Let me introduce myself ...

[mark smyth]

This for existing and new members to add their own intro

I'm Mark Smyth from Antrim (town) Northern Ireland.

My main interests are bulbs. Galanthus and Crocus are my main collections. I also have a good selection of alpines in troughs and a hardy Geranium collection.

[admin]

I am Fred Carrie from Alford in Aberdeenshire.

I used to run an alpine plant nursery but I got better after counselling 

[Greenmanplants]

I am John Humphries from Lanark but exiled in Hampshire.

I intended setting up a nursery when I took early retirement, but the closer I get to the target age the further away it seems.

My main interest is in woodland plants and hardy orchids.

[ichristie]

Hi, to everyone, I am sure you know that I have just been elected president of The Scottish Rock Garden Club and have been entrusted to look after all of you out in the big wide world 'The Scottish Rockers.' I thank every one for all the messages since my election and I will post as often as possible with some thoughts on how we can all enjoy growing and being part of everything  we know as one of the friendliest clubs in the world cheers to you all.  Ian Christie.

[David Nicholson]

Hi, as my signature line says I'm David Nicholson from Devon in the far South West of England (and a proud Yorkshireman by birth). I grow Auriculas,  a fair collection of European Primulas both species and hybrids, Lewisias and am getting into a whole range of general alpines and bulbs. I reckon that joining the SGRC and the Forum are amongst the best gardening thingies I have ever done. Since I joined the Forum I have learned so much from so many from all over the world and long may it continue and flourish.

Thought I would use an "avatar" (is there no end to my learning!) of one of my Auriculas rather than a photo of me, it's much better to look at.

 

[Lesley Cox]

OK, here we go. I've been fiddling about for a whole hour I think and hopefully am coming to grips. Would have liked a pic of Martha Argarich in the Musicians option.

I am Lesley Cox, quite unknown to anyone on this Forum. I live down under and have job as Manager of Otago Farmers' Market in Dunedin. A part time job, I also garden and am currently resurrecting my small nursery which specializes in alpines but has other odds and ends as well.

I love the Forum, seeds, the blue sky and Bach, Beethoven, Brahams and Bartok.

Lesley, do you like this photo of Martha Argerich?... we do try to oblige, you know! (Maggi)

[Anthony Darby]

Hi

I'm Anthony Darby, although friends and colleagues call me Tony. I have a tiny garden and bulb house and specialise in bulbs and hardy orchids. I am also keen on insects, in particular butterflies. My hobbies include choral singing and listening to, among others, Bach, Gibbons, Purcell, Monteverdi, Mozart and Beethoven.  I'm married (to Vivienne) with two children, James (10) and Lucy (7). I teach Biology at secondary level.

[Maggi Young]

Hello, I'm Margaret Young ....many of you know me as "Maggi" and I'll answer to anything that isn't openly abusive. I've been married to Ian Young, aka the Bulb Despot since 1972  (I was a child bride, really I was!)  We have a very crowded garden of about two thirds of an acre (no, I don't know what that is in metric) at the top of a hill overlooking the city and across to the sea (about two miles away)
Gardening with someone as forceful as Ian ( I myself am a quiet, shy and retiring person)  means that I don't get much chance to grow things under glass so most of "my" plants are in the garden. Ian says they make nice habitats and microclimates for his bulbs. I am devoted to Rhododendrons... manage to have hundreds in our small space.. and their relatives the ericaceae luckily these grow very happily with other favourites, such as bulbs, which I couldn't live without. I love most flowers, really, especially the small, wild flowers of the mountains and wild places of the world, which is how I came to the SRGC, of course. If I had more space, and a stronger constitution, I'd like to grow EVERYTHING I see on these pages and in the Shows!

[Thomas Huber]

Great idea, Mark - here is my introduction:

I'm Thomas Huber - called Hubi1 - live in a small village 120 km north of Frankfort in Germany. I'm married with Tanja and have two little Hubis - Chris ( 8 ) and Celine ( 5 ). My main interest are small bulbs, Galanthus, Fritillarias, Iris, Tulips, Colchicums, but on top of my favourites list are Crocus, which need 70% of the space in my garden.
I also love mountainbiking, hiking, playing guitar in my band (mainly English and German pop and rock of the 70s and 80s) and all my friends on the SRGC forum!

[Susan Band]

Hi,
I am Susan Band, new to the forum but not new to the SRGC. I run a bulb (mail order and wholesale) and seed nursery ( growing mainly primulas and mecs for a seed company) on a 55 acre hill which I am gradually colonising. My mum, well known as a tea lady in the SRGC, has a large garden which is packed full of all sorts of plants and is opened for a day in May to all fellow Rockers. See you all there.

[David Shaw]

David Shaw calling!
With my wife Carol, busy lady, we have a medium sized garden in Moray with TWO greenhouses! We have a very ecelectic collection of plants but all loosely connected to the term 'alpine'. We are both active within the SRGC and our local group just because we have so muuuuuch fun

[Martin Baxendale]

Martin Baxendale here. I feel an autobiography coming on! I used to go on SRGC outings with my parents when we lived in Broughty Ferry in the early 1960s and I was about 10, and have been a member on and off since I was 16 (with some long absences!)

I live in Gloucestershire, married to Ivi, an environmental worker from Slovakia, with our two children, Misho (12) and Zuza ( 8 ), and an older daughter, Rosie, from 1st marriage, now at university (God, how time flies!)

I'm a writer and cartoonist. Hobbies gardening and grumbling at small children. I've killed my fair share of alpines through work-enforced neglect over the years, so now concentrate mainly on bulbs, especially galanthus (which I collect and breed) but also crocus, narcissus, erythronium, cyclamen, etc. Oh, and rhododendrons (which takes some doing on a dry limy soil, so mostly in containers). My small town garden used to have a lawn and borders but is now a gloomy and overgrown woodland where small children get lost for days at a time.

Oh, and I'm a handsome devil (see photo).



 

[SueG]

Hi All

If everyone else is doing this may be I should too. (It's a bit like that 'creeping death' at meetings where you all have to go round and say who you are and why you're there!)

I've been gardening since I was very young (not that long ago, honest) and still haven't learnt that space in the garden is not infinite, so I can't buy or grow every plant I want! I have a tiny, but VERY full garden in Northumberland, England in which I grow lots of plants that can cope with the crush and my heavy clay soil. In my even smaller back yard I have lots and lots of pots (hopefully) full of bulbs. I've recently begun growing species gladioli amongst other things from seed and so have dozens of pots in the house too. Luckily the cats and I (mostly) manage to tip toe round things!

When I'm not in the garden I work for Newcastle University where colleagues and I have just raised £150 for charity this morning selling our home made cakes. Guess that qualifies me to be a member of the SRGC then? Plants and cake - not a bad way to go through life



Sue

[Paddy Tobin]

Hi, I'm Paddy and I'm a gardener.

While I admire the intensity which many alpine gardeners bring to their hobby I am not so single minded myself and am as happy in the vegetable patch, cutting the grass, doing a bit of pruning, weeding or any of the other things we do in the garden. I like a bit of everything but, yes, alpines are truly fascinating and visiting this site has always been both a pleasure and an education.

The garden is situated just to the outside of Waterford in the south-east of Ireland. Our winters are generally mild, late spring frosts are the only real threat we have to our plants. I have two unheated glasshouses which are used to overwinter potted plants and grow on seedlings as well as house some of those nice bulbs which visiting this site has led me to purchase and try out.

The Irish Garden Plant Society(IGPS) is an important gardening interest. For those in the U.K., this is very similar to the National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens. I edit the quarterly newsletter for the IGPS, something I enjoy a great deal. I read a lot and write the book reviews in the newsletter and for some other similar newsletters.

The day job is principal teacher in a small rural school - no wonder I need the garden. I joke; the kids, parents and staff are great. Married, three sons, 25,22,13. Age: 53, low-sized, well-rounded at the waist, bald, glasses - so now you know I am not posting to the forum hoping for romance!

No photograph of myself available - I generally take the photographs and so am on the wrong side of the camera. As a substitute, below is a photograph of the garden taken by a friend from the local rescue helicopter.

Looking forward to continued visiting to this site and exchanging views and information with other contributors.

[hadacekf]

Hi,
My name is Franz Hadacek. I live in Vienna the capital town of Austria and I am rock gardening for 45 years. I grow a wide range of different alpine plants. Sometimes without large success! One of my interest are the bulbs,
because I saw many of them at my journeys in the Mediterranean regions. I have no alpine house, I cultivate all plants in frames or my rock garden. Many bulbs grows very good in my meadow, because our summers are dry, hot and sunny.
If you are interested, have a look at my websit
http://www.franz-alpines.org