What might be a subject of interest to all International Rock Gardeners? Surely this is one of the most simple questions ever asked ......
.........
it is the
International Rock Garden Plant Conference... coming up in 2011.
These conferences are held every ten years and I know that many of you have attended more of these events than you perhaps care to count!
The long-anticipated
Eighth International Rock Garden Conference-Alpines 2011- Alpine without Frontiers - will be held at Nottingham University, East Midlands Conference Centre from Thursday 14th to Sunday 17th April, 2011 ...a venue for a previous conference but one now modern and spacious, wholly changed from the era of that distant gathering.
See these pages on the AGS website for programme and booking arrangements:
http://www.alpinegardensociety.net/events/Eighth+International+Rock+Garden+Conference+/235/http://www.alpinegardensociety.net/sales/conferences/bookings/2011/Conference Programme
Thursday 14 April 2011
15.00-16.00 Registration
16.00-16.30 Tea
16.30-17.30 Welcome & Opening Lecture-Brian Mathew: provisional title ‘Ever-changing Frontiers: of all sorts!’
19.30 onwards Dinner
David Haselgrove ‘ Southern Hemisphere Treats’
Friday 15 April 2011
09.00-10.00 Harry Jans ‘Plant Hunting on the Roof of the World’
10.00-11.00 John Richards ‘Asiatic Primulas Old and New’
11.00-11.30 Coffee
11.30-12.30 Martin Walsh ‘The High and Low in the Himalaya’
12.50-14.15 Lunch
13.30-15.00 WORKSHOPS
15.00-16.00 Rober Rolfe ‘Location, Location Location: Alpines Near and Far, Narrowly Endemic and Nationalistic'
16.00-16.30 Tea
16.30-17.30 Jim Archibald ‘Beyond the Last Frontiers’
19.30 onwards Dinner
Plant Auction
Saturday 16 April 2011
There will be a one-day National AGS/SRGC Show all day.
09.00-10.00 Keith Wiley ‘An Holistic Approach to Alpines in the Garden’
10.00-11.00 Todd Boland ‘Alpine Plants of Newfoundland through to the Appalachians’
11.00-11.30 Coffee
11.30-12.30 Bob Wallis ‘Fritillaries on Four Continents’
12.50-14.15 Lunch
13.30-15.00 Free Time (to allow opportunity to see Show)
15.00-16.00 John Good ‘Alpines in a changing world’
16.00-16.30 Tea
16.30-17.30 John Watson ‘Three decades in the Andes’
19.30 onwards Dinner
Roy Lancaster ‘My world of Plants’
Sunday 17 April 2011
09.00-10.00 Ian Young ‘Highland Gathering’
10.00-11.00 Michael Kammerlander ‘Juno Iris – the Persica Group and Some Others’
11.00-11.30 Coffee
11.30-12.30 John Grimshaw ‘Giants and Dwarfs: the Alpines of Africa’
12.50-14.15 Lunch
13.30-15.00 Workshops
15.00-16.00 Vojtech Holubec ‘Central Asia: Plants under burning sun and cooling snow’
Tours There will be 3 tours:
Pre Conference in South of England
Post Conference in Scotland - 2 weeks with option of 1 week only. The first week will end at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh on Saturday 23 April which is Easter Weekend.
North Greece, led by John Richards end April/May
Details of dates and approximate costs will be available soon.
There will be 7, possibly 8 Workshops. The aim is to concentrate on horticultural aspects though I noticed that there will also be one on digital photography and another on the use of the Web.
There will also be a limited number of free places for students. Application forms will be available shortly either on the AGS website or from AGS Centre. The deadline for applications will be mid September.
Accommodation is in a student hall some 5 - 10 minutes walk from the Centre. Because this is student accommodation all the rooms are singles with an en-suite and couples will need to request adjoining rooms when they book. All the rooms are a reasonable size with broadband connection (bring your own connecting cable to the phone socket), telephone, tea and coffee making facilities. There is a large common room plus a dining room where breakfast and dinner (except on Saturday evening) will be served.
Residential rates are inclusive of 3 nights accommodation in Single rooms with private bathrooms on the Conference Centre Campus. The costs include morning and afternoon refreshments, plus breakfast on Friday, Saturday & Sunday mornings, lunch on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, together with evening meal on Thursday and Friday - the Saturday evening meal will be the formal Conference Dinner which is also included in the Residential Rate.
Cancellations
For cancellations received before 31 August 2010 all payments made will be refunded with a reduction made for any bank charges incurred.
AGS reserve the right to retain deposit amounts for cancellations made after 31 August 2010.
Additional nights accommodation are available at the Conference Centre before and after the Conference.
Bed & Breakfast - £52
Bed, Breakfast & Dinner - £70
Reservations can be made online for Wednesday night and Sunday night :
see
http://www.alpinegardensociety.net/sales/conferences/bookings/2011/ for online bookings or use the booking form sent with the January 2010 SRGC Journal,
If you are interested in booking additional nights’ accommodation, or if you would like information about alternative hotel accommodation in the area, please contact AGS Centre for details.
The booking slip to print out has not yet been modified to include the shoulder nights but I am sure you can just write them in, until a new form is prepared....
Conf2011BookingFormAGS.pdf (20.04 kB - downloaded 407 times.) is a booking form pdf to print out to use if you wish to book by post...or you know someone who might.....
There is no address on the form telling you where to send it so you'll also need this:
The Alpine Garden Society
AGS Centre,
Avon Bank,
Pershore,
Worcestershire.
WR10 3JP
United Kingdom
This event may seem a long way off..... but these things have a habit of rushing up on us, so it would be wise to write the dates in your diary and make your bookings sooner rather than later.
These gatherings are a wonderful opportunity to spend time in the company of other like-minded gardeners and the programme arranged has a wide range of topics to interest us.
There were 500 members from alpine and rock garden organisations around the world at Edinburgh in 2001.... it is exciting to look forward to meeting up again in Nottingham in 2011...
