News from the
Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society from Stan da Prato:
Caley awards for SRGC stalwartsLast night, 4th March, 2014, in the RBG Edinburgh hall, three rock garden club activists were presented with awards for services to Scottish horticulture by the outgoing Honorary President of the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society Jim McColl and his successor George Anderson. Shortened versions of their citations follow. The full versions will appear in the ‘Caledonian Gardener’.
Jim Jermyn received the Scottish Horticultural Medal. Jim is best known to the general public as Show Manager for Gardening Scotland and Ayr Flower Show. He has had a long association with alpines starting at Ingwersen’s Nursery in Sussex. He also spent time at Munich Botanic Garden’s alpine garden in Schachen and in Italy. In Scotland he worked in Jack Drake’s Inshriach Nursery then owned Edrom Nursery in Berwickshire for 20 years and successfully exhibited across the UK, including Chelsea. His two books on cultivating European and Himalayan alpines have become standard reference works. Jim is a member of the RHS/AGS/SRGC Joint Rock Committee and Vice Chairman of the Meconopsis Group. He supports young horticulturalists as a trustee of the Merlin Trust.
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George Anderson, Jim Jermyn, Jim McColl
Ian Christie received the Dr Patrick Neil Memorial Medal. This is the Caley’s oldest award and given for skill in cultivation Ian was inspired by Ascreavie, the garden of the late Major George and Mrs Betty Sherriff. Ably supported by Ann, Ian developed Christie’s nursery into a leading source of alpine and woodland plants. He is a founder member of the Meconopsis Group. He has a collection of over 300 snowdrops. Ian is a past president of the SRGC and recipient of its top award the Golden Jubilee Salver.
He is on the Joint Rock Committee. He has contributed to many of the alpine displays at Gardening Scotland and supported local garden projects most recently the garden commemorating the five Forfar botanists.
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George Anderson, Ian Christie, Jim McColl
Jim Colledge received a Certificate of Merit. After leaving school in Kelso Jim was a seedsman then garden centre manage for a local firm. He and his wife Margaret subsequently ran a very successful florist’s business. He served as a committee member for the Kelso Horticultural Society for 35 years. His cacti and succulents fill two greenhouses from where they regularly emerge to win awards at specialist shows. He has always lived and gardened in Kelso overlooking the River Tweed. He is a founding member of the Scottish Borders branch of the SRGC. Jim and Margaret run a sales table at branch meetings where they sell plants they have grown from seed or cuttings. These sales have raised many hundreds of pounds for branch funds.
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George Anderson, Jim Colledge, Jim McColl
Many thanks to Caley photographer Clive Davies for these photos.
