International Rock Gardener e-magazine

I have tried Adonis vernalis several times but the slugs always eat them all. Who said they were poisonous?

I can't say that Adonis vernalis is one of the plants we have a lot of trouble with from the slugs ..... or perhaps I am so busy worrying about the slug damage to other plants and the predations of the mice that I haven't noticed! I'll have to check tomorrow ..... you've got me worried now!

Another FANTASTIC edition!

IMYoung wrote:

I can't say that Adonis vernalis is one of the plants we have a lot of trouble with from the slugs ..... or perhaps I am so busy worrying about the slug damage to other plants and the predations of the mice that I haven't noticed! I'll have to check tomorrow ..... you've got me worried now!

Sorry, didn't mean to worry you! But I am very sorry I haven't been able to grow this wonderful plant.

Now I have had time to take a look at that as RickR says, fantastic edition , and I agree!

Well, slugs are always a worry, are they not?! Pesky creatures!

Coincidentally, as we had that photo in the IRG ( and thanks to all of you who are so complimentary about the venture) we were able today to enjoy in the SRGC Forum some great photos from Forumists living in Bulbgaria of Adonis vernalis in the  Rusenski Lom Nature Park.... a spectacular sight to see these golden flowers scattered on the hillside..... take a look: http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=5093.msg144817#msg144817      8)

Joining in with the praise for the latest edition... what an exquisite corydalis!

I assume "Bulbgaria" was not a typo... ?  ;)  ;D   It is wonderful to see Adonis in the wild... they have not even breached the ground surface here yet, but I am thankful that slugs have never been a problem in our yard.

Slugs eat my cactus.

Cactus seedlings, that is, before they grow protective coat of thorns.

Just a word to the wise . . .

Issue 4 ,April 2010 of International Rock Gardener is now online at the website of the Scottish Rock Garden Club........
http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=international

As ever, your comments are most welcome here and if you would like to contribute to a future issue of IRG, please email Margaret  Young via info AT srgc.org.uk

I would like to share, from the April issue, this charming photo of Hepatica nobilis Alba, taken by SRGC Member and Forumist, Robin Gemmill, in the wild near her home in Switzerland

What an exquisite plant!  Must go look at the latest installment of IRG now!!
Thanks, Maggi!

Thank you to all those getting in touch to tell us what you enjoy about IRG. Your kind words are an inspiration. Remember, if you have an idea for a feature (and if you would care to actually contribute a feature, so much the better! ;)) then email either your suggestion, or the article and pictures, to Maggi Young at this address ....  [email protected]    8)

Issue 5 of International rock Gardener, for May 2010 is now online at
http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=international

This Aethionema subulatum picture is from Zdenek Zvolanek, it is growing in the "Beauty Slope", the Czech garden of ZZ and Joyce Carruthers.

IMYoung wrote:

Issue 5 of International rock Gardener, for May 2010 is now online at
http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=international

This Aethionema subulatum picture is from Zdenek Zvolanek, it is growing in the "Beauty Slope", the Czech garden of ZZ and Joyce Carruthers.

Please be aware NARGS Forum readers, that downloading the latest Issue 5 of the International Rock Garden requires that your free "Adobe Reader" application be updated.  I had version 7.x, which is fairly up-to-date, but the newsletter requires a newer version (the latest version of Adobe Reader is 9.3).  The installation will require the installation of auxiliary software called Adobe DLM (Adobe DownLoad Manager), be sure to unselect the option to install some "promo" virus protection software... retain your own virus protection software... the installation of the Adode Reader upgrade uninstalls the older version and upgrades to the newest version, then requires a computer reboot to initialize the new Adobe Reader version. All this assumes you have administrative access to your computer to perform these updates.  It would be good if future versions of posted International Rock Garden PDF files were "saved as" a prior PDF version to not instigate required upgrades to the latest software, for general lowest common denominator access to the majority of interested users.

Fortunately I had no problem downloading the issue but it is more problematic reading it! Then I don't speak of the language but all the very tempting plants do me sick to have something like that myself! Which I know I can't achieve - not with all, maybe a couple of them.

Trond, it is good that we are tempting you!

Mark, I'm not sure what has changed with this issue which has been saved to the same "standard" as the previous ones.

I'll take technical advice on the matter to see if something has changed here.  :-\

Okay.... I'm told that this  Adobe version we are saving to has been out for over a year and is the one used for the Bulb Log, also.

The option of saving to previous versions of Adobe would mean either we cut the size of the magazine altogether and/or cut the quality of the photo files to enable a reasonable download size of 3 Mb.  
Since the Adobe reader is free to download and anyone using a work computer is likely to be using the latest versions, we have not found this to be a problem cited by other readers.

Experimenting here, on a pc, we have found that an upgrade is quite straightforward and did not require a reboot.... so perhaps there is some variation in these things?

The other problem with making something backward compatible is, how far do you go? We are trying to make the best use we can of the facilities available free to access.
We are also mindful of download limits for folks, too.
Do let us know of others are having problems and we will see if we can help.

IMYoung wrote:

Okay.... I'm told that this  Adobe version we are saving to has been out for over a year and is the one used for the Bulb Log, also.

The previous International Rock Gardener PDFs were PDF Version 1.6 (Acrobat 7.x).  The current Issue #5 May 2010 is PDF Version 1.7 (Acrobat 8.x).  When going to a newer release of software, requiring readers to also upgrade their software, possibly hardware too (see below), it is advisable to mention the newer version requirement on the downloads page.

IMYoung wrote:

Since the Adobe reader is free to download and anyone using a work computer is likely to be using the latest versions, we have not found this to be a problem cited by other readers.

It is not necessarily straight forward when the upgrade requires...1) an ancillary or adjunct piece of software be installed which is new and unfamiliar to the user (Adobe DLM)... one wonders if it is legimate... 2) one must be diligent about NOT INSTALLING the promo virus-protection software that is bundled or "piggybacked" ontop of the "free" Adobe ancillary software (which could mess with one's current legitimate virus protection software), and on my system where I was using Adobe Reader 8, installing version 9 required a reboot, as it did on my wife's computer. 

My wife, when confronted with the same Adobe Reader upgrade requirement, under different circumstances, was befuddled and alarmed about the extra software being downloaded and installed (Adobe DLM) and the prompt to install so-called free virus protection software (it defaults to being installed), an immediate concern because of one of the most malicious and predominant viruses out there one that pretends to be legitimate virus-protection software, when it itself IS THE VIRUS.... so her hesitancy and confusion as how to proceed were justified.  This last point, the phony but incredibly real-looking bogus Anti-Virus "virus" can trick almost anyone, (see: http://www.sophos.com/security/threat-spotlight/020510-threat-spotlight....), it appears to be a Microsoft Security Update running a virus scan on your computer, displaying phony alerts about a bunch of viruses it is finding... the phony AV software (virus) comes in many guises... at my previous company we had dozens of laptops users fooled by this with their computers trashed and requiring a redo, and my wife's computer caught the virus (I was able to remove the virus), my daughter's computer got it twice (was able to remove it the first time, the last time around requiring that the whole operating system Windows XP be reinstalled).  So, an upgrade to Adobe Reader, that wants to install anti-virus software, should raise a red flag, many users will not know what to do with this situation.

The point of my message, was to alert readers of the IRG May 2010 issue, is to be very aware of what the upgrade steps/concerns might be.

IMYoung wrote:

The other problem with making something backward compatible is, how far do you go? We are trying to make the best use we can of the facilities available free to access.
We are also mindful of download limits for folks, too.
Do let us know of others are having problems and we will see if we can help.

In businesses, we always set PDF creation utilities and software, to create the PDF as PDF Version 1.5 (Acrobat 6.x), as that version is the most universally used (it takes a while for all users in the world to catch up), to avoid a preponderance of call-backs saying they can't read our documents.  One also needs to be mindful, that not everyone has high-speed internet access, so for someone in rural areas like Jane McGary, still using dial-up telephone access, to download and install a 38 Megabyte update, and the adjunct software, is not quick and easy task.  The newer version of Adobe Reader states a System Requirement of "•Intel® 1.3 GHz processor or equivalent"... on two other computers used by my family members, both or only 1.0 GHz processors... yes we probably need to upgrade our computers too.... but I'm not "going there" at the moment.

I bow to your greater technical knowledge, Mark and I quite agree that one should always be wary of any "sneaky" add-ons.
I  can only say that I have made all the IRG pdfs and have changed nothing from issue to issue. If there is a difference it was not of my deliberate action ..... I am no expert in such matters, I freely admit!
Naturally, if there were any deliberate change then it would be both politic and polite to make an announcement to that effect though a little tricky to do so when I was  unaware of any such need.

 

Interestingly, I have just taken the following info from the five IRG issues:
January shows as PDF version  1.7
February shows as PDF version 1.6
and March , April and May are again PDF version 1.7

If anyone has been having trouble viewing the IRG, please contact me at [email protected] and I will willingly send you a version saved to the earlier specification, as Mark recommends.

I am aware that not everyone is able to have a broadband or even a reliable service for their internet connection: I live in the city that is the oil capital of Europe and my broadband connection falls off all the time but I soldier on.... it still beats the carrier pigeon and the slate!  ;)

Issue 6 June 2010 of International Rock Gardener is now online at the SRGC website
http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=international .....for the listing
and here for the June issue.....

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2010Jun251277455250IRGJUNE.pdf

[size=12pt]This issue is the beginning of a concerted celebration of the various rock garden organisations around the world and, of course, that brings us to the subject of the International Conference to be held in Nottingham, England in April 2011, so there are the first two  introductions to the Speakers for that Alpine Extravaganza..... including, I'm delighted to say, NARGS own Todd Boland !  :)

More about the other Conference Speakers in upcoming issues.

[size=12pt]The deadline to take advantage of the great discount for early booking for this event, which only takes place every ten years in the UK, is the end of Agust 2010, so make a note in your diaries to be sure of securing your place in good time!
The event is being organised by the Alpine Garden Society and will be held at the East Midlands Conference Centre at the University of Nottingham....
see here for a flavour of the venue: http://www.nottinghamconferences.co.uk/emcc/

and here for the programme : http://www.alpinegardensociety.net/events/Eighth+International+Rock+Gard...

and, most importantly   :D here for  booking your place:

http://www.alpinegardensociety.net/sales/conferences/bookings/2011/

8)

What a lovely article Maggie!  You did your homework finding the various internet groups where I have posted pics!  I hope I can live up to the expectations!  Really looking forward to the International meeting and as luck should have it, I will leave the day after the meetings conclude for a 1 week botanizing trip to Crete.  Looking forward to that too!

Issue 7 of International Rock Gardener, for July 2010 is now online at the
SRGC website.

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=international

In this issue there are more introductions to Speakers arranged for the
Alpines 2011 Conference, organised by the Alpine Garden Society, to be held
in Nottingham, in the UK, in April 2011.

The issue also features more floral emblems of alpine plant organisations
around the world.....if  your local club emblem hasn't  been featured yet, why not drop a
line to me to tell me about it?

M.

Issue 8 of International Rock Gardener, for August 2010 is now online

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=international

Congratulations on Issue #8 of The International Rock Gardener.  I'm always waiting eagerly for the next issue and the quality of photography and content continues to inspire.  I've read and reread these many times and think they could easily become a book.

IMYoung wrote:

Issue 8 of International Rock Gardener, for August 2010 is now online

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=international

An excellent issue!  And finally, we see Lori Skulski the person and NARGS Moderator, not as a distant blip in some far away avatar ;).  Thanks Lori for all of your fantastic botanical travelogues so far, these are worth their weight in gold, not only on NARGS, but on SRGC too.

I echo the praise for IRG!  Great work, Maggi, on another fascinating and engaging issue!   I thank you very much, also, Maggi, for the very nice introduction.

McDonough wrote:

And finally, we see Lori Skulski the person and NARGS Moderator, not as a distant blip in some far away avatar ;).  Thanks Lori...

Dang, my cover is blown!  ;D ;D  You're welcome - it's my pleasure to share those experiences!  I hope others enjoy seeing them, as well, and are encouraged to add their own accounts, or to participate in whatever way they wish in this forum.

Congrats Lori!  Lovely shot!  You are now famous!  ;D

The 8th issue gives me the same dilemma as the others have done: Where in my garden can I try to put more stones and plants? (By the way - if you ever get the chance visit the Lake Van area and take a bath in the soda water. )

Nice to meet you "in person", Lori! Who could think that spent flowers could be that impressing!

Thanks, Todd and Trond.  Yes, that's the constant dilemma... where to put more rock gardens?  We are long since out of lawn area, but do have big planted areas that no longer hold much interest and are starting to seem expendable.  My problem is to come up with an actual plan!
I wonder if Lake Van is compositionally similar to the alkaline sloughs (lakes) across the prairies where I grew up?  The salts in the water provide great buoyancy, and dry white on the skin.  (This year, with the ridiculous amount of rain out there, they will all be terribly diluted though!)  I must look into that further.

Skulski wrote:

Dang, my cover is blown!

Yes, it's blown and you deserve it!
Congratulations to both you and Maggi for another wonderful edition of IRG!

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=international

The SRGC e-magazine 'International Rock Gardener'  No.9  for  September 2010  is online now.  This issue contains more tributes to the late Jim Archibald and and his work and includes photos of the plants being grown worldwide from Archibald seed, sent in by growers who really appreciated the  chance to grow these plants.

This photograph of Iris iberica ssp. lycotis grown from seeds he received from Jim and Jenny a few years ago is by Hans Achilles.
This Iris,  as with all  Hans'  bulbous plants, grows outside in the garden without any protection (either in winter or summer), despite of an annual rainfall of about 800 mm.

The seed of this delightful oncocyclus Iris from Iran, was collected by a Scotsman,  grown by a German living on Mallorca and is shared with gardeners from every country with an internet connection, all via the IRG ..... says it all really, doesn't it?

Congratulations to the IRG Team on the latest superb installment of the International Rock Gardener (#9, September 2010).  It is a poignant tribute to Jim Archibald, and great plant hunters as a whole, masterfully presented by John Watson... a must read.  Coupled with a partial pre-publication peak at Janis Ruksans' new Crocus monograph, and publication of a a new Crocus commemorating Jim Archibald, Crocus speciosus subsp. archibaldii Rukšāns (subsp. nov.), the story is all the more poignant. 

Very sorry to hear the tragic news about Joyce Carruthers.

Issue 10 of International Rock Gardener is now online:
http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=international

This issue is dedicated to the late Joyce Carruthers, who guides us to some of North America's great alpine plants in this issue (and also in the issue for November).... we are really pushing the North American boat out...... we think you folks deserve to have your plants given as wide and audience as possible....we hope we will enthuse everybody to try growing your great native flowers 8) ;)

Joyce was a tremendous advocate for these plants and grew as many as she could in her Victoria B.C. garden and in the Beauty Slope of Karlick .......some of them are very challenging in cultivation.... but that is half the attraction for some folks!

Eriogonum shockleyi, near Garrison, Millard County, Utah 

Hello from snowy Aberdeen in Scotland - the November issue of IRG is now online
http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=international

IRG 11  shows us more beautiful plants from the mountain areas of north America.
Take another tour with IRG and enjoy the photos of sunny days in the Wild West.

We also have some suggestions from Michal Hoppel about how he grows some of these "American Beauties" in his garden in Poland.

from
Margaret and the IRG Team

IMYoung wrote:

Hello from snowy Aberdeen in Scotland - the November issue of IRG is now online
http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=international

IRG 11  shows us more beautiful plants from the mountain areas of north America.
Take another tour with IRG and enjoy the photos of sunny days in the Wild West.

[attach=1]

We also have some suggestions from Michal Hoppel about how he grows some of these "American Beauties" in his garden in Poland.

from
Margaret and the IRG Team

  An absolutely wonderful issue of IRG.  Every month has been beautifully done and the illustrations are marvelous.  I can't wait for the December issue.  Congratulations to everyone involved.

IMYoung wrote:

Hello from snowy Aberdeen in Scotland - the November issue of IRG is now online
http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=international

IRG 11  shows us more beautiful plants from the mountain areas of north America.
Take another tour with IRG and enjoy the photos of sunny days in the Wild West.
We also have some suggestions from Michal Hoppel about how he grows some of these "American Beauties" in his garden in Poland.

from
Margaret and the IRG Team

I have thought of it for a long time -and today I signed in as a member!

Anne:  Thank you for your kind words which are much appreciated by our little IRG Team.

Trond: This is excellent news, I am sure you will enjoy your membership. The SRGC has many Scandnavian members and there is a very active group of these folks in the SRGC Forum, too.

Best wishes,
Maggi Young

Greetings, NARGS Friends..... I have just loaded the December IRG, No. 12, to the SRGC Website.... it is a week early but I thought some of you might like a break from holiday festivities to have a pleasant trip with IRG. :D

See it here:
http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2010Dec241293215996IRG_12_December.pdf

Glassford Sprunt has kindly prepared an Index of this first year of IRG, which is included in this issue.

As usual there are a variety of plants , places and people , which we hope will interest you.

This photo is of the volcano  Erciyes Dag by   Štěpánka and Cedrik Haškovec.....

Many, many, many thanks for the early Christmas present, the early printing of the wonderful new International Rock Gardener.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours.

My apologies for failing to remind you here of the January Edition of IRG. A plaintiff email today brought my shortcomings to the fore.
It will not be long before the February IRG is  ready!

We begin 2011 with a focus on some classic plants of the European Alps. These flowers have been admired for years and their charm is undiminished for the modern rock gardener, even if they still present challenges in cultivation in the 21st Century. We also have more thoughts on Crevice gardening -this type of rock garden is in vogue at the moment and so this style is something we will follow from various gardeners in the months to come. While the plants seem to enjoy life very much in these crevice constructions it must be said that some people do not find the crevice gardens to be aesthetically pleasing. If you have a different type of rock garden that your plants are finding a happy home from home why not submit an article on your experiences to the IRG? Is it possible to be a successful rock gardener with no rock?
To get in touch please email - Editor AT internationalrockgardener.org  (replacing the AT with @)

January 2011 Issue 13 IRG:
http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2011Jan271296161952IRG13.pdf

A ridge in the Dolomites - photo Michal Hoppel

Our grateful appreciation to all who have been in contact to give your support to the IRG Team and your comments on the articles and photographs.
It is so nice to hear from you !

The February issue, #14. of International Rock Gardenr is online ....
http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2011Feb241298591020IRG14_Feb_2011.pdf

A mix of contributors and plants from around the world- perhaps to whet your appetite for some travel or give you a push to make a start on a garden project?

Close up of Eranthis pinnatifida, picture Ian Young 

IMYoung wrote:

The February issue, #14. of International Rock Gardenr is online ....
http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2011Feb241298591020IRG14_Feb_2011.pdf

A mix of contributors and plants from around the world- perhaps to whet your appetite for some travel or give you a push to make a start on a garden project?

Close up of Eranthis pinnatifida, picture Ian Young 

The article by Harvey Wrightman on clay filled crevices was especially interesting--I will be thinking about this!

Yes, and that skillfully built crevice trough must weigh a ton!!!

Thanks for another great edition!

RickR wrote:

Yes, and that skillfully built crevice trough must weigh a ton!!!

Thanks for another great edition!

Thanks Cohan and Rick.

Yes, Harvey's article is a pointer to placing a heavy trough BEFORE you make it any heavier with rocks and soil, isn't it ?  :D

I haven't commented but let me assure you these IRG are second to none!  The article are so interesting, informative and well done with stunning photography to boot!

Your kind words are much appreciated by the Team, Todd.

We were just thinking how it would be good to have an article from Newfoundland......she said, hinting shamelessly...... ;D

Thank-you so much for every issue...they are full of inspiring articles and I too am enjoying the one on trough building. I plan to create a small crevice garden around a large boulder. I've got a few pieces of tufa and ready access to lots of stone slabs perfect for creating crevices! Can't wait for spring to get here!

I'm way ahead of you...have plans to do an article on the serpentine alpines of Newfoundland  ;)

Todd wrote:

I'm way ahead of you...have plans to do an article on the serpentine alpines of Newfoundland  ;)

Excellent Todd ... we await it with great anticipation!

Typing this on my laptop in a Best Western Hotel, near Malpenza airport, Milan after our flight to Manchester this afternoon was cancelled and we have been advised by our carrier that we MAY be on a flight tomorrow morning or we may not?  We have had the most amazing vacation by and around beautiful Lake Como (seeing incredible primulas, hepaticas, hellebores in white, pink and yellow, crocus, tussilago and ajugas among others), the weather has been beautiful and our trips into Switzerland, up to Snow Eagle in northern Italy and the stunning mountain areas near Sondrio have enhanced an already incredible holiday. Hopefully we will get home tomorrow ... touch wood!

Todd wrote:

I'm way ahead of you...have plans to do an article on the serpentine alpines of Newfoundland  ;)

Hurray!  8) 8)

Amy....Thank you!  This is just the effect we hope these articles will have, to encourage  folks to have a go themselves at these constructions..... great fun and a good home for the alpines. 

Great images Cliff...as per usual!

Booker wrote:

Typing this on my laptop in a Best Western Hotel, near Malpenza airport, Milan after our flight to Manchester this afternoon was cancelled and we have been advised by our carrier that we MAY be on a flight tomorrow morning or we may not?  

I've already painted the banner "Bring the Bookeroo Home" I'll be outside 10 Downing Street in the morning ;D

Booker wrote:

Todd wrote:

I'm way ahead of you...have plans to do an article on the serpentine alpines of Newfoundland  ;)

Excellent Todd ... we await it with great anticipation!

Typing this on my laptop in a Best Western Hotel, near Malpenza airport, Milan after our flight to Manchester this afternoon was cancelled and we have been advised by our carrier that we MAY be on a flight tomorrow morning or we may not?  We have had the most amazing vacation by and around beautiful Lake Como (seeing incredible primulas, hepaticas, hellebores in white, pink and yellow, crocus, tussilago and ajugas among others), the weather has been beautiful and our trips into Switzerland, up to Snow Eagle in northern Italy and the stunning mountain areas near Sondrio have enhanced an already incredible holiday. Hopefully we will get home tomorrow ... touch wood!

Good luck with the travel! Lovely images of spring :)

Many thanks for your support David ... British diplomacy worked, we arrived home at lunchtime on Saturday.  Now we have to fight for some meagre compensation ... wish us luck, we will need it!   ;D ;D

Thanks once again Cohan.

The March issue of International Rock Gardener - IRG15 - is now online.

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2011Mar251301088655IRG15_March_2011.pdf

Featuring -
Joan and Liam McCaughey's selection from the Tien Shan; 'Silk Road Blues'
Kata and Ferenc Zoltan's photo essay of  striking natural plant combinations: 'Alpine Groupings and Rock Gardens in Nature'
Vlastimil Braun on Daphne malyana
and introducing an article from Paige Woodward  on an Iris "re-found" in Afghanistan

Picture: Ranunculus glacialis photo by Zoltan Ferenc.

[attach=1]

Todd wrote:

I'm way ahead of you...have plans to do an article on the serpentine alpines of Newfoundland  ;)

And in issue 16 of IRG we have that very article!

IRG16 for April 2011 is now online.....
http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2011Apr281304030775IRG16_April2011.pdf

The cover photo is  Tulipa orthopoda by Vladimir Kolbintsev, formerly a research scientist at the Aksu-Dzhabagly nature reserve and regarded Kazakhstan‘s leading naturalist.

Also included are articles by Dieter Zschummel ,Todd Boland, Cedrik Haškovec and Štěpánka Haškovcová.

[attach=1]

Moltkia coerulea in the Ala Dag

What a wonderful resource the IRG is - I've only discovered it through this website as I am ashamed to say I don't belong to the Scottish Rock (I have thought of joining for many years but always felt the South-East of England and Scotland were poles apart climate wise - although I regularly got seed from Jack Drake's nursery years ago). However, like you say elsewhere, Ian, the ethos of the SRGC lies much closer to my vision of gardening, and it seems a great surprise that the AGS remains rather resistant to any change. Having only recently realised how effective the web can be for discussion I am becoming a total convert. My only worry is that I may not get out in the garden as much as I would like!

Thank you, Tim.... we do hope to get that reaction for the IRG!

The SRGC has an international membership and a truly active international membership at that.... the Forum of the SRGC Website, which we are delighted to say formed part of the model for this NARGS Forum, is a meeting place for our thousands of members around the world and is a vibrant resource that is open to all, whether "official" SRGC members or not.... how else could we properly fulfil our charitable remit to spread knowledge and encourage interest in the mountain plants that so fascinate us?
You would soon find that there are a great many others involved in the SRGC with similar growing conditions to yourself.... not least fellow English folk! :D

Maggi Young

I'm very pleased with the layout of my serpentine article...looks great! (or course the entire IRG looks great!)

Todd wrote:

I'm very pleased with the layout of my serpentine article...looks great! (or course the entire IRG looks great!)

Thanks, Todd.

We've added a 'paypal donate button' so that folks who appreciate the work the SRGC volunteers are doing with the website projects can show their appreciation in a tangible fashion, should they so wish!  Such donations will help to pay for the increased bandwidth needed for all the IRG and Bulb Log readers  8)

IRG 17 for May 2011 is now online:
http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2011May261306444476IRGMay2011.pdf

We celebrate the centenary of the rock garden at Wisley, with Paul Cumbleton and introduce a new section in the IRG Forum area, devoted to the Garden History  : http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=7231.0      Dr John Page is well known for his interest in this subject and welcomes any contributions to the Forum pages on the history of gardens , particularly rock gardens, around the world.

This month's IRG cover picture is  Campanula morettiana, photographed by Gita Piatková of the Czech Republic.

Oops! I quite forgot to let you Folks know that the June IRG is online......many thanks to the NARGS member who reminded me :-[

IRG  June 2011 is here - http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2011Jun271309163193IRG18-June2011.pdf

As a seeming antidote to all those summer holiday venues, there's a trip to the Awakino Ski Field in New Zealand  :o  Don't panic, this is the southern hemisphere we're talking about, so Steve Newall's pictures are of some of NZ's finest alpine plants... but no snow!!

This map shows the location.....

Yet another fascinating issue, Maggi.  You just keep topping yourself.  I'll be on the lookout for the Leptinella pictured.  There is something absolutely irresistible about plants with exserted stamens (Phacelia sericea, Valeriana supina etc.)

Thanks Anne.

Quote:

There is something absolutely irresistible about plants with exserted stamens

Yes, isn't there? Funny how these things catch our attentioin and admiration.

In the next issue there are echoes of the latest NARGS bulletin, with reports from the Picos de Europa from the Czech pairing of Cedrik and Štěpánka  Haškovec .... I think there will be much to please readers  ;)

Apologies to those of you trying to acces the SRGC website and Forum today, 26th July 2011 and contacting me to ask what is wrong. 
Our server is experiencing some sort of technical disruption and the sites are temporarily inaccessible.
Sorry for any inconvenience... at least we have the NARGS Forum to enjoy !
Will  make another post to let you know when "normal service" is resumed :)

Maggi

IMYoung wrote:

Apologies to those of you trying to acces the SRGC website and Forum today, 26th July 2011 and contacting me to ask what is wrong. 
Our server is experiencing some sort of technical disruption and the sites are temporarily inaccessible.
Sorry for any inconvenience... at least we have the NARGS Forum to enjoy !
Will  make another post to let you know when "normal service" is resumed :)

Maggi

Thanks for letting us know Maggi,

I was wondering what's up with the connection, assuming the SRGC server was down for some reason.  Hope that service is restored soon, imagine the withdrawal SRGC Forumists will be going through :'(

Getting my "fix" happily here in the meantime, Mark.... so many threads to catch up on 8)

After brief spell back in operation the SRGC Server has failed again.... sorry Folks!

Okay, after some stops and starts I think the SRGC site and Forum is back in operation.
Sorry for the disruption Folks, wish we could control such things.

Time for a new IRG edition: http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2011Jul281311872373IRG19.pdf

This month's IRG has contributions from Jules Fouarge, Cedrik and Štěpánka Haškovec, Zdeněk Zvolánek and  J. Ian Young.

There is talk of Campanulas, Gentians and  Hypericums, from Turkey and the Himalayas,  as well as visits to the Picos de Europa and the Cascades.

If the IRG is showing you plants that you would love to grow, remember the wonderful Seed Exchanges of all the main plant organisations  such as NARGS, SRGC and AGS that can give you access to such seed and also support them with donations of seed from your own garden.

These photos of orchids from the Picos de Europa are from the Haškovecs.
Ophrys apifera
Orchis provincialis

There is more about the IRG here: http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?board=34.0  :)

August 2011 issue of IRG is now online .....we return to the subject of Campanula morettiana, and hear more from Cedric and Štěpánka Haškovec  .....

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=international - for main IRG menu

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2011Aug251314305515IRG20August_2011.pdf - for August Issue

http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=7778.0  for further item and photos

Maggi, I've tried downloading the August PDF both from the link here on NARGS, and from the main IRG page, and it starts downloading then gives a message that it cannot download the file because it is damaged. Does anyone else get the same results I'm getting? Maybe the PDF needs to be reposted?

Update:  I'm getting the same error message on any IRG issue I try to download and view.

McDonough wrote:

Maggi, I've tried downloading the August PDF both from the link here on NARGS, and from the main IRG page, and it starts downloading then gives a message that it cannot download the file because it is damaged. Does anyone else get the same results I'm getting? Maybe the PDF needs to be reposted?

Update:  I'm getting the same error message on any IRG issue I try to download and view.

No, Mark. I download all of them with no trouble at all. Each download in about to seconds.

The same thing happened me,I downloaded Adobe reader update ( reader update 10) and it worked perfect then.

I had Acrobat Reader 9.4.5, and actually received an automatic update yesterday, so believed my Reader was fairly up to date.  Just upgraded to version 10.1, now the IRC PDFs download and view okay.

Sorry to hear you have had this difficulty, Mark and Michael.  The IRG pdf is saved to be backward compatible to Adobe Acrobat reader 7 so I am at a loss to know what was wrong.  :-X

September 2011 Issue of International Rock Gardener is now online.

Here are some extra pictures from Cliff  Booker to add to his article..... there are yet others relating to this issue in the SRGC Forum: http://www.srgc.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=7893.0

Extra images from Cliff:

"These images were all taken in the Picos de Europa and feature as follows:-

IMAGE ONE :  The Bookers' travelling companions, John and Clare Dower, on a viewing platform above La Hermida gorge and John taking his life in his hands on this usually very busy road to capture a cliff-dwelling campanula.

IMAGE TWO :  Picos views and bottled temptations.

IMAGE THREE :  Serapias and Anacamptis blooms.

IMAGE FOUR :  Picos scenes and poppies.

IMAGE FIVE :  Orchis ustulata and Picos flowers.

IMAGE SIX :  Potes to Fuente De.

I just previewed the September IRG, and can't wait to start reading!

Wow!

October IRG is online...... http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2011Oct271319742037IRG22October_2011.pdf
we hope there is something there to interest you....... :)

You will find a link to a pdf  full index of the IRG including this latest issue here: http://www.srgc.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=4850.msg217837#msg217837

RE: article on Colchicum in the 'International Rock Gardener'

In IRG 22 I expressed doubt that colchicum were truly to be found "wild" in the UK and  was pleased to hear from John Grimshaw, who wrote  that he " thought you'd be interested to know that C. autumnale is wild here at Colesbourne & around - there's a patch on the main roadside a couple of miles away, but always associated with ancient woodland. It's curiously inconspicuous in flower though".

John's note came with an accompanying photograph which he is happy for me to share here.
  I replied that I was much surprised by this and  "I'm sceptical  enough to think that they are naturalised, if ancient, escapees but it's an interesting record."

John replied again...
"Dear Maggi,

Your scepticism is unfounded: Colchicum autumnale is a genuine native with, at least formerly, a wide distribution especially in western England. The 1948 Flora of Gloucestershire says: 'Common over most of the county, especially on the Cotswolds.' Unfortunately, it has lost a lot of sites to agricultural improvement & thus from being essentially a meadow plant it is now found mostly in woodland. An old man in the village once told me he could remember meadows having their soil scraped off completely to eradicate Colchicum, it being potentially poisonous to cattle."

I remain doubtful as to how such a bulb might have truly survived ancient ice-ages to be considered "native" in so far as "the purists" regard the term.... but in the light of recent findings of Rhododendron ponticum pollen and remains  in the UK from extremely distant times, which would suggest that this much maligned "invasive" plant is in fact a true native, then perhaps I am just too suspicious for my own good!

Many thanks to John for this insight and for the use of his photo of these elegant flowers.

The November Issue of IRG is online now  http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2011Nov241322170676IRG_23_-_November2...

We return to the ever popular subject of Turkey and her plants .... this country is, of course, species rich and the appetite to learn more of the plants who inhabit that large and diverse region seems undimmed.

For the bulb lovers, J. Ian Young encourages an interest in the dwarf narcissus of the "hoop petticoat" type, so invaluable for flowering through the northern hemisphere winter as well as into spring. 

Putoria calabrica in cultivation.... photo by ZZ (Zdeněk Zvolánek) 

Another superb issue, all of the Turkish plants shown are mouth watering gems, I like Aethionema subulatum the best, what a stunning cretaure it is. :)

Thanks, Mark. The diversity of the Turkish flora will never lose it's attractions, I think.

Yes, that Aethiomema is a cutie.... I see the Ontario NARGS chapter has a note about it's germination..... to sow the seed at  4 degrees .....  http://www.onrockgarden.com/germination-guide/aethionema-subulatum-subulata

IMYoung wrote:

Thanks, Mark. The diversity of the Turkish flora will never lose it's attractions, I think.

Yes, that Aethiomema is a cutie.... I see the Ontario NARGS chapter has a note about it's germination..... to sow the seed at  4 degrees .....  http://www.onrockgarden.com/germination-guide/aethionema-subulatum-subulata

Such a specific temperature sowing requirement, no wonder it's rare in cultivation ;D  Good to know it's being grown, must keep an eye out for seed.

Vladislav Piatek sells seed.. and perhaps some of the other Czechs....
Not sure if Wrightman Alpines stocks the plant...... :-\

Can't wait to delve into this issue!

In case others are wondering, the oh-so-specific temperature for starting the seed comes, I'd be willing to bet, from Dr. Deno's publications of his germination work... In his very regulated studies, a "cold" period for seed conditioning was standardized at 40 deg F... hence the 4 deg C quoted on the ORGS website.  (A "warm" period was standardized at 70 deg F or 20 deg C.)  In order to hold to scientific method and get real comparative data on germination rates, he had to do this, but the home gardener need not be so exacting.  ;)

My understanding of this 4C temperature is that typical stratification requirements are for a period of cold but not freezing temperatures? Not counting those that need freeze/thaw to break tough seed coats or inhibitors...

Stunning issues as always-- I was behind by a few and had a pleasant evening a few weeks back catching up :)

Certainly the strangely fluctuating temperatures we are having  here  in the UK at the moment must be confusing the living daylights out of the seeds... plenty plants seem mixed up and as for the gardeners... well!  :P

Good to hear we are producing happy reading for you, Cohan.  :)

cohan wrote:

My understanding of this 4C temperature is that typical stratification requirements are for a period of cold but not freezing temperatures? Not counting those that need freeze/thaw to break tough seed coats or inhibitors...

See here, Cohan:
http://nargs.org/smf/index.php?topic=274.msg12949#msg12949

RickR wrote:

cohan wrote:

My understanding of this 4C temperature is that typical stratification requirements are for a period of cold but not freezing temperatures? Not counting those that need freeze/thaw to break tough seed coats or inhibitors...

See here, Cohan:
http://nargs.org/smf/index.php?topic=274.msg12949#msg12949

Thanks, Rick, that's exactly what I have read elsewhere..  Note- winter here is certainly mostly below freezing for months here, but there are months in fall and spring with temps at night and/or ground level with temps not getting far above freezing.. I haven't yet done much experimenting with local species, but I think, like most places, various species have various strategies...

I always thought that germination/stratification temperatures referred to soil (medium) temperatures so temporal fluctuating air temperatures were misleading.

According to Norwegian literature regarding stratification, the most effective temperature is about 5C.

The endogenous dormancy of seeds have several reasons but one is induced by the hormone abscisic acid and ended by the hormone gibberellic acid. This makes it necessary to have a certain metabolic activity.

Harold wrote:

I always thought that germination/stratification temperatures referred to soil (medium) temperatures so temporal fluctuating air temperatures were misleading.

Exactly right. Air temperature can only be used insofar as to help generalize what ground temps might be.  Without the knowledge of actual soil temperature, we must realize that air temperature is only one of the factors that affects soil temps.

Hoy wrote:

According to Norwegian literature regarding stratification, the most effective temperature is about 5C.

That's very interesting, Trond.  If you happen across the data again, I'd be interested in which types of seeds/germination modes were tested.

RickR wrote:

Hoy wrote:

According to Norwegian literature regarding stratification, the most effective temperature is about 5C.

That's very interesting, Trond.  If you happen across the data again, I'd be interested in which types of seeds/germination modes were tested.

Ok, I'll keep it in mind.
I found this however, but it is about seeds from forest trees (Abies, Pinus etc).
http://www.skogfroverket.no/Web/Froverksdrift/forbehandling.htm

Two years of IRG completed :
the December issue of IRG is now online.

A slight departure from our usual format, as you will discover; there is a calendar for you to print out. :D  
http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=international

Thanks to all our contributors and helpers over the year and to those who have given encouragement.
To Glassford Sprunt and Richard Green for their proof-reading, Maggi gives particular thanks.

Glassford continues to prepare the IRG Index and the up to date index for all 24 issues is included in the December 2011 issue.

With kindest regards for a Good New Year  from Maggi, ZZ and JI

edit to add cover photo.....

A lovely calendar- no surprise there :)

Aw, shucks! Thank you Cohan  :-*  Just thought it would be fun!

    m

Thank you Cohan for bringing this  site up! I hadn't looked at it for a while!
And thank you Maggi and all who have contributed to this beautiful magazine! I have now printed the calendar too  ;)

Welcome to a new year of IRG.

The January issue is now online, beginning with a look back to some plants that are popular now as they were forty years ago. Some  things never change, it seems.

Grahame Ware explores his affection for a little snapdragon and Fritz Kummert shares his delight in an unassuming Idaho native. 

Ranunculus haastii... photo Doug Logan

Once more a beautiful magzine - I think I spotted something I know there ;)

Hoy wrote:

Once more a beautiful magzine - I think I spotted something I know there ;)

Thanks Trond- for everything  ;)

It is really special to have such great photos in the SRGC forum to "steal away" for the IRG.... your pulsatilla shot is adorable - showing the little plant nestling in the grass.

IMYoung wrote:

Welcome to a new year of IRG.

The January issue is now online, beginning with a look back to some plants that are popular now as they were forty years ago. Some  things never change, it seems.

Grahame Ware explores his affection for a little snapdragon and Fritz Kummert shares his delight in an unassuming Idaho native. 

Ranunculus haastii... photo Doug Logan

Looking forward to checking this one out when my internet connection is behaving..lol About plants that remain popular-- I have to remind myself sometimes that while its always fun and fascinating to grow something that almost no one is, there are plants that remain popular for very good reasons!!
Off to work now in  a stiff wind that looks likely to be making some good drifts....

Another very interesting issue, Maggi!
I'm sure you won't mind if I post a link to the index of IRG e-magazines here, for folks who may not be familiar with the SRGC site.   :)
http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=international

IMYoung wrote:

Hoy wrote:

Once more a beautiful magzine - I think I spotted something I know there ;)

Thanks Trond- for everything  ;)

It is really special to have such great photos in the SRGC forum to "steal away" for the IRG.... your pulsatilla shot is adorable - showing the little plant nestling in the grass.

Thank you Maggi, but I think the producers of the magazine are the ones to be thanked!!
And although it is exciting to see a familiar picture "in print" it is more so to see all the unfamiliar ones and dream of new travels or acquisitions  ;) :D

Lori, thank you... and for the link too.... I quite forgot to put that :-[

The IRG continues to be posted online on the last Friday of the month.
Thanks to those NARGS members who have contacted the IRG Team to express their appreciation of the magazine and to offer articles or to allow publication of photographs.  
Issues for February and March are at these links:
http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2012Feb241330043727IRG_26_Feb2012.pdf
http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2012Apr031333442629IRG27-March2012.pdf

April 2012 issue of the International Rock Gardener

The April 2012 issue of the International Rock Gardener has articles from Zdeněk Zvolánek on Ranunculus wettsteinii, and Franto Paznocht’s latest tufa garden;  from Laďa Piatek and Gita Piatková on Campanula bellidifolia forma rosea and from Dieter Zschummel on some Chinese Campanulas and Jorn Hornburg  of Cariboo in British Columbia  shares his hopes as Spring advances.

There is also news of a Job Opportunity at the Botanischer Garten München-Nymphenburg.

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2012Apr261335475783IRG28-April2012.pdf

regards,
Maggi Young

Many interesting and beautiful things, as always, but nothing more exciting than Campanula calcicola in the April issue!  :o Pretty flowers are nice, but almost all flowers are pretty to me, so  interesting foliage(which we usually see much longer than flowers!) is even better- especially in settings such as rock gardens where plants can often be seen clearly and separately..

The May 2012 issue of IRG is now online.

When I uploaded the latest issue of IRG to the SRGC site last week, I mentioned that the weather was sunny and that perhaps we in the UK could look forward to a  long spell of summery weather... I was sadly mistaken.... today it is dull, grey and windy... and really cold this evening.  :-\

Plenty colour and hope for the season in the IRG, though!

This month there are Tecophilaeas to charm you in shades of blue, Penstemons in shades of red and an Aconitum with wine-red promise.

We also catch up with the Primulas at Cluny House in Perthshire.

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2012May241337894269IRG29-May2012.pdf

Thanks for another terrific issue, Maggi!  The Tecophilaea are stunning!

Yes, the Tecophilaeas are pretty extraordinary, I think... it is the size of the flower, relative to the plant and the sheer beauty and richness of the colour.... quite captivating!

In the June issue of IRG Christoph Ruby, of the Hof Botanic Garden in Germany is upbeat in his report on the plants in Hof’s crevice garden and we are able to offer encouragment to growers with examples from the gardens of  forumists from several countries.

We again return to Turkey to examine some more of the fine plants that so tempt us, but those in this selection are proving none too easy in cultivation. So much so that  Zdeněk Zvolánek calls them  "Anatolian Troublemakers"!  The flora of Turkey is immensely varied and greatly admired by many rock gardeners : Dr David Millward who contributed the cover picture of Arnebia densiflora from the steppe, near Erzincan, Anatolia  has reported on a recent SRGC trip in the Forum in pages about Eastern Turkey, here :  

http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=7936.0      

All issues of IRG (International Rock Gardener) can be found here : http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=international

The International Rock Gardener  June 2012 :

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2012Jun281340917807IRG_30-June2012.pdf

Cover photo Arnebia densiflora by  David Millward

This month, when the USA  has celebrated Independence Day, the IRG has a distinctly North American bias to the plants covered, starting with the first of a small series by Gene Mirro about the lilies of western America.
Rex Murfitt addresses a charming Iris whose needs have been mis-stated over a great many years and ZZ throws a friendly challenge to a friend about another North American plant, Telesonix heucheriformis.

Hybrid lily
photo  Gene Mirro

International Rock Gardener - IRG 32  August 2012

This month we learn of two diverse Gatherings of Rock Gardeners - the NZAGS Study weekend in February 2013 and the Second International Czech Rock Garden Conference, in May 2013.  The SRGC is proud to be a sponsor of these events.
Plant-wise......
Gene Mirro continues his  series with the lilies of Southern California and the Sierra Nevada; 
.......we have a note on  Gentiana occidentalis;
...... and Kirsten Andersen and Lars Hansen explore the diversity of Oxalis laciniata var. pubescens.

I think I have a couple of issues to catch up on, always a treat :)

Another magnificent issue ... many thanks and compliments to the editorial team and all the contributors.

IMYoung wrote:

International Rock Gardener - IRG 32  August 2012

This month we learn of two diverse Gatherings of Rock Gardeners - the NZAGS Study weekend in February 2013 and the Second International Czech Rock Garden Conference, in May 2013.  The SRGC is proud to be a sponsor of these events.

At the time of the Czech Events, NARGS will be hosting its AGM in the Blue Ridge Mountains at Ashville....
http://www.nargs2013.org/index.php  - must say it's great to have a choice!

I look forward to the IRG every month and probably have read it within hours of it appearing online.  During winter bad weather periods it has become a treat to go through all the issues again.  Thank you, thank you to all the IRG Team members who make this possible.

September's IRG is loaded a little early  :)  I hope that no-one is driven to it by bad weather!
This month sees features by......  nurseryman Tim Ingram about the Welsh garden of
the Plant-hunters Jim and Jenny Archibald. This article will be added to the Archibald Archive in the SRGC website. Tim is a passionate believer in the importance of gardens, particularly in the context of organisations such as the SRGC and its sisters.

Adrian Young presents one of his preferred Saxifraga species and it is his photo that gives our cover picture: Saxifraga catalaunica.

Gene Mirro concludes his series on the lilies of North West America – a piece on the germination of these western species lilies is posted in the SRGC Forum area, here:
http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=9610.new#new

The October issue of  International Rock Gardener is online on the SRGC website :

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2014Jun2414036385622012Nov071352287814October_IRG_34.pdf

This month is a real celebration of the many talents of SRGC Forumists (many known here as NARGS members, too!) as their (present day) photos  of seasonal colour are used to illustrate  both an old SRGC Journal Article from 1953 about Autumn colour in the Scottish garden of the Knox-Finlays at Keillour Castle and also some Spring joys in the southern hemisphere.

"Enjoy!"

Maggi Young
www.srgc.net

As usual, another excellent edition, the homage to autumn is timely and inspirational.  I was particularly taken by the variability of autumn leaf color on Viburnum alnifolium taken by Kristl Walek, most illuminating.

November issue of International Rock Gardener -

Online now: http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2012Nov291354225242IRG35_November2012...

As gardeners we can sometimes be accused of creating unnatural settings for our plants:
the first article this month shows how well nature creates “real” rock gardens, surely we can do no
better than follow her example!
Cliff Booker, who has also contributed the cover picture, shows a selection from various locations.

Zdeněk Zvolánek abandoned the Beauty Slope this summer for some plant hunting excursions –
he shares with us a  brief trip to Italy's Apuan Alps.

For some growers, their interest lies in working to produce hybrid plants which they hope will be
easier of cultivation or more floriferous: In the world of saxifrages we are aware of the immense skill
of the Czech growers - Adrian Young highlights for us the work of a British grower, Ray Fairbairn,
who has done a lot of work with both Saxifraga and Primula.
Photos for this article are from Adrian Young and David Hoare.

photo below: Saxifraga 'Allendale Fairy'

The November Issue is another feather in your cap, Maggi.  I don't know how you manage to keep up the incredible quality.  I do know that towards the end of each month I start checking to see if the latest issue has come.  I reread all of them during the long winter months, thanks so much for all the work from the "International Rock Gardener" team.  You are all so appreciated.

Anne, thank you for your very kind words - the IRG is in the hands of our super contributors and the IRG team is most thankful to them for their generosity in sharing their thoughts, experiences and fab photos.

Contributions are more than welcome for future issues -
contact via [email protected]      8)

IRG  #38 February 2013

Ian Christie has been lucky enough to travel to see plants in nature in many parts of the world but he never loses sight of the beauty that is available in his own country, Scotland. Scottish Mountains may not be the highest, but the landscape can be dramatic and plants of the mountain and woodland can be found even almost at the edge of the sea. Ian shares his delight in such plants from the Sutherland area..
We hope it lets  anyone  contemplating a visit to that part of Scotland know that  there is much to enjoy there!

Ian Young, writes for the ‘world of bulbs’ on one of his favourite tubers, Corydalis solida and the garden forms of this plant that do well in North East Scotland. Ian has documented his experiences growing bulbs corms and tubers every week since 2003 in his Bulb Log Diary on the SRGC Site.

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2013Mar011362129867IRG38Feb2013.pdf

maggi young

Splendid article on Corydalis solida! And of course, the IRG in general, aways informative and eye-catching. Back to Corydalis solida, rather than pay for fancy named forms, I like the approach of hand cross-pollinating color forms to come up with one's own rainbow.  I also didn't know about sowing the seed more deeply; good stuff. The bicolor forms, and the "pink clone", oh my what a sheet of color. Send my congrats to Ian on that article.

Now if only this 1' (30 cm) crust of snow would go away, I might start seeing my C. solida color forms; although, snow is predicted for this weekend. :rolleyes:

Thanks Mark, I will pass your comments to Ian Y.

We are in a similar position here- while the weather was quite  sunny earlier in the week it is getting colder again and we expect some more snow over the weekend. Luckily most of the Corydalis solida forms are only just emerging through the ground so they should not get too much of a shock - well, that's the theory, anyway.  Temperatures today, aided by windchill, have not done the local gardeners much good!

Excellent as usual! And I am amongst those who declare C solida as the  favorite spring "bulb" ;)

Great issue!  It's a treat to get a glimpse of nature in Scotland and I enjoyed it very much... and what a fabulous garden you have, Maggi and Ian!

Thank you for the kind words to the IRG.

The SRGC site and forum is currently offline for essential security upgrades but I hope many more will enjoy the IRG etc when "normal service is resumed"  as they used to say !

MY

Friends :  normal service is now resumed from the SRGC site and Forum  :)

Dear Friends, first I must make my apology for not reminding you of the March issue of IRG  - I hope you found it and enjoyed it, nonetheless .

The April issue is now online .

Plant hunters have always been intrepid souls, venturing into areas where all sorts of unknown tribulations lurked. Happily, the fate of David Douglas – who died in a pit trap in Hawaii in 1834 - has not befallen any recent plant explorers.

The Latvian nurseryman, bulb expert and author Jānis Rukšāns is a valued contributor contributes to the  SRGC forum. Last month he made a trip to North West Turkey. This issue of IRG  includes much of that story but a great many more photographs can be seen in the SRGC Forum along with other references.

Jaroslav Baláž, a Czech grower  who has a small alpine nursery in  the village of  Dolní Rožínka, writes about Ranunculus seguieri - Some super photos of this plant can also be seen here in the NARGS Forum, from Anne Spiegel. (  http://nargs.org/smf/index.php?topic=705.msg9954#msg9954  )

This photo of Ranunculs seguieri in the wild is from the SRGC Forum by "Ranunculus" himself, Cliff Booker.

Jānis Rukšāns is very much an international figure  - here he and his wife Guna (both dressed in national costume from around the 10th century, reconstructed from archeological researches) are pictured with a gathering of Irish AGS Dublin Group who have just been visiting  their nurseries and enjoying some of the historical treasures of the Riga area.

Many alpine enthusiasts from around the world, including quite a few NARGS members, will be meeting up next week for the  Second Czech International Rock Garden Conference - the IRG Team will be  there and we look forward to seeing many friends old and new.

http://czrgs.cz/conference.html
http://www.srgc.org.uk/forum/index.php?topic=8484.0

Maggi Young

For the general index of  The International Rock Gardener e-magazines, here's the link:
http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=international

Thanks, Mark- I forgot  to put that link to the main page where all the issues are of IRG.  :-[

For the actual  IRG Index to date  this is the link:
update 28/06/13     http://files.srgc.net//journals/IRGIndex42.pdf

IRG 41, for May 2013 is now online. this is the first issue dedicated to  the exciting gathering of International Rock Gardeners in early May in the Czech Republic.
http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2013May301369920930IRG41May.pdf

It seemed fitting to celebrate these gardeners - those attending came from 20 countries, including Canada and America...... 8)

Photos of many of those  attending can be seen here : http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=10517.0  and those who attended the event  are invited to post their 'people pix' there as well. For other photos there is this thread in the forum, where your photos will  also  be greatly appreciated : http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=10484.0

Main page of IRG http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=international

The May issue of IRG is SPECTACULAR.  Oooohhh, those gardens!  And gentians growing like dandelions.  And almost every garden a crevice garden.
What a wonderful time you all must have had.

It was a wonderful experience, Anne.  Not only the beautiful countryside and gardens  but also the real "buzz" from such a friendly gathering of rock gardeners.
Funny you should mention "gentians growing like dandelions"  - everywhere we went, every orchard, every fallow field was covered in more dandelions than I would eer have imagined possible! We get roadsides and the odd uncultivated field with good sprinklings of dandelions here -  but the Czech dandelion display was of a truly olympic proportions - millions of the golden flowers -a spectacle in itself! When they seed it must be like a snowstorm  :o

How they have such marvelous gardens with all that dandelion seed about is another miracle!

I invite you to take time from your busy lives to relax and read the latest issue of the International Rock Gardener:

Gerrit Eijkelenboom from Lelystad  in the Netherlands describes himself as a "gardener on the sea bottom", he grows a wide range of both rock garden and shade loving plants and has something of a fondness for Epimediums and Meconopsis - the latter being quite a struggle for him to grow well in his local climate. Gerrit and his wife enjoy plant hunting by camera on holiday and he contributes photos of some orchids seen recently in Crete.

Jan Jílek,  a nurseryman who divides his time between the Czech Republic and Samarkand in Uzbekistan, is one of the brave folk with only a little English who still takes the time to contribute to the SRGC Forum in our strange language!

Main IRG menu: http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=international

IRG 44 August 2013

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2013Aug291377798656IRG44August.pdf

This month we follow the renewal of the garden in British Columbia
of our late colleague Joyce Carruthers by her daughter Amanda with the help of ZZ and friends.

Trond Høy describes the plants seen on Svalbard in the north west of Norway,
a region he has visited several times, the first time as a student back in 1977.
Trond shared his trip  first in the SRGC Forum then here in the NARGS Forum  - the IRG is now the beneficiary to take in a new audience!
 
World of Bulbs features late summer/autumn crocus from J. Ian Young, writer of the Bulb Log,
along with some photos of these in the wild from Johan Nilson of Gothenburg Botanic Garden.

 

Page for all IRG listings:     http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=international 

The September issue of IRG is here : http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2013Sep281380401493IRG45September2013.pdf

Edit: apologies for pasting extra link to the index - now fixed!

It features the first part of  an article on Zhongdian by Jozef Lemmens ; Rogan Roth writes about Tigridia pavonia, Zdenek Zvolanek tells tales of Two Czechs in Nepal and introduce the recently described Campanula hacerae.

A complete index of the IRG  up to and including the current issue  (#45)  
is here : 
http://files.srgc.net/journals/IRGIndex45.pdf

and on this page  
http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=9567.0  you will 
always find  a link to the latest index, which is compiled each
 month by Glassford Sprunt. 
 I am most grateful to Glassford for his efforts!

regards,
  
M. Young 

 

Maggi, all the links you provide go to the International Rock Gardener - Index (complete to Number 44 of September 2013), not to a Sept 2013 issue of IRG.

Here are some links to use:
Main International Rock Gardener (IRG) page:
http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=international

IRG September 2013, a fantastic issue:
http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2013Sep271380237181IRG45September2013.pdf

Sorry Mark, I was working after midnight-  and not doing very well!

Actually, the links to the index are complete to issue 45 - on one page I hadn't changed the number but the link is good!

 

 

In contrast to the IRG  photos from the Karabet  Pass, here is a Merendera kurdica  cultivated in a pot by Peter Clarke - this photo from the  SRGC Forum  -

 

Excellent edition, Maggi,

I read it through in one sitting! Some amazing pics, not the least being that stunning Merendera! And those cut-flower tulips look suspiciously like the posy from Susan Band that I brought down by train when I first visited Aberdeen in 2007!

We've heard from our friends in the Blue Mountains near Sydney that they are safe at present - one even had the presence of mind to still send out the link to her latest plant-list so that I could forward it to "locals" on my address-list!

cheers

fermi

[quote=Fermi]

Excellent edition, Maggi,

I read it through in one sitting! Some amazing pics, not the least being that stunning Merendera! And those cut-flower tulips look suspiciously like the posy from Susan Band that I brought down by train when I first visited Aberdeen in 2007!

We've heard from our friends in the Blue Mountains near Sydney that they are safe at present - one even had the presence of mind to still send out the link to her latest plant-list so that I could forward it to "locals" on my address-list!

cheers

fermi

[/quote]

 

Thank you fermi.

I had no idea you would recognise those cut flowers from my photo  after all these years !

We have been much heartened by the news that our  friends in the Blue Mountains are safe.  The consequences of  fires are too scary to contemplate and it is tragic that these fires have been so bad  I feel guilty to be pleased that friends are safe - but I suppose that is a very usual response.

M.Y.

 

 

Hi Maggi,

only because I have almost the same pic and I use it in a talk on tulips - which I'm just updating for another presentation next March

cheers

fermi

[quote=Fermi]

 

Hi Maggi,

only because I have almost the same pic and I use it in a talk on tulips - which I'm just updating for another presentation next March

cheers

fermi

[/quote]

 

My goodness, sometimes the world is a frighteningly small place. ;.)

Hope you will be singing the praises of the lovely T. sprengeri?

[quote=IMYoung]

My goodness, sometimes the world is a frighteningly small place. ;.)

Hope you will be singing the praises of the lovely T. sprengeri?

[/quote]

Definitely!

cheers

fermi

My apologies for not keeping you good folks of NARGS up to date with the new  IRG  issues.

This issue is a real stunner!  While I grow three eranthis species, I had no idea of the variation within each of them.  Wim's article is one to keep (and maybe drool over from time to time).

Thank you, Claire -   and were you  surprised to discover that the cultivar 'Lightning' had been named  from  the North American woodland shown in Carolyn's blog ?

 I think I gave too vague a link for that by the way - this is a better one :

http://carolynsshadegardens.com/2012/02/21/a-wonder-of-nature/

Wow!  That link to Carolyn's blog was fantastic! 

And no, I'm not surprised that a really nice cultivar showed up by chance far from its native habitat.  The plants are obviously very happy and are busy doing what they do best -- sharing the gene pool and making new plants.  :-)  That's why I'm always on the look-out for different forms in my own garden.  While not a galanthaphile, I can see why folks get so excited about so many variations.

 

Carolyn has just posted two parts about a list of 25 very popular galanthus on her blog - certainly worth seeing- and  many are available in the USA, which is a major plus for you folks  " over there " !

 For part one : http://carolynsshadegardens.com/2014/01/27/top-25-snowdrop-plants-part-one/

The February 2014 issue of IRG is our fiftieth magazine : http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2014Feb271393533473IRG50February.pdf

There is a strongly North American flavour from some of our Canadian contributors – though not necessarily about North American plants :
 
Dracocephalum  by Grahame Ware

A report on Paul Spriggs’ Crevice Garden Demonstration by June Strandberg, with  photos from  June Strandberg and Barb Lemoine of VIRAGS

Phlox diffusa in the wild by Dr. Hans Roemer

  Phlox diffusa flower- photo by Luit van Delft in the SRGC Forum

Thanks to all who got in touch to say you enjoyed the single article issue IRG of January.  Your comments and suggestions and also your submissions for inclusion are always welcome via email.

 

Beautifully made and very interesting as always! Thanks to the editors and contributors!

 

Trond has, in the SRGC forum,  pointed out a mistake I have made with his photo :

The IRG this month brings its readers the latest paper from  Jānis Rukšāns describing several new species of Crocus.  

Dr Rukšāns is the author, in English, of the book Crocuses: A complete Guide to the Genus and Buried Treasures: finding and Growing the World’s Choicest Bulbs, as well as several titles in Latvian, his native tongue. 

We also have Dr Rukšāns comments on the recent paper by Ingo Schneider on Crocus brachyfilus  vis à vis  C. elegans as well as his reiteration of his decision to re-classify some of his earlier namings from subspecies to species status.

Crocus danfordiae Maw and C. chrysanthus (Herbert) Herbert (Iridaceae) and some of their allies in Turkey and Iran.

Jānis Rukšāns, Dr. biol.

International Rock Gardener - Online Journal. ISSN 2053-7557

Abstract: Features of Crocus chrysanthus s.str. from type locality are specified. Four new species are described, status of one changed.

Key words: Crocus brickellii, Crocus chrysanthus, Crocus danfordiae, Crocus henrikii, Crocus kurdistanicus, Crocus minutus, Crocus muglaensis, Crocus uschakensis.

IRG 52 APRIL:  http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2014Apr241398364476IRG52April.pdf

International Rock Gardener main page : http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=international

Margaret Young

The August IRG is online : articles from Canadian  Grahame Ware on a charming Campanula and a report from  the  Haut Chitelet Garden  in France from Phippe Chauvet   

What do we offer this month in the International Rock Gardener?  Enjoy a hike with David Sellars on one of the finest alpine walks in Europe,  be tempted to grow a range of Androsace like Franz Hadacek and meet Rafa Diez Dominguez, plantsman and artist : All in September's IRG
 
http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2014Sep251411672305IRG57.pdf September 2014 IRG

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=international   main IRG page

http://files.srgc.net/journals/IRGIndex57.pdf    IRG Index to

 

 

My apologies for not letting  you folks know directly about the latest IRG-  International Rock Gardener 59 - issue 11 of 2014 - is online here :    

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2014Nov271417122600IRG59.pdf

This IRG has articles on plant naming, trough planting and a charming oriental orchid:
   
 Plant Portrait : Ponerorchis graminifolia  by Grahame Ware, Canada

 Crocuses from "The Holy Mountain" of Athos, Greece by Jānis Rukšāns,  Latvia
 
 Concrete troughs: man-made mountains text and photos by J. Ian Young, Scotland

If you have a favourite plant genus you’d like to discuss, innovative ideas in cultivation, or some other idea about the world of plants and gardens that is important to you, you are most welcome to contact the IRG Team about it. You can make contact via [email protected] – we look forward to hearing from you.

 

M.Y.

Posted early for Christmas

The completion of year five - celebrating 60 issues of IRG with a cover painting  of the SRGC emblem, Dryas octopetala by one of our talented artist members, Anne Chambers.
 

Featured plants are Saxifraga dinnikii forma alba and some quite amazingly large Cyclamen  from Greece.
 
Also included is a full index compiled by Glassford Sprunt- decorated  for the first time with a new cover picture - again of our Dryas emblem - this time photographed in Canada by Lori Skulski.

IRG Issue 12 of 2014  #60 : [url=http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2014Dec221419264038IRG60.pdf]http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2014Dec221419264038IRG60.pdf[/url]

Main page with links to all issues of the IRG :
[url=http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=international]http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=international[/url]

Thanks and sincere seasonal greetings  to all the  readers and contributors to the IRG

And, of course, best wishes for the coming year

 

- from M.Y. on behalf of  the IRG Team

Apologies, there  is a new link for IRG 61 :  http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2015Feb011422783332IRG61.pdf:

 

Bulbs rule the world Mrs Young ......

 

[quote=Toole]

Bulbs rule the world Mrs Young ......

[/quote]

 

You may say so, Mr Toole - I couldn't possibly comment

..... though it is true that  I never met a Fritillaria I didn't like ..... or a Crocus .....or......                     

[quote=IMYoung]

 

 

Toole wrote:

Bulbs rule the world Mrs Young ......

 

You may say so, Mr Toole - I couldn't possibly comment

[/quote]

 

 

Totally smitten with Veratrum (Melanthium) fimbriatum, and the various virescent Galanthus are perfection, another fine edition.

May IRG brings tales of  a small raised crevice bed + report of  2014 SRGC Summer Day - to tempt you for this year's event on 22nd August- and a reminder of the importance of pollinators

Of course  there is a full index : http://files.srgc.net/journals/IRGIndex65.pdf

All IRG issues are free to download  here : http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=international

 

The latest issue of the International Rock Gardener (IRG)  # 67 is online now.  It has the second part of the Eijkelenboom

report on the orchids of Crete ; Zdenek Zvolanek  demonstrates the  landscaping of a trough in Moravia;

and Steve Garvie and Ian Young  show how Dactylorhiza can colonise  troughs and gardens in Scotland

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2015Jul301438283975IRG-67.pdf

 Cover  irg 67 and  Ophrys grigoriana  pix

August 2015 IRG 68 - online now:
http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2015Aug261440625534IRG_68.pdf

Robert Pavlis of Guelph, Ontario Canada  is  the author of http://www.gardenmyths.com/
 and owner of Aspen Grove Gardens - he  discusses a Hylomecon mystery -

Jan Tholhuijsen of Roosendaal in the Southern Netherlands has fun with trough making - 
 
 and there is a plea  for support of the Seed Exchanges not only of the NARGS and the  Scottish Rock Garden Club but also of other organisations of  which readers may be members, and to support the Seed Photo project of the SRGC forum. 

Main page of all issues:
 http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=international
Latest Index
http://files.srgc.net/journals/IRGIndex68.pdf 

International Rock Gardener #69 e-magazine    - Erythronium Special

The IRG for September 2015 is an "Erythronium Special" -  an  issue where the various articles by

 Ed Alverson from the SRGC website are brought together to give an overview of the discoveries

of the species of western America for Ed’s travels in his “Erythronium Big Year” and update them

to present them to a new audience.

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2015Sep251443177809IRG_69_Erythronium_Special.pdf

A full IRG index is available here : http://files.srgc.net/journals/IRG-Index.pdf

 

 

Apologies- I cannot seem to get a photo  to upload  at all.   However, new IRG  Number 69 is available to download here :

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2015Sep251443177809IRG_69_Erythronium_Special.pdf

 

IRG 70  -  October 2015

Featuring, from America,  Nhu Nguyen of the PBS  (http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/)   and Clay Koplin in Alaska and also seaside plants from Scotland from  Ian Young

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2015Oct291446150520IRG70-October2015.pdf

 As usual, a full index to all issues of the IRG is also  available free : http://files.srgc.net/journals/IRG-Index.pdf

 

 

 

International Rock Gardener issue 71 - of November 2015 -   pays tribute to the late Ota Vlasák - one of the Czech Masters of Rock Gardening.

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2015Nov261448562891IRG71November.pdf

Full index:
http://files.srgc.net/journals/IRG-Index.pdf

 M. Young

IRG (International Rock Gardener) 72 of December 2015 completes our fifth year of offering this e-magazine free to all each month on the SRGC site. This special issue contains a full index to all issues and a 2016 Calendar for you to print off in gratitude for your support through the year.
The calendar photos are from two great SRGC members, Steve Garvie in Scotland and Jamus Stonor in Australia. Thanks to them for their help as well as to all our contributors throughout the year and to two essential members of the IRG Team; our indexer Glassford Sprunt and proof reader Richard Green.

 

The  free monthly e-magazine, International Rock Gardener IRG 73  for January 2016  is online now :
http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2016Jan281454019772IRG73.pdf

A new species  of Crocus is described by Janis Ruksans, as is a new Galanthus cultivar, 'Longraigue' by Alan Briggs  and last but not least,  some good, readily available  garden plants are  listed.

A full index is  available too, here : http://files.srgc.net/journals/IRG-Index.pdf

The February 2016  issue of IRG is  now  online......
http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2016Feb261456445173IRG74.pdf
News of the North American Rock Garden Society's planned event at Steamboat Springs  this June which we are  happy to promote and wish every success .......
Jānis Rukšāns discusses Crocus  naming ....... and Grahame Ware  enthuses over Campanula coriacea .......

And, as ever-  an updated index 
 http://files.srgc.net/journals/IRG-Index.pdf 

IRG 75  March 2016-  David Sharp reports a sojourn in Northern Greece in 2015,  George Garnett shares a version of  his report  to BSBI on Botanising in Guernsey and a series begins of photos of wildflowers  from Stavros Apostolou.
Find the new IRG  here:

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2016Mar251458913158IRG75.pdf - NB  link correction

 

George Garnett is a young man, still at school,  who shows great determination in pursuing his interest in botany  and the natural world.  He has already participated in an exploration project to the Peruvian Andes; he has completed an RBG Edinburgh field botany course;received a nomination for the Gilbert White youth  award  of the NBN Trust  in recognition of his contribution to terrestrial and freshwater recording and won a BSBI photo competition  - all in all, George is something of an inspiration to us all, not just  school children and students!

 

N. B. Corrected link to IRG 75      

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2016Mar251458913158IRG75.pdf

 

Please note that all issues of International Rock Gardener can be found and downloaded from this page : http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=international

 

M. Y.

International Rock Gardener e-magazine - IRG 76 - of April 2016 is now online :
 http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2016Apr281461879792IRG_76.pdf

Wim Boens  discusses Leucojum, which are having something of a rise in interest

and Janis Ruksans describes some new Crocus species. 

Spring bulbs in profusion!

IRG 77 - May 2016

Canadian David Sellars takes us to Spain, we visit a fine nursery with  a new rock garden in Czechia and learn of a very young horticulturist, Molly Hall from England with an interest in heathers.

It's a bit of a whizz around the world!

IRG 77       Click the link  to download  http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2016May271464340889IRG77.pdf 

( Main page with all issues : http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=international)

 -  both photos here  by David Sellars

Humming Bird Hawk Moth and Lilium pyrenaicum

Adonis pyrenaica

For many SRGC members our interest is as much in “wildflowers” of the mountains and moorlands as in “true alpines” so this month’s IRG article by Ian McDonald is apt.
It is too long since we had an update from Zdeněk Zvolánek about the Beauty Slope – as he calls his steep garden in Karlík – this month we discover what is happening there and in some other Czech gardens.
The cover image is of the Scottish endemic, Primula scotica.

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2016Jun231466720211IRG78.pdf

 

 

New International Rock Gardener online ...IRG 79 for July 2016
http://www.srgc.org.uk/…/l…/2016Jul281469713982IRG79July.pdf

For July IRG 79 ; a little trip to the Netherlands as we learn from two Dutch growers about their approach to garden design and some clever planting solutions. They show how it is possible to accommodate rock garden and alpine plants in novel ways in a garden that can still be family friendly. Gert Hoek from Dronten in Flevoland has moved upwards in his pursuit of more space for his propagation projects and plants in pots while Jan Tholhuijsen, from Roosendaal in North Brabant uses some bright ideas for reusing odd items in various home-made solutions to benefit his garden with intriguing planters.

The index to all issues of the IRG is available here : http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=9567.0

 

It is not likely that too many readers - at least in Europe - will be growing Proteas but of course others have more amenable climates for such plants. Robbie Blackhall-Miles FLS is working in Wales on the study of such plants and hopes to  discover in time that more are able to be grown in the UK than was previously imagined.

Plants which are already popular and grown with success in many parts of the world are the Hepaticas - we are given tips by Sefi and Fritz Kummert in Austria and  the Forum's Michael Campbell in Co. Clare, Ireland of their methods of growing these plants.

Download the IRG 80 here: http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2016Aug251472126130IRG_August_80.pdf

For September, we discover what floral pleasures may be found over winter and early spring in Spain - a country where some of us are lucky enough to travel at such times. Gerrit Eijkelenboom tells us about the plants he and his wife, Iep, enjoy while they spend the winter months near Calpe. Matt Topsfield also journeyed to Spain last March - to make a study of the narcissus in flower then, following the earlier example of John Blanchard in 1986 – Matt shares with us here some of the other flowers he found on the trip, which was partly supported by an SRGC Exploration Grant and part “crowd-funded”.

IRG 81  September 2016
 http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2016Sep291475167835IRG_81.pdfa

..... and further to  Matt's article for  the IRG - Members can read about the narcissus trip in the next issue of /The Rock Garden, in January, or there is even more news here : http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=13808.msg364729#msg364729

 

International Rock Gardener ISSN 2053-7557

IRG 82 October 2016 - More great projects from Jan Tholhuijsen for you to try.

    Latest issue ## 82 here :
http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2016Oct271477579167IRG82.pdf

All issues available here:  http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=international

- for  a full  Index to all issues of the IRG , click here: http://files.srgc.net/journals/IRG-Index.pdf

 

Worth reminding you, perhaps,  that all except the latest few (which are reserved for full members) electronic copies of the SRGC printed Journal - 'The Rock Garden' are also online for download - and there is a full index for those too!    http://www.srgc.net/site/index.php/extensions/journal

 Enjoy!

New International Rock Gardener e-magazine - free to download of course from the Scottish Rock Garden Club site  - this month featuring:

Native Bees of Southwestern Oregon by Travis Owen

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2016Nov241480016901IRG83-November2016.pdf

 

 

 It is a delight this month to publish the description of a plant named by Fritz Kummert in tribute to the legendary German plantsman Wilhelm Schacht. The commemoration of such people in this way is something that can carry their name to a new generation.
As winter envelops us in the northern hemisphere we look back to sunnier days in Sicily, as Gerrit Eijkelenboom writes about the flowers he and his wife Iep, encountered there in May. Their focus is again mostly on the range of orchids to be seen.

IRG 84  - download it here : http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2016Dec291483029322IRG-84.pdf

Many thanks to all readers and contributors- and especially to  Glassford Sprunt and Richard Green for their work in indexing and proof-reading the IRG.

In previous years the IRG has provided a calendar for readers to print out and use for the year – we are again pleased to be able to do so with a link in this month's issue.
This link will take you direct to a copy of the IRG 2017 calendar of plant and nature photographs which were all taken by the Scottish Rock Garden Club’s Webmaster, Fred Carrie. We rely on him for solutions to all technical matters for the Club. Fred used to run the former Tough Alpine Nursery in Aberdeenshire and has served the Club in many ways, such as a former picture editor for the printed journal, The Rock Garden, as well as his busy schedule as webmaster.

 Remember, if you feel you have an article that would make good copy for this magazine, please do get in touch – email  [email protected] we are always glad to hear from you with your articles or ideas.

 

A new year begins.

This is  the direct link to IRG 85   http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2017Jan261485471226IRG85.pdf 

The IRG Team hopes to bring you an interesting mixture of subjects over the year to enthuse and perhaps educate you in the ways of the plants which form the basis of our growing interest. In this issue, a number of Saxifraga hybrids recently registered with Adrian Young the registrar of the Saxifraga Society, are formally introduced from the breeder David Walkey who sadly died earlier this month. Adrian also provides a short introduction to David Walkey’s  hybrids.

In conjunction with the printed journal of the SRGC, The Rock Garden, we are delighted to feature another contribution from Matt Topsfield to supplement his  article in TRG 138 of January  2017 with a photo essay of narcissus found on his  trip in the footsteps of John Blanchard, who will, we hope, be pleased to see how his  previous travels still inspire plantsmen today.

(Matt’s article on some of the plants other than narcissus which he saw during his trip were published in the IRG 81 (International Rock Gardener e-magazine) see my previous post)

A news update from S Scottish Rock Garden Club:

1)  Janis Ruksans new book - The World of Crocuses - is  now in print  - hundreds of pages, beautiful illustrations, distribution maps -

everything Janis has learned about Crocus over  the last decades -

you can learn more, including how to order the book, from this  page on SRGC forum :

http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=14685.0 

 There is no formal order form - To order Janis ' book you need to  email to him to get cost, including postage - [email protected]

2) It seems some are unaware of how to find  Ian Young's e-book - Erythroniums in Cultivation - which was  introduced  late in 2016

in pdf form -  278 full colour pages - free to download  via this link :

http://files.srgc.net/general/ERYTHRONIUMS-IN-CULTIVATION%20-2016-IanYoung.pdf
 

3) A reminder too of the  fact that  every week  on the SRGC website a new Bulb Log is loaded  -

published every week since 2003, every issue can be found from this page :

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=bulb

and every month - on the last Friday of the month, the  free e-magazine International Rock Gardener (IRG) ISSN 2053-7557

is published here on the SRGC site : http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=international

An updated index is available there too.

The latest Bulb Log is  here : http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2017Mar081488968834BULB_LOG_1017.pdf

 the latest IRG is  here : http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2017Feb231487875287IRG_86.pdf

 

Hope this helps those  who were  having difficulty finding the links!

IRG 87 - March 2017

Spain retains its attraction to draw visitors keen to enjoy a break and see wildflowers at the same time. Răzvan Chişu,
a Romanian who now lives and works in Cheshire recalls an early spring trip to Alpujarras.
Răzvan recently took over as Editor for the Saxifraga Society and is been much involved in Plant Heritage projects and Hardy Plant Society displays.

The charming garden of Hana Zíková in Bohemia is introduced by Zdenek Zvolanek with photos by Zdena Kosourová.

We do hear more from the male of the species but there are also talented female Czech gardeners; !

Ian Christie, himself a former SRGC president, describes a new Galanthus cultivar,

named for a sadly missed SRGC former President, Harley Milne who died last year. 

Download the IRG here :

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2017Mar301490900939IRG87March2017.pdf

Full Index :

http://files.srgc.net/journals/IRG-Index.pdf

International Rock Gardener (IRG) 88- April 2017 is  online now with articles from Wim Boens from Belgium on double forms of Ficaria verna;

Krzysztof Ciesielski   from Poland on a new galanthus and Zdeněk Zvolánek introduces another Czech star  in advance of the Third International Czech Rock Garden Conference which opens in early May.

Download via this link  http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2017Apr271493318724IRG88.pdf

For the May IRG we escape to Rhodes to see orchids and other flowers there, from Gerrit and Iep Eikelenboom and, from Iran, we discover a new Crocus species  from Iran, described by Jānis Rukšāns.

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2017May251495746846IRG89May2017.pdf

A reminder that at  at this time of year, as every year, new postal members of SRGC will have their  subscriptions run until  October 2018. There are many free features of the SRGC Site, such as the monthly IRG and weekly Bulb Log. 

Submissions from NARGS members to the IRG are always welcome.

A reminder that at this time of year, and for every 

Latest issue of  IRG - International Rock Gardener online now
This issue has  descriptions of new Crocus species from Dimitri Zubov and Janis Ruksans - including in honour of Janis and Marcus Harvey- and news of artist in residence activity at the wonderful Inverewe Gardens on the west coast of Scotland - plus a poem by Lydia Muijen inspired by the garden and the recent  erythronium festival there.

Download issue 90 here : http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2017Jun211498039508IRG_90_June.pdf

This month.... Events, commercials and more !   Arie Dwarswaard's review of

Janis Rukšāns Crocus book,   Gerrit and Iep  Eijkelenboom about the plants of  Cyprus....

 International Rock Gardener e-magazine  IRG 91  July 2017 ISSN 2053-7557

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2017Jul271501183467IRG91.pdf

 

 

This month.... Events, commercials and more !   Arie Dwarswaard's review of

Janis Rukšāns Crocus book,   Gerrit and Iep  Eijkelenboom about the plants of  Cyprus....

 International Rock Gardener e-magazine  IRG 91  July 2017 ISSN 2053-7557

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2017Jul271501183467IRG91.pdf

 

 

What's in this month's IRG?

A reminder about Donations  to the SRGC Seed Exchange ..........all Seed Exes need  donors!

 from Stavros Apostolou - photos of  some  Bulbs of Attica ...........

David Nicholson regales  us with  Tales of a Crocus.............

and, from the archives of The Rock Garden, journal of SRGC  - Primula forrestii and it's new  designation ........

download this issue  here : http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2017Aug241503601039IRG92.pdf

In IRG September 2017 : the description of a new Tulipa species  by J.J. de Groot and  K.S. Tojibaev...... Jan Tholhuijsen encourages another new project for the garden .....Zdenek Zvolanek praises  fabaceae for the garden and Kenton J. Seth reviews a book on Cactus........ free to download here...

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2017Sep281506621414IRG93.pdf

October's IRG tells of a botanical trip in the Chilean Desert by John and Anita Watson and  Zdeněk Zvolánek, inspired by Panayoti Kelaidis, praises  pin-cushion plants - free download via this link:

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2017Oct261509039468IRG94.pdf

 

What is in this month's International Rock Gardener ?

TOWNSENDIA by Gerrit Eijkelenboom

WHAT IS CROCUS NUBIGENA Herb.?  by  Jānis Rukšāns

SAXIFRAGA  DINNIKII ´JINDRISKA´ by Zdeněk Zvolánek

GENTIANA HYBRIDISING NEAR ROLLSDORF by Fritz Kummert

 Download IRG here  http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2017Nov231511460835IRG_95_November_2017.pdf

Cover photo: Harmonia axyridis on Townsendia flower, by Gerrit Eijkelenboom

International Rock Gardener (IRG) the free  monthly e-magazine  on Scottish Rock Garden Club website

The IRG began in January 2010 - at the time we thought it would be online for a year as an experiment but as the ninth year of the IRG begins - there is hope that our marvellous contributors will continue their support in sharing information about the fascinating little plants of the mountains and wild places of the world with a truly international audience. All brought to your desk for free, with hopes of a wonderful year for readers and their plants alike!

IRG full Index: http://files.srgc.net/journals/IRG-Index.pdf

All issues from this page :  http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=international

 

IRG 97 - the International Rock Gardener e-magazine, is now online

We tend to think of Siberia as being a snowy wilderness - and of course, it can be - but it is good to read about one of the areas with a rich flora from a new International Rock Gardener contributor, Ole William Purvis, a lichenologist, researcher and author who writes about the Sayan Mountains.

From the Czech Republic, Zdeněk Zvolánek introduces the photography of Ladislav Blažej, of plants in the Pirin mountains of Bulgaria.

 

Download  IRG97  free - here : http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2018Jan271517084243IRG_97__January_2018.pdf

March in the Northern hemisphere suggests that Spring may be in full flower - sadly we cannot guarantee that from one day to the next.

Matters of the science or practice of classification are the subject for IRG this month. Jānis Rukšāns discusses how best to delineate a Crocus species, a subject which he has spent many years addressing.  Dimitri  Zubov and Leonid Bondarenko describe a new species of stoloniferous Iris from Armenia.

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2018Mar291522354177IRG100.pdf

 Cover  image is of Iris sisianica

 

 

International Rock Gardener, the free e-magazine on SRGC.NET reaches issue #100  Thanks to all contributors and readers for your support - we couldn't do it without you!

This month learn about the  buckwheats  of  America from John P. Weiser and  get some news of The Beauty Slope, garden of  Zdenek Zvolanek

Download here : http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2018Apr271524820121IRG100April.pdf

Congratulations on your reaching your 100th issue -- quite an achievement.  Appropriately, it's a fantastic issue!

...Claire

Thank you, Claire.  We are  most fortunate in our  marvelous contributors.  Submissions are always welcome, of course!

M

IRG 101 is online now!  We are pleased to introduce Peter Tallbo from Mora in Sweden who is redesigning his garden to make it a better place to grow and propagate plants as well as becoming a more aesthetically pleasing space.  Gerrit Eijkelenboom from the Netherlands, returns with Part 2 of his report, with his wife Iep, of their travels to see orchids in Sicily. It seems that the terrestrial orchids of Europe continue to maintain their allure and mystique for many as they prove to grow so well in nature in places far from the tropical climes that were traditionally associated with these plants. It is the hardiness of so many rock garden and alpine plants, of course, which is one of the most appealing features of such apparantly fragile, often diminutive plants! Finally this  month, we are pleased to be able to publish a new species of rosulate Viola from the Chilean based duo of John M. Watson and Ana R. Flores – Viola farkasiana sp. nova. 

Download  here : http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2018May241527184409IRG_101_May_2018.pdf

 

IRG 103 begins with a tour in Sardinia by Gerrit and Iep Eijkelenboom. They encountered good weather and were able to picture a fine range of plants in bloom. Italian islands are somewhat simpler to access than Chile so perhaps not many readers will be able to see the Chilean flora for themselves. The second part of this issue of IRG features the background article by John and Anita Watson on the interesting area which shaped Alstroemeria piperata – as was indicated in the June 2018 IRG issue 102 where the species was described.

Download the issue here http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2018Jul261532613984IRG103-July2018.pdf
Cover photo: Tristerix aphyllus, one of the scarlet mistletoes in Chile, photo John M. Watson.

We hope this issue of IRG provides a diversion from the  disasters, natural and man-made that beset so many countries at the moment. The last while seems to have been filled with reports of fires, floods and more.

In IRG104 John and Anita Watson describe two new viola species from Chile; we learn a little about grant aid available to horticultural students  and  remember Rod and Rachel Saunders of Silverhill Seeds.

Click the link to download... http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2018Aug301535657804IRG104-August2018.pdf

Cover photo: Cryptantha aspera, macro photo by Ana R. Flores (Anita Flores Watson)

 

Reception for last month's cover image was good - so I chose another white  flower for this issue too!
Cover photo:  Blumenbachia prietea, photo ARF(Anita Flores Watson).

September’s IRG (International Rock Gardener) e-magazine  has  a double North American connection, as we review some of the plants in the Wappinger Falls garden of Anne Spiegel in New York State.  A trip further south takes us to South America, where Chilean based botanists John and Ana (Anita) Watson write of some Patagonian plants.

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2018Sep271538076603IRG_105_Sept2018.pdf

 

October's IRG - #106 - is online now.

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2018Oct251540501603IRG106October2018.pdf

cover image : Viola trochlearis

Some plants from Crete and more on the violas of South America are featured.  Thanks to main  contributors  Vlastimil Braun with  Zdenek Zvolanek, and to Anita and John Watson.
 

 

Remember - if you've got something you'd like to write about for this monthly e-magazine - why not send it to me ?
 I'd be delighted to hear from you!   Send  submissions to  [email protected]

The latest free e-magazine,  International Rock Gardener 107 is online now.

Jānis Rukšāns describes a new species of Anemone this month – named for Sergey Banketov. “Windflowers” - as these flowers are known in English - are a favourite for those who have the good fortune to see them in their native habitats & also because many species are readily available in commerce & make excellent garden plants.

John & Anita Watson give us an insight to the flora & fauna of South America and we are also delighted to introduce the new SRGC President, Julia Corden. 

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2018Nov291543526367IRG107-November.pdf

December  2018  IRG 108
 This bumper  issue of IRG, posted online a little early to celebrate the season,  contains descriptions of three new plant species. Janis Rukšāns discusses Crocus of series Kotschyani and describes a new species, Crocus hatayensis from Turkey, Janis Rukšāns and Henrik Zetterlund define a new Eranthis species from Iran, and John Watson dedicates a new Viola species to a very special person!
We hope you find this an exciting way to conclude our ninth year of publication.   
 
Download  here: http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2018Dec241545672053IRG108_December2018.pdf

Cover photo: Viola anitae F.& W.11580. Cerro Atravesada, Picunches Dept., Argentina, by John M. Watson.

There's a good mix  in e-magazine International Rock Gardener - IRG109 - January 2019 - a garden and glasshouses in South West Scotland belonging to  Sue Simpson and George Watt; a description of a  Tulipa species from  Jānis Rukšāns;  a  review of   Holubec and  Horak's  book of the flowers of the Tian Shan by Martin Hajman and a look at a gem of the Cyclamen genus, originally written by Václav Jošt with  Zdenek Zvolanek.  Thanks to  'Folium Alpinum' of  NRV and ‘Skalničky’, the  Czech rock garden journal for their  cooperation with IRG

.

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2019Jan241548361044IRG109January2019.pdf

Lots happening in this month's  IRG e-magazine  from SRGC: a new viola species, Viola abbreviata, is described by John and AnitaFlores Watson, we see  winter-flowering  plants of  Gran Canaria  from  Iep & Gerrit Eijkelenboom and  some notes on the charming  hybrids of the succulent  species Aloinopsis and Nananthus from John Stireman in Utah.   There's also a review of Freda Cox' second edition of her Snowdrop book from grower, Anne Wright.

All issues of IRG International Rock Gardener are online on the SRGC website - this is the  direct link to the  latest  issue  IRG 110: http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2019Feb211550781214IRG110.pdf

Cover image of IRG110 is  by John Stireman, of a hot pink Aloinopsis hybrid in his Utah garden .

Epimediums, reticulate irises & newly named snowdrop cultivars comprise the April medley in the  free e-magazine International Rock Gardener April 2019 :  IRG 112

Colin Moat is an English nurseryman who has been involved with the RHS Roundtable consideration of Epimedium for the Award of Garden Merit; the report on that is now published. Jānis Rukšāns, well known in these pages and elsewhere, as a bulb expert turns his attention to bulbous irises of the Hermodactyloides subgenus.  Patricia Becker is a keen gardener and galanthophile from New Jersey who introduces us to a sweet snowdrop which she has chosen to name for the well-known American snowdrop enthusiast, Ernie Cavallo.   Krzysztof Ciesielski lives in Żary, Poland and has a passion for nature that he follows not least as a relief from his busy worklife. He loves galanthus and enjoys seeing them in nature – in spite of various problems that beset his favourite sites. One of his introductions is  named for a Belgian friend, Wim Boens who has also been published in the IRG.

Download it  free, here  :
http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2019Apr261556270768IRG_112_April_2019.pdf

 

M. Young

All copies  of  International Rock Gardener e-magazine  are  available  from tis  page  of the  SRG site  :  http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=international

IRG111  March 2019

We welcomed two new authors to the IRG in  March 2019 . Dr Martin Sheader, a marine biologist from Southampton, is known with his wife Anna-Liisa for their great interest in all plants, particularly those from South America, as well as for their writing, talks and show exhibits. Martin writes about  an exploration of  Central Patagonia and  John Watson, friend and  sometimes co-author with the  Sheaders  describes an annual Cistanthe  species
Our second new author is Allan Robinson from Sutton Bridge in the Fenlands of England. His family were nurserymen in the past and he has a great interest in the geraniums and their relatives as can be seen from his copious contributions to the website of the Gerianaceae Group.

Download the  issue  here : http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2019Mar281553807774IRG111.pdf

IRG April 2019

Epimediums, reticulate irises & newly named snowdrop cultivars comprise the April medley in free e-magazine International Rock Gardener April 2019 :  IRG 112

Colin Moat is an English nurseryman who has been involved with the RHS Roundtable consideration of Epimedium for the Award of Garden Merit; the report on that is now published. Jānis Rukšāns, well known in these pages and elsewhere, as a bulb expert turns his attention to bulbous irises of the Hermodactyloides subgenus.  Patricia Becker is a keen gardener and galanthophile from New Jersey who introduces us to a sweet snowdrop which she has chosen to name for the well-known American snowdrop enthusiast, Ernie Cavallo.   Krzysztof Ciesielski lives in Żary, Poland and has a passion for nature that he follows not least as a relief from his busy worklife. He loves galanthus and enjoys seeing them in nature – in spite of various problems that beset his favourite sites. One of his introductions is  named for a Belgian friend, Wim Boens who has also been published in the IRG.

Download it  free, here  : http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2019Apr261556270768IRG_112_April_2019.pdf

IRG May 2019

Our presentation for  Maydemonstrates clearly the “international” flavour to which we aspire.  We begin with the description of an Argentinian natural hybrid viola from the English/Chilean duo, John Watson and Anita Flores Watson – which they have named for a mutual Dutch friend, Kees Jan van Zwienen.  Next up is an article from the Latvian bulb-master, Jānis Rukšāns and Dimitri Zubov from the Ukraine on naming a new bulb from Iran.   Frankie Wulleman, for ten years the  Editor of  the VRV, (Flemish Rock Garden Society) is  our  next  author - with a piece on another charming  South American plant – this  time  one  which is  already  present  in some  gardens – and Frankie  believes it is worth more of us trying to grow it. That is also the refrain of our last writer this month – that Austrian horticultural hero, Fritz Kummert – who enthuses about the “Blue broom” of Spain and Portugal.

Click this  link to download  85 pages  of  free  magazine!!     http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2019May311559296345IRG113.pdf

IRG June2019

June in the UK was  somewhat  cold  and  damp - in contrast to reports from  elsewhere  in Europe of temperatures in the mid- 30s C. Whatever the weather  in your part of the  globe we  can only hope for some degree of pleasure from your  plants! Articles begin this month with Janis Rukšāns who introduces a new  Fritillaria species from Uzbekistan, named for the mountain range where it was found.  Next we visit Somerset in the UK, where Paul Cumbleton and Colin Everett show the construction and development of a raised bed to accommodate a crevice garden. Canadian Grahame Ware writes about a Claytonia he favours and this issue rounds up with a report from Iep and Gerrit Eijkelenboom on the plants they have seen in Kefalonia and Ithaka in March and April this year.

Click the  link to download the  free  magazine: http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2019Jun271561661867IRG114.pdf

IRG July 2019 - latest  issue!

Summer flowers are flourishing in the north while winter blooms make their appearance in the south – July is an interesting month. Many lovers of  alpine plants have  enjoyed  trips to see  plants  in habitat and  are even now  making  plans for their  next  adventure. For botanist/plant hunters like John and Anita Watson, such expeditions can lead to the discovery of new species – the exact status of which can sometimes take time to unravel!  Panayoti Kelaidis, that indefatigable power house of the Denver Botanic Garden, revisited Tibet and China in June – following on from his 2018 trip from where he shares with us some of the plants he encountered.  For those who, for whatever reason, are armchair travellers amongst us, such articles are a charm.  For those wishing to travel themselves to see plants in their homelands, such reports are also helpful. To conclude this month the IRG Team remembers Ron Beeston, a dear friend, recently lost to us.

To download the  July issue   click this  link :
http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2019Jul251564083758IRG115.pdf

Cover photo: Veronica piroliformis in Yunnan – photo Panayoti Kelaidis.

 

 

International Rock Gardener 116  August 2019

Latvian bulb maven Jānis Rukšāns begins our e-magazine this month with a description of a new species of Puschkinia from Turkey. Fritz Kummert from Austria clarifies the naming of a plant which has long been mis-identified and Iep and Gerrit  Eijkelenboom from the Netherlands give us some inspiration for a trip to the Gargano peninsula in Italy in April where they found many orchids and other flowers in bloom.

Download the  free  e-magazine  here:
http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2019Aug291567110323IRG116.pdf

Cover photo: Viola heterophylla subsp. graeca – photo Gerrit Eijkelenboom.

It is a pleasure this month to publish the description of a viola named for one of the greatly missed personalities of plant-hunting.  This article, as the viola, is from South America, described by John Watson who fondly remembers his travels with Martyn Cheese in “days gone by”. It is exciting for us to publish such articles with  open access to bring such knowledge to a wide  audience and, we  hope, a fitting  memorial to John’s  lost friend. 

Kind thanks to all who take the  time  and  trouble  to contact the IRG team to give  us  your  reaction to the  magazine’s contents. These, and submissions of articles, are always  welcome – by email, please, to [email protected]   We look forward to hearing  from you. 

Back to this  issue – where Zdeněk Zvolánek introduces some plants from the Estonian garden of the charming  gardener and  traveller, Svetlana Polonskaja, and  she herself  comments on some  of her  favourite plants in her rock garden.  To finish this month we have a report from  Zdeněk Zvolánek about the  Beauty  Slope during a  hot  summer.

Cover photo: Viola cheeseana F.& W.12685, photo John M. Watson.

Following  some  technical difficulties, the   correct  version of  IRG  117  for September  2019  is  now  online  - this  is the  link : 

  http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2019Oct041570226421IRG-117-September.pdf

 

Please  note that following  some  technical difficulties, the   correct  version of  IRG  117  for September  2019  is  now  online  - this  is the  link : 

  http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2019Oct041570226421IRG-117-September.pdf

 

 (previous  post  has  been edited to show  correct  link)

 IRG118 - October 2019
IRG this month pays tribute to the SRGC Discussion Weekend with an article on the propagation of narcissus and  galanthus  bulbs from one of the Speakers  there, Anne  Wright of  Dryad Nursery in Yorkshire.  Anne has tremendous  success  with her breeding  programmes of these bulbs and is kind enough to share her tips for ‘chipping’ the bulbs to speed  up their increase.
Another of the  speakers  at the  DWE was  Dr  Dimitri  Zubov – we  are  delighted to  present a photo essay by Dimitri and regular  IRG author, Jānis Rukšāns of  some of the  plants they  have  seen  in  Iran.
 

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2019Oct251572001288IRG_118.pdf

 

Cover photo: Linaria michauxii in Western Iran, photo Dimitri Zubov.

IRG 119 November 2019

In this month's free  issue  of  International Rock Gardener  e-magazine :-  Panayoti Kelaidis ' photos illustrate  the  report  he  has  made  with Boyce  Tankersley  and  Peter  Zale  of their  Plant  Collecting Collaborative  visit to Georgia's  Caucasus  region of  Eurasia in 2018.  Wim Boens gives a a well-recognised  name  to an Anemone  cultivar and  John and  Anita Watson  name  an  interesting Andean natural Viola  hybrid  for their  grandson.

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2019Nov281574975266IRG_119.pdf

Cover photo: Primula ruprechtii  in the Bakuriani Mountains. Photo Panayoti Kelaidis.

 

 

 

 

The  International Rock Gardener  reaches  its  120th issue,  marking ten years of this free magazine.

Begun in January 2010 (as an experiment for one year !) IRG has proven to be a success. I little  thought, when the  idea for IRG was first  discussed with  Zdeněk Zvolánek, J.Ian Young and  myself, that I would  be  editing  it  for  ten years  - with  more  in sight!

The kindness and enthusiasm of our authors, who have so selflessly shared their work with us, and the appreciation of our widespread audience, who are also representative of our international ambitions are the ones we must  thank for this  achievement.

This anniversary edition contains descriptions  of  two new plants, named for the “Watson  Girls” ( as I  have  been calling them); from John and  Anita Flores  Watson; an introduction to the various cultivars now available  of Fritillaria imperialis  from Willem Wietsma and Ronald van den Berg, and a review of some delightful little geranium species from Allan Robinson.

 Best  wishes  for the  coming  year!

Maggi Young

http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2019Dec261577394152IRG_120.pdf

Cover photo: Leontochir ovallei, the 'garra de leon' or  ‘lion’s claw’ – photo  J.M. Watson

Thank you Maggi for reliably posting these announcements here, and CONGRATULATIONS to Ian and yourself (and the many contributing authors) for reaching the 10 year mark with 120 issues of the highest quality horticultural/botanical articles, quite a momentous achievement.  Good thing it's winter and we're getting socked with frigid cold and lots of snow and ice, gives me time to catch on reading (no... I should say, studying) each edition.  I last left off on #118, the Master Class on chipping and twin-scaling by Anne Wright, a fascinating tutorial on this high-end propagation method. Let it snow and freeze hard, I have reading to do :-)  Cheers.

Very  kind words, Mark, which are   much appreciated!  We  hope to  keep you  and  all our  readers happily  occupied  in the  future too.  It's all down to  the  great  contributors.  It's a  matter  of  sadness that our  Australian members  are  suffering  from such awful fires  right  now -  your  ice  and  snow  would  be  a  blessing for  them... let's  hope  the  year  pans  out  well for  us all in the  end!

 

 M

 

Welcome to a new year of IRG - we  look forward to bring a varied  range  of  articles  again this  year. Issue  121 begins  with a tale of how a  shed roof  can become  a  garden – and  the great results  that can be  obtained  from  such a  garden, even using the  most  readily  available  alpine  and  rock garden  plants as Michael Thomson shows to spectacular effect.

From America, nurseryman and  expert  photographer  Jeff Wagner,  who has  a  soft  spot  for  woody  plants and  trees, as well as  alpines, shares  his  photos  showing the  scenery and  town life  of  Yunnan, from a NARGS trip to  China  in 2018 -  Panayoti Kelaidis  wrote  of this  trip in  IRG 121, with  more  emphasis  on the  flowers. It’s good to have a wide flavour in the  IRG  of the country they experienced.  

Finally for this  month  we  cooperate  with The  Rock Garden, the twice  yearly  print  journal of  SRGC to show  a range  of  photos  to accompany  an article in the January issue, TRG144 of a trip  by  Connor  Smith to have  a work placement  in the  Schachen Alpine  Garden, the  mountain garden of the  Munich  Botanical Gardens. Connor  was  pleased to have  grant  aid to make this  visit and  learn from Jenny  Wainwright-Klein and  Thomas Heller who are  working to improve the  garden and  spread  knowledge  of  it.

 

Download IRG 121  here  : http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2020Jan301580422005IRG_121.pdf

 

Cover photo: Chinese roadside - photo by Jeff Wagner

Latest  free e-magazine  International Rock Gardener #IRG 122   download here:  http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2020Feb281582900723IRG122.pdf

J.J. de Groot & B.J.M. Zonneveld describe two new tulip species from the Altai mountains in Kazakhstan, named for Anna Ivaschenko and  Diana Everett.   John and Anita Watson write more  about the  flora of South America and describe a new rosulate viola species.  Finally, Frazer Henderson shares a suite of photographs, as an “extra”  to his article on the Tien Shan which was recently published  in the  Rock Garden144, print  journal of  SRGC. 
(The Rock Garden, published twice  a year, is only  available to full SRGC Members) 

Cover photo: Barneoudia major F.& W.12595, photo J.M.Watson.

 

 

Free reading matter from SRGC - International Rock Gardener 123 March 2020 - 61 pages of plant based interest!! Click the link to download the issue : http://srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2020Mar261585255661IRG123.pdf

Many  of  us are  in  lockdown at the  moment because  of the  Corona virus  crisis and  not all  are able to spend the  time  gardening so this  may help!
On the  SRGC website there  are  Bulb Logs since 2003, IRG since 2010 and  much more. Need moving  pix? See Ian Young's  garden videos https://youtube.com/channel/UCpLSJ9GmDtJMTdMo3nUWqWg   The  website   srgc.net has  all this & more to help you  learn and  enjoy  your  plants!

Hoping you are all keep safe!
M. Y.

Download the  latest  issue  of   International Rock Gardener  here:   http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2020Apr231587675747IRG_124_April_2020.pdf

This month in IRG 124 –

Connor Smith on dwarf conifers for the rock garden;
John and Anita Watson demystify more South American rosulate violas, and disabuse us of the eternal delights of the plant-hunting life. Lastly, Dr Martin Sheader writes of the ourisia hybrids using South American species which he made with his late wife Anna-Liisa. Martin and Anna-Liisa, who died  in December 2019, were awarded the highest honour that can be bestowed by the Alpine Garden Society in November 2019 – the Lyttel Trophy, for individuals who have made a substantial contribution to the knowledge of alpine plants.
There are no flower  shows on at  present as  the UK and  many  other  countries, are locked down because of the Coronavirus pandemic. Trying and testing times for us all – the  SRGC is  mindful of  the  health and  safety of our members and the general public and so SRGC events  have  all been cancelled for  the  foreseeable  future, including  the Alpines  ’21 Conference. The virus is everywhere and no respecter of persons. We have been shocked to learn that Martin Sheader has been very ill with the Covid-19 virus and we wish him a speedy return to full health, his three sons and his loving family.

We hope you all keep safe and healthy.
 
Cover photo: Ourisia microphylla in the wild in Chile - photo Martin Sheader.

This month in International Rock Gardener e-magazine we have two short  pieces  from John and Anita  Watson in Chile, the  latest  Crocus species from  Jānis Rukšāns, named for a tireless researcher at the  Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research of Gatersleben in Germany – Dr. Dörte Harpke and  a  report from the  Beauty Slope, the Czech garden of  ZZZ, otherwise  known as  Zdeněk Zvolánek and Zdena Kosourová . We hope you enjoy these presentations. Please remember that there are links in the  www.srgc.net  site  to all sorts of  different items, from Ian Young’s weekly  Bulb Log  to the Forum, which is  open to all, not  just  SRGC members, and we also have  the  new  Scottish Rock podcasts.

IRG Cover Crocus harpkeae in habitat JJVV-022, photo Jānis Rukšāns.

 

Calochortus, Ornithogalum and Allium are flowering under glass with plenty more in the garden, just click the Bulb Log link to enter http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2020May271590575623BULB_LOG_2220.pdf      also includes notice of a Facebook Live event with #IanYoung on Facebook  Alpine Garden Society  Members' group in June......
https://www.facebook.com/groups/alpinegardensociety/?ref=bookmarks

 

 

 

This month the IRG has articles which we hope you may wish to consider for projects of your own .... posting a little early to give folks something to read while waiting for the Taproot 2020 NARGS Virtual Conference ! Ian Christie gives tips on grafting – for Daphne in this instance, though the system is of course similar for other woody plants too. New contributor John Beaulieu, from Midhurst, Ontario, Canada, had a plan to repurpose an old metal tub - and made a neat miniature rockery with it. J. Ian Young revisits an SRGC crevice garden venture at Inverewe Gardens on the west coast of Scotland and expresses his regret at the cancellation of this year’s planned follow-up event. Download the International Rock Gardener (IRG) e-magazine for free here: http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2020Jun251593107822IRG_126.pdf Cover image IRG 126 - Zdenek Zvolanek and Paul Spriggs, photo by J. I. Young

Thoroughly enjoyed the Taproot online event - Don LaFond talked on daphne propagation - you can read Ian Christie's article on the subject in IRG 126 http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2020Jun251593107822IRG_126.pdf

July 2020 In IRG free e-magazine this month- July 2020 #127 - an interview with talented Czech grower Ján Zaujec by Zdeněk Zvolánek and a project for the garden from Irish alpine enthusiast , Ken Devine, looking to find more planting space. Download the issue here: https://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2020Jul301596141584IRG127.pdf

This month in IRG free e-magazine – indicative of the fine collaborations that are possible in the plant world – John and Anita Flores Watson have been aided and abetted by various friends to illustrate their article describing the new species Viola uniquissima and its habitat and the plants found in that area. Wonderful photos have been contributed mainly by Marijn van den Brink and also Leonora Rojas to complement the Watson’s images. From KentonSeth from Fruita, Colorado, there are tips on growing Castilleja. One of the finest modern crevice garden makers, Kenton is a man with a passion for nature - loving the plants as well as the mountains. Congratulations to Kenton on his receny engagement to the mountain-biking poet Tori Miner! Download the issue here: https://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2020Aug271598561104IRG128.pdf Cover picture: Cumulopuntia ignescens, photo Marijn van den Brink.

The September 2020 issue of International Rock Gardener (IRG) free e-magazine is online now -it has articles from Vojtech Holubec and from John and Anita Watson - further feeding the interest for the plants of Chile. We have been very upset to be told that not only have John and Anita both been infected by Covid-19 but John has had to be taken back to hospital as he was becoming more ill. We are sure all our readers will join us in sending them both our very best wishes for a speedy and full recovery. You can find IRG 129 here: https://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2020Sep241600957311IRG129.pdf Cover image: Salix capraea catkins - photo John M. Watson

We have good news on the health of loyal contributors recently troubled by ill-health – Martin Sheader is continuing to recover from his Covid-19 experience and returns to the pages of the IRG with a report on South American Adesmia species. John and Anita Watson, who were also struck down by this frightening virus, with John being in hospital in a bad way, have happily been reunited at their home and we hope they will soon be able to contribute once more to our pages. It is when this pandemic affects those known to us that it becomes clearer that it will be haunting all our lives for some time to come. Less welcome news is that of the death of former SRGC President Glassford Sprunt who for many years was proofreader and indexer of the IRG and was a supporter of SRGC for decades. Our condolences go to his loving family – he will be much missed. In this IRG we also take a look back through history to remember the original collectors of a well- known American plant, Calochortus lyallii – brought to us by Arthur MacKinnon of Washington State. Zdeněk Zvolánek and Franz (František) Paznocht combine to introduce a saxifrage cultivar which they hope will become more widely grown. https://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2020Oct291603992737IRG130.pdf Cover photo: Autumn colour in Highland Perthshire, photo Julia Corden

This month in International Rock Gardener 131, the free online magazine, articles include the description of a new species of tulip from Uzbekistan brought to us by J.J.(Sjaak) de Groot & K.S. Tojibaev. Next a new combination in Montiopsis from John and Anita (Ana Rosa Flores) Watson. Zdeněk Zvolánek ( who we are delighted to congratulate on his award of the AGS' premier honour, the Lyttle Trophy) highlights Dionysia khuzistanica and a delightful cultivar, which Martijn Jansen raised and has named for his son,Thom. This is complemented by photos from Ewelina Wajgert of the dionysias in the garden of Josef Mayr. Our final article this month is presented here as a tribute to our late proof-reader and the former President of the SRGC, Glassford Sprunt. It seems there has been some hiccup with the link for IRG 131 - this is a corrected link https://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2020Nov291606654069IRG131.pdf Brief Index of IRG 131 November 2020 Cover photo: Montiopsis tricolor, Anita Watson Award for Zdenek Zvolanek 131/3 Tulipa bactriana – species description – J.J. de Groot and K.S. Tojibaev 131/4-11 A new combination in Montiopsis (Montiaceae) – John and Anita Watson 131/12-15 Painted Flowers – Zdenek Zvolanek 131/16-21 Remembering a Good Friend 131/22 My Way with seeds - Glassford Sprunt 131/23-25 Cover photo: Montiopsis tricolor, Anita Watson

Final issue of 2020 – Eleven years of IRG e-magazine - With this issue, eleven years of the International Rock Gardener are complete. Direct link to IRG 132 is : https://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2020Dec241608822973IRG_132.pdf IRG 132 includes both the description of a new species, Cistanthe celedoniana from John Michael Watson, Arve Elvebakk, Christian von Bohlen and Ana Rosa Flores, and a new combination for Cistanthe sitiens, from J.M.Watson and Ana Rosa Flores. There is also an appreciation of the Canadian Iris hybridiser, AlanMcMurtrie from Panayoti Kelaidis of Denver. Need some plant based reading over the hols? Why not dip in to 18yrs worth of #BulbLog https://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=bulb & 11yrs of #InternationalRockGardener e-mag – https://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=international all available free from @ScottishRockGC website?

Welcome to year twelve of the IRG at a time when we sincerely hope that the coming year will see a return to more ordinary activities that we are all used to, with freedom of travel and congregation. The lack of opportunity to meet up with like-minded plant lovers has been a much-regretted downside of the past year and gardeners, as some of the most sociable folk around, have certainly found the lockdowns wearing – if a good chance to catch up on weeding! Authors this month are Wim Boens from Flanders, Jim Jermyn from Scotland and Zdeněk Zvolánek from Chechia. https://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2021Jan281611871267IRG133.pdf Cover image: Meconopsis ‘Sikkim’ at Branklyn Garden – photo by Jim Jermyn.

In IRG 134 - Jānis Rukšāns from Latvia with the description of a new Leopoldia species. Next, from Chile, Anita and John Watson give us an awareness of how the covid19 virus and their subsequent recovery from the infection, has affected them and how much comfort they have found in their garden. Finally this month, Connor Smith, now working at the Utrecht Botanical Garden gives his views on the potential for some smaller Rubus species in the rock garden. https://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2021Feb251614279736IRG134.pdf Cover image: convovulus arvensis - photo Anita Flores

IRG 135 March 2021 https://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2021Mar251616709854IRG_135.pdf A month with our usual variety of plants, places and people - thanks to our contributors, we are able to bring this magazine free to all on the internet. Articles from John and Anita Watson in Chile on Mutisia; Wim Boens from Flanders on an old colchicum cultivar; and Chris and Basak Gardner on some flowers of the Silk Route. Click to download the issue here: https://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2021Mar251616709854IRG_135.pdf Cover image: Omphalodes luciliae photo Chris Gardner.

IRG 136 is now online. Colchicums exposed! Special issue dedicated to a richly illustrated article by Ukrainian plantsman, Dr Dimitri Zubov, on cultivated Colchicum Species - click the link to read for free - https://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2021Apr291619719761IRG_136.pdf

IRG free e-magazine May 2021 John and Anita Watson complete their series on their Corona Virus travails and recovery, showing just how important their own garden has been to their recovery and how chances to make small trips to see nature in habitat has proven vital to their feelings of well-being in a particularly anxious period. Clearly, the pandemic of this disease is far from over, or even under control, in too many places, but for many the world is “opening up” again, in small measures at least. I hope that anyone venturing abroad once more does so safely, and that those remaining close to home can gain both succour and fun from the flowers they’re growing and those in nearby nature. To this end, you may wish to try to raise some unusual colour forms of your favourite species; Jaroslav Baláž suggests how! https://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2021May271622135578IRG_137.pdf Cover image: Echinopsis chiloensis flower, photo Anita Rosa Flores (Anita

IRG free e-magazine May 2021 John and Anita Watson complete their series on their Corona Virus travails and recovery, showing just how important their own garden has been to their recovery and how chances to make small trips to see nature in habitat has proven vital to their feelings of well-being in a particularly anxious period. Clearly, the pandemic of this disease is far from over, or even under control, in too many places, but for many the world is “opening up” again, in small measures at least. I hope that anyone venturing abroad once more does so safely, and that those remaining close to home can gain both succour and fun from the flowers they’re growing and those in nearby nature. To this end, you may wish to try to raise some unusual colour forms of your favourite species; Jaroslav Baláž suggests how! https://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2021May271622135578IRG_137.pdf Cover image: Echinopsis chiloensis flower, photo Anita Rosa Flores (Anita Watson)

This month in IRG: a review of the striking rockwork in the Czech garden of Martin Brejník, with comments by IanYoung, photos by Jiří Papoušek. Next up is an appreciation of Potentilla lignosa from Zdenek Zvolanek & completed by the description of a new species from Chile, Oxalis ranchillos by John & Anita Flores Watson. Read all free here: https://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2021Jun241624568360138.pdf

This month IRG presents two articles on peonies – the first on Czech bred herbaceous peonies from Pavel Sekerka & the second on tree peonies by Joe Harvey in Canada. Next there are two articles on a fabled European gesneriad, Jankaea heldreichii, written by Vlastimil Pilous & Harry Jans, of the Netherlands. IRG 139 finishes with a short review on Sternbergia, again by Vlastimil Pilous. Read free here: https://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2021Jul291627592049IRG_139.pdf

In IRG 140 August 2021, a new fritillary species from the Fergana Valley, southern Kyrgyzstan, Fritillaria rugillosa (subgen. Rhinopetalum; Liliaceae) is described by Alexander Naumenko and Dimitri Zubov. Dr Zubov, of the State Institute for Genetic and Regenerative Medicine, National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine; Kyiv, Ukraine, is already familiar to IRG readers for his plant articles and species descriptions – he is also known for his medical science papers, of course. Alexander Naumenko opened the Nova Zahrada nursery in Mořice, in Central Moravia (Czech Republic) in the spring of 2014. He had begun to grow his plant collection fifteen years earlier, in Kyrgyzstan, in Central Asia. In 2012, Alexander wrote, with Dr. Sci. Georgy A. Lazkov, "Растения Кыргызстана" ("Plants of Kyrgyzstan") 2nd article is Patagonian Verbenas - Junellia ( part 1) by Martin Sheader, a marine biologist from Southampton UK, who is known for a great interest in all plants. Dr Sheader has travelled extensively in this part of South America and his book ‘Flowers of the Patagonian Mountains’ is the most comprehensive photographic guide yet published to the area’s diverse and fascinating flora. Dr Sheader has travelled extensively in this part of South America and his book ‘Flowers of the Patagonian Mountains’ is the most comprehensive photographic guide yet published to the area’s diverse and fascinating flora. Click the link to download and read - it's free! https://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2021Aug261630008637IRG_140.pdf Cover image: Junellia tridactylites, showing the three-lobed leaves. Photo Martin Sheader.

What's new in IRG 141? download it here to find out - https://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2021Sep231632431076IRG_141.pdf A new fritillary species, Fritillaria kolbintsevii from south-eastern Kazakhstan is described by Jānis Rukšāns & Dimitri Zubov, Chris Gardner of Viranatura Tours praises the gentian family in summer. Zdeněk Zvolánek discusses a great cyclamen from the late Jan Bravenboer & there are details of the new concise Guide to Cyclamen from Martyn Denney & the Cyclamen Society - (which was reviewed in the latest Bulb Log https://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2021Sep221632304143BULB_LOG_3821.pdf Seedheads of Fritillaria kolbintsevii - cover image

Free e-magazine IRG 142 for October 2021 is now online: https://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2021Oct281635433923IRG_142.pdf Contributions this month are from Australia, the Czech Republic and California, via Turkey! Alan Ayton writes about Tasmanian plants, Dr Vlastimil Pilous introduces some Gymnospermium from the interesting family, Berberidaceae and Chris Gardner of Vira Natura makes his first trip to America after the relaxation of travel during the Covid pandemic to reconnoitre future trip destinations. Cover image of IRG 142 - Dracophyllum persistentifolium (syn. Richea scopari), photo Alan Ayton. All issues of the IRG are still available on this page: https://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/index.php?log=international

IRG 143 for November 2021 is now online. This IRG is something of an ‘Australian Special’. Jamus Stonor brings a large selection of Australian orchids; Alan Ayton takes us on a trip in the Victorian Alps and Fermi de Sousa shares some of the plants in his garden in the month of October as Spring brings its delights. Click the link to read: https://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2021Nov251637860754IRG143.pdf Cover image: Olearia frostii, photo, Alan Ayton.

As many around the world celebrate a holiday period, the IRG Team wishes all its readers kind greetings of the season and good hopes for health and happiness in the coming year. Of course, we wish the same for your plants! After one hundred and forty years, a species of Oxalis, long thought lost, has been rediscovered, in part thanks to the IRG. Julian Shaw of the Royal Horticultural Society writes about the rediscovery of Oxalis brevis. Staying in South America, we learn of a lovely new Euphrasia species in Chile, from David Santos, John Watson and Ana Rosa Flores. The Eyebrights are generally rather overlooked, which is sometimes the case for these charming flowers, which can be tricky to grow in cultivation. This extremely rare species is most unlikely ever to come into cultivation, but it is wonderful to learn about it, nonetheless. Fresh from a fact-checking trip to Kos, Jānis Rukšāns describes a new species, Crocus samarsii and two more new Crocus (Iridaceae) species from Turkey and Chios. These are Crocus erolii from Turkey, named for Prof. Osman Erol, of Istanbul University and Crocus homeri from Chios. Crocus samarsii is named for Theodoros Samaras, who discovered this novelty. The last article is a book review by J. Ian Young of an excellent publication, “A Field Guide to the Plants of Armenia” by Tamar Galstyan from Filbert Press. IRG 144 Cover image: Euphrasia achibuenoensis - photo by David Santos. Click here to download the IRG : https://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2021Dec291640808762IRG144.pdf

The ‘International Rock Gardener’ e-magazine is this month dedicated to new plant species. Firstly the IRG features the publication of a new tulip species by J.J. de Groot & B.J.M. Zonneveld from the Kuh e Aladag in Iran’s North Khorasan province. They have named this tulip for the plantlover and explorer who collected the seeds of this plant, Marijn van den Brink. We also have a new viola species from the tireless hands of John and Anita Watson in Chile. This is Viola obituaria, named in commemoration of a tragedy where 44 young conscripts and a sergeant froze to death. As John writes, “In this instance it is intended as a public written remembrance of a tragic incident on 12th May 2005 which befell a group of about four hundred young Chilean military conscripts on a night training march around the Antuco volcano.” Finally this month we have a paper from Julian M.H. Shaw, Bleddyn Wynn-Jones and T.Y. Aleck Yang of a new Sarcococca endemic to Taiwan. Julian Shaw is a registrar with the Royal Horticultural Society: he recently confirmed the re-finding of Oxalis brevis in IRG 144. Bleddyn Wynn-Jones ( with his wife, Sue) runs Crûg Farm Plants, in Wales, known for so many fine plant introductions over more than ten years. T.Y. Aleck Yang works at the National Museum of Natural Science, Taiwan.

IRG 146. February 2022 : This month we present a wonderful photo essay by Frédéric Depalle of one of his favourite subjects - Oncocyclus Irises. Frédéric Depalle is a keen plantsman, a most accomplished photographer, both of plants and “land-based” subjects as well as another of his passions, underwater photography. I believe even those of us unable to grow, or even source, these irises will be captivated by Fred’s photographs. One of the many good Czech friends of the Scottish Rock Garden Club, is Zdeněk Řeháček and he writes about the bright golden Viola aetolica. A little charmer of a plant that is not widely grown in the UK. Final article for IRG 146 is on “Growing Acantholimon “ from the Scot, Connor Smith who has already been in the Netherlands for over a year, in his post at the Utrecht University Botanic Garden. Connor instituted the Scottish Rock Podcasts and it is hoped these will soon be able to return. Free download here: https://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2022Feb241645737266IRG146.pdf This month’s cover image is “Green seedpods of Iris lineolata in Armenia” – photo by Frédéric Depalle.

Another exciting issue of IRG, which introduces new species to teach us more about the tremendous diversity of plants. This month we learn about a Many of us are still coming to terms with the “changes” from Muscari to Leopoldia – perhaps this article will help us understand! New names are also proposed for seven Muscari as Leopoldia. For the second article this month Jānis works with his Ukranian colleague, Dimitri Zubov, to bring us a new Colchicum species. This is Colchicum kackarense, a new autumn-blooming species from the Kaçkar Mountains in north-eastern Turkey. Dr Zubov, as well as his work at the State Institute of Genetic and Regenerative Medicine of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, is a passionate and knowledgeable plantsman, especially famous for his work with bulbous plants. So, a typically international issue of IRG – with cooperation around the world to bring this to our readers. We hope you enjoy it! https://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2022Mar241648143669IRG_147.pdf Cover image; Hummocks of sandy tufa in Cappadocia, Turkey, where Leopoldia parvipoldia grows: photo by Jānis Rukšāns