Third Czech International Rock Garden Conference -May 2017

[angie]

Might it be over-subscribed this time?   

Hope not .

Angie 

[vivienne Condon]

I hope we might be able to make it to this one as we had to move house last time, we had booked and paid but the conference was on the actually moving date so had to cancel.
By all accounts it sounds a wonderful conference in a beautiful area of the world.

[Jiri Papousek]

Hi Viviene, we hope to see you here next year. Fermi can provide references about the last one.

[fermi de Sousa]

Hi Jiri,
We tried to convince Viv to come along last time and leave her 3 sons to handle the house (and garden) move but she would've fretted about where things would've ended up
A few of the others in our club are keen to get along next year so we may have a reasonably sized group of Aussies again. Alas I don't think we can convince Otto to do another overseas trip
cheers
fermi

[Maggi Young]

It seems the organising committee are hard at work on making  conference plans - or is that busy at  lunch ? 

[ranunculus]

If we could only sneak a peek at some of those pages?   

[Maggi Young]

  From Zdenek Zvolanek:

My team friend Petr Diviš from the committee preparing conference in Průhonice, May 2017 asked me to help him to reconstruct his patio garden in Roztoky near Prague. He had precise antique granite curbs. So we started a week ago. It is unusual 5 metres high back tilted wall. The finished result will be seen during the conference. The title Spáry means crevices in Czech .



Tim Ingram:
Zdenek - is this the garden we stopped at and toasted Marika with glasses of vodka ? I remember a beautifully precise crevice garden there. Hope there will be such a delightful musical entertainment again at the 3rd Czech International Rock Garden conference in Prague 10-15th May 2017.


Maggi: 
Yes, Tim- it is that very garden. The Aberdeen folks felt very much at home because of the granite already used there!

[Maggi Young]

KSP /3rd Czech International Rock Garden conference in Prague 10-15th May 2017


"Every week we will introduce one of the speakers. The first speaker we are going to introduce is Panayoti Kelaidis.

Panayoti Kelaidis (USA) "Keeping in Steppe: cushions and rock plants from the semi-arid plateaus of the world, and how to grow them in a garden setting"
Panayoti Kelaidis is a plant explorer, gardener and public garden administrator associated with Denver Botanic Gardens where he is now Senior Curator and Director of Outreach. He has designed plantings for many of the gardens at there. He has taken 7 collecting trips to Southern Africa researching the high mountain flora there, as well as travels to the Andes, the Himalaya (in both Pakistan and China) as well as travels throughout much of Europe, and Turkey and of course dozens of expeditions throughout North America from Alaska to Mexico. Many of his plant introductions are available through Plant Select®, (a plant introduction program that has sold over 100 million plants in America and Europe). He has lectured in over 140 cities in seven countries, and has been featured in dozens of television, newspaper and magazine pieces. He has published widely in popular and technical horticultural journals. He has discovered a half dozen plants that have proved new to science."

[fermi de Sousa]

Fabulous news, Maggi!
Haven't seen him in ages - it will be great to catch up.
Keep posting these updates - I never remember to check the Conference website
cheers
fermi

[Maggi Young]

3rd Czech International Rock Garden conference in Prague 10-15th May 2017

From the Team: 
This week we are going to introduce David Rankin (edit:  SRGC members may already know this fellow!)

David Rankin (Scotland )- 'The modern plant hunter: searching for long-lost primulas'
Several species of primulas, not seen for many decades, even more than a century, have been rediscovered. Finding them is a combination of hard work - at home and in the field - and good fortune.
As more and more information becomes available on-line, the original collection sites of plants can sometimes be identified from the comfort of home. Herbarium specimens are being scanned and made freely available, old diaries and notes enable the routes of the old plant hunters to be worked out, and on-line maps and satellite images reveal possible sites. It helps if you can speak half a dozen languages. But eventually you have to put your boots on and head for the mountains - where the local people may know more than you do.
Seeing live plants, possibly photographing them for the first time, provides insights that are not possible when using only herbarium specimens.

David Rankin is Profesor at School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh. At present he is the president of SRGC. Together with his wife they run successful Kevock Gardens nursery for alpines

[Maggi Young]

3rd Czech International Rock Garden conference in Prague 10-15th May 2017


The conference will take place in Průhonice surrounded by beautiful park. Read more about it http://goo.gl/o1qpuW

[Maggi Young]

An update from ZZ on the granite crevice garden  of Petr....

"Well, my friend Petr Diviš proved to be talented builder and he finished himself the most upper part of granite desks crevice garden. See the steep access G shaped path. Now the rest of the rock work must be finished with irregular pieces of granite stones "

[Tristan_He]

Looking really good Maggi, what fabulous stone. Are they going to do something about the breezeblock wall behind it though?

[Maggi Young]

Oh, I think all sorts of things will happen around it and the wall will be  finished with some render -  ZZ speculates there may even be a jacuzzi - though he MAY be kidding there  ......

"The Wagner opera singer wife of Petr Diviš must give her last word about the size of the patio terrace (Jakussi pot or what?) and it will give the rule for finishing granite layers."

[Maggi Young]

3rd Czech International Rock Garden conference in Prague 10-15th May 2017

Next Speaker.......

Martin Hajman (Norway) – The arctic rock garden in Tromsø. Rock garden construction and excellent conditions for growing of high altitude plants

Subtitle: Building of Rock landscape by large rocks and growing high altitude plants - Tribute to Czech plant hunters.

Martin Hajman – working at dream job - gardener in Tromsø Arctic-Alpine Botanic Garden – part of The Arctic University of Norway… far north above the arctic circle. Before move to Tromsø, having already dream job - Rock gardening professionally at Botanic Institute of Academy of Science in Pruhonice – Head gardener and curator of large historical alpine garden on natural rocks (UNESCO site) and running nursery. While became member of Prague Rock Garden Club than get the best rock gardening education during exhibition installations, lectures,… meeting Icons and look how they do it. Cofounder of The Czech Association of Perennial Growers. In Tromsø - cowork on large Rock Garden constructions with Bjørn Thon – Man who made rock landscape of Tromsø BG.

Plant interests and specialisations are changing according season… since early spring Saxifraga specialist through summer Cremanthodium-Meconopsis crazy collector ends with Gentiana expert while snowing.

Botanical Trips : Smelling flowers of Daphne velenovskyi in Pirin mountains of Bulgaria, experienced sitting on Acantholimon during many trips to Turkey and, searching Peonies in Georgia’s Kaukasus , tenting in field of Galanthus fosteri in Syria’s mountains, also squeeze sand with teeth among black flowers of Iris petrana in Jordan and get almost kicked by ostrich while discovering beauty of Crassula obtusa in South African mountains. Always enjoying mountain-family picnics in fields of Rhododendron lapponicum around Tromsø.