Reports from the 2nd International Czech Rock Garden Conference and Garden visits

[ChrisB]

Our coach arrived at Jiri Pospisil's garden before the other coach had left, so we had to wait a while... and then the heavens opened.  it rained very heavily.  it was such a shame as I would have liked to take more time to view the garden.  Luckily, he had a wonderful barbecue area with a cover which we took advantage of, enjoying the hospitality of coffee and some even tasted his beer too!  But he did have a very nice rock garden in front of the house alongside a shaded area where he grew a lot of rhododendrons and other shade loving shrubs.  I took very few photos as the rain was quite a problem.  Luckily it eased off for a few minutes before we had to get back on the coach.

[Jozef Lemmens]

Susann, do you mean this field of Pulsatillas? 

[ChrisB]

Aha, I think maybe she does.  Glad someone took photos....

[Frank Cooper]

Are you referring to one of these pulsatillas?

[Susann]

Susann, do you mean this field of Pulsatillas? 

Yes, Jozef and Chris; you are correct.  I really thought you had managed to miss them,  the way you wrote, Chris.

Chris, I have a lot of nice pictures, but they are all in RAW. I can not convert them into jpeg. I am leaving for Picos de Europa Tuesday. As soon as I am back I will download the Lightroom trial ( which only lasts for 30 days, that is the reason I want to wait until I can really use all the 30 days, not being away). But I fear that at that time, all that is to say and show about the time spent in Czech Republis is published and re-published and..So meanwhile, I do as everybody else, I enjoy all pictures you all so kindly has posted.

[Liz Mills]

I still smile every time I think back to the wonderful 9 days I spent in the Czech Republic.  My very sincere thanks to everyone involved in organising such a great Conference and Tour – but especially to Jiri, ZZ, Vojtech, Peter – and their wives and families – for giving me and so many others so much pleasure.  All the hard work and great planning was appreciated by us all.  I’ll be coming back next time.

One of my happy memories is the way the Czechs use rock in their gardens.  This is what I wanted to see and I was bowled over.  Long before I became interested in plants I have loved the mountains and to see alpines grown in rocky ‘landscapes’ in the gardens was inspiring.  Here in Scotland most of our rock gardens are dominated by the plants with rocks playing a very minor role.  I’ve come back home determined to reverse this in my south facing garden and to restore the balance between rocks and the plants that grow in them.  Some iris and other herbaceous plants have already been lifted and moved into pots from the area that is going to house my first crevice garden.

Here are some more of my memories of the International Conference.
•   Friendship warmth and kindness – and lots of laughter
•   Meeting so many interesting people from all over the world and making so many new friends – I’ll try to keep in touch with you and not be too lazy to write.
•   Wonderful alpine plants to see and buy – my two boxes arrived here last Thursday with no damage at all, thanks to TNT.
•   Sitting in the back seat of the bus with Christine Boulby and Tim Ingram
•   Massage from Fermi
•   Czech beer – every bit as good as I remembered it
•   Marika Singers – a blast from the past for Ann Christie and myself – Elvis and Frank Sinatra were a big part of my teenage years
•   ZZ – what great company you are  – how lucky we were to have you as our garden tour guide – hope you got home safely to your beautiful garden after our horribly wet  tour of Prague on Friday

A big thank you to everybody

[Olga Bondareva]

Great pictures from everyone!
Am I too late with mine?
Some images of Tabor.

[Olga Bondareva]

Oh I forget the last one. A self portrait in the Tabor Botanical Garden. 

[Susann]

Wow, beautiful ones as always, Olga! I wonder what your perspective of Mariannelund would look like?

[ChrisB]

Some fabulous shots Olga.  How did you get the ones from height?  You have such an eye for compositions....

[Tim Ingram]

Really brilliant photos! I shall have to go back to Tabor to find all those places I missed. I never knew a dustbin could look so 'right'! I can't resist putting in a picture of two ladies who love pulsatillas...

[Susan]

Here are some more of my memories of the International Conference.
•   Friendship warmth and kindness – and lots of laughter
•   Meeting so many interesting people from all over the world and making so many new friends – I’ll try to keep in touch with you and not be too lazy to write.
•   Wonderful alpine plants to see and buy – my two boxes arrived here last Thursday with no damage at all, thanks to TNT.
•   Sitting in the back seat of the bus with Christine Boulby and Tim Ingram
•   Massage from Fermi
•   Czech beer – every bit as good as I remembered it
•   Marika Singers – a blast from the past for Ann Christie and myself – Elvis and Frank Sinatra were a big part of my teenage years
•   ZZ – what great company you are  – how lucky we were to have you as our garden tour guide – hope you got home safely to your beautiful garden after our horribly wet  tour of Prague on Friday

A big thank you to everybody

It was so nice, Liz, when those rowdy parties that you and Chris had next door finally stopped though!  I agree with all the rest of Liz's sentiments.  It was wonderful.  Have just managed to get internet again (Ann and I are in Florence) and have been catching up.  Well done to all those who have posted photos, and a great big thanks to the organisers and their families.

It was great to meet so many people that were only names before.

Susan

Susan

[Maggi Young]

Ah, so the pair of you are trawling the shoe shops of Italy now, are you?
 I would think Florence would be a happy hunting ground for you, Susan - though you'll do well to beat the great footwear you've already amassed!  Have fun!!

[Lesley Cox]

Tim no Boxes yet but hopefully will be with us tomorrow. Your plants look in perfect condition but I did see the time and effort that you took to make sure that your plants arrived safely. I wonder how mine will be 
Happy planting.

Had a nice day out with Maggi and Lesley, so pleased that I got to meet Lesley in person. Have a safe journey home Lesley.

Angie 

Angie I hope your boxes have now arrived are are well planted. It was great to meet you too and I enjoyed my time with you both at and after the Conference. Editing - reading back I see the plants HAVE arrived. They will be very happy in the beautiful company you are providing for them.

I just arrived home on Sunday afternoon and I haven't even looked at my pictures yet. I did arrive safely obviously, but only after a serious row with the security police at Frankfurt airport which ended with my getting an apology from them and from the head of security for the whole airport and I shan't talk about it here because it left a very bad taste in my mouth. Maybe I'll email privately in a while when I feel happier about it.

For the moment, enough to say it was a FABULOUS Conference, and I enjoyed every minute; the venue and the beautiful town of Tabor; the talks; the pictures; the magnificent choir and more than anything the wonderful people from all over the rock gardening world but especially those who opened their lovely and most interesting gardens and the small group who organized the event. Everything was done that could possibly be done to entertain us, to help us and to make life as easy and enjoyable as possible for us all. For those who were able to select and buy plants, Jiri especially was a real star with the huge time he spent in arranging packing facilities, phytos, transport arrangements and even persuading the hotels to provide the "dirty" rooms where buyers could clean and pack their plants. This man is a superhero!

By the time I get around to sorting my own pictures, most will have been shown but maybe there will be something in a few days.

[ChrisB]

And just to add to that Lesley, when my plants didn't arrive last Thursday, Jiri was on the phone to the depot in Durham to chivvy them up, and he later called me to confirm that they would be with me on Friday afternoon, which, of course, they were.  He should be Customer Service Manager of the Year for TNT. If only all carrier staff were as good as he....