might all gather for an historic photo shoot was muted and I was elected (or should that be bullied) to approach Ian Bainbridge and request an announcement prior to the afternoon session. More on this later
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| The afternoon session
was kicked off by Jimmy Persson of the Gothenburg Botanical Gardens in
Sweden and showed the garden's "Bulb Collection".
Fritillarias, Corydalis, Crocus and Oxalis were all featured and were,
as was to be expected, of an exceptionally good quality. Jimmy spoke
about their collections with a passion reserved only for those
knowledgeable in this area and he passed his knowledge on freely and
with interest.
A short lecture followed by David King from Sheffield. David is an old friend of the East Lancs Group and we knew him to be very knowledgeable on "Western American Bulbs". He specialises in Calochortus and Fritillarias and he showed us some truly exquisite forms and variations taken in the wild in North America. Others, such as the Erythroniums were mouth-watering examples of this habitat. John Good was heard to proclaim that it was the best lecture he had attended. That is praise indeed. And finally for Sunday afternoon,
Ian Young, President of the SRGC entertained us with a practical
lecture on "The Challenge Of Growing Bulbs". And very good
it was too. I am not especially a 'bulb man' although I do love them
but Ian was so articulate, so very precise in his advice, that I may
soon delve further into bulb growing. His techniques were simple, yet
effective and his delivery was perfect. The audience was hanging on
his every word. So much is happening at these events that it is
sometimes difficult to take everything in. This is a lecture I would
dearly love to see again. |
| SUNDAY EVENING: THE CONFERENCE DINNER |
| The time was almost
upon us for the social event of the decade....The Conference Dinner. Everyone rushed back to their rooms where the preening began in earnest. For once the T-shirts and jeans were discarded and out came the smart wear. It had been a standing joke all week that Cliff and I would attend in full Scottish dress but as we had brought our lounge suits with us, we decided to forego it this time and wear something English. We were thankful that the event wasn't being held in Japan when lo and behold Peter Radcliffe emerged in what can only be described as 'ethnic'. I'm sure there is a name for the masculine form of a kimono but it escapes me for the moment. He had been presented with this by a Japanese friend and was just waiting for an occasion to wear it. Unfortunately I don't have a photograph but it was a sight to behold. So along came 6-30 pm and all 515 delegates, dressed in their best bib and tucker, arrived in the bar for pre dinner drinks. Such sartorial elegance had not been witnessed since the last Royal wedding......and the women looked good too *grin*. The dining room opened around 7 pm and seats were taken quickly and efficiently. The meal was quite splendid, especially the Glayva mousse. And the drinks of course helped to wash it down nicely. Some time ago, I was asked if I would do some graphics for the SAJA website, which of course I was delighted to do and Vincent Codron of SAJA sent a bottle of Taittinger Champagne with Daniela as a way of thanking me. What better place to open it than the Gala dinner |
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Entente Cordiale: AG: Daniela, Cliff and Claude |
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The others on our table include Jim Lever and Mavis Meekings |
| To say the rest of the
evening was enoyable was an understatement. We were joined after
dinner by Frank and Verna, John Good, Diane (who had taken the photos)
and a host of others, making this a very memorable night indeed and
one to be treasured. Who knows how many of us will still be here in
2011????
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| MONDAY MORNING....THE FINAL DAY |
| All good things have
to come to an end they say and sadly we had reached our final day of
the Conference. Clever planning and organisation had saved the best
until last. Today was "Way Down South" day. New Zealand has
always been one of my favourite places for flora and this week I had
the chance to meet up with Joe and Ann Cartman again. Too long since
we saw each other and Ann was quite forceful in her invitation to come
join them down under for a holiday. It's on my list Ann, promise!!! Joe started off the morning with his talk on "The Challenge Of Growing New Zealand Plants" and who better to teach us than Joe himself. Being a Geordie himself, Joe was the first to admit that he was 'carrying coals to Newcastle', the Scots being unequalled in their ability to grow NZ natives and so he compromised his original talk and showed us some wonderful shots of the plants growing in and around Christchurch and of plants that he himself had introduced into cultivation. As always, a special pleasure to watch and listen too.
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| The announcement had
been duly made about the photoshoot and all we needed now was for
someone to remember. It was, after all, the morning after the gala
dinner. Slowly but surely Alpine-Lers began to arrive and Diane had
procured a tripod from Graham. Digital cameras appeared in numbers and
very soon organised chaos prevailed, leaving me with a
number of different shots to composite before coming up with the end
result.....but it was just as much fun as the session itself. My
thanks to Diane, Peter, Frank and Iza for their efforts.
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| BACK TO THE AUDITORIUM |
| Next on the podium was
Joe's fellow countryman, Steve Newall
and for those of you who have never met Steve, he is a real character.
Dressed in his work suit of T-shirt, shorts and flip-flops he
entertained us from start to finish with his unique sense of humour.
But not to take anything away from him.............he knows his
stuff!!! Steve is a professional seed collector and the Southern Alps are his 'office'. Only he could have taken a photograph of a 'vegetable sheep' that bore a remarkable resemblance to his own body shape. Many of the rare plants now in cultivation have been grown from seed collected by him and he has done an immense service to lovers of the NZ flora. Now beware America...Steve's on his way to you direct from Edinburgh !!!!! Alan Furness is acknowledged as one of the finest growers of NZ plants in the UK and he came along to show us plants from his garden in Northumberland. Never have I seen Celmisias look so good, or Myosotis, or Ranunculus. He is a master of his trade and has such a warm personality when he speaks. A fitting end to the morning session. Back in 1991 at Warwick, I first heard Panayoti Kelaidis talking on Phlox and Penstemon. I had waited 10 years to hear him again and the moment was here. Since that time Panayoti has travelled extensively and on his own admission, has fallen in love with the flora of South Africa. His lecture "New Introductions From South Africa" was nothing short of exceptional. Over the past few months, Panayoti has sent in reports to Alpine-L of this magnificent flora and those who have been reading these reports will have been waiting in great anticipation to see what these plants look like. Well I can tell you.....they are all superbly beautiful, from the gladiolii to the moraeas, the proteas to the delospermas, each in their own right of true garden worthiness. Oh that we had such a climate to grow these beauties. Thank you Panayoti for such a marvellous lecture and for sharing your experiences, knowledge and photographs with us all. And so the conference came to a close.
My thanks to all those friends, old and new, who helped to make this a wonderful occasion. You are all very special. To Ian & Carole and the rest of the organisors a big "Thank You" for your hospitality. To the speakers, again thank you for sharing your knowledge with us all. To Diane Clement, Peter Maguire, Frank Pratt and John Good for their help in compiling this report
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Text
and Graphics © The Alpine Garden 2001 |